{"id":53749,"date":"2023-05-31T15:07:32","date_gmt":"2023-05-31T14:07:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cupblog.bluefusesystems.com\/?p=53749"},"modified":"2023-05-31T15:09:20","modified_gmt":"2023-05-31T14:09:20","slug":"mindfully-with-tunmise-interview-with-nigerian-broadcaster-and-mental-health-advocate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/blog\/2023\/05\/31\/mindfully-with-tunmise-interview-with-nigerian-broadcaster-and-mental-health-advocate\/","title":{"rendered":"Mindfully with Tunmise: Interview with Nigerian broadcaster and mental health advocate"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

The April edition of Muses \u2013 the arts blog from BJPsych International<\/a> \u2013 features an interview with Tunmise Kuku, a Nigerian radio broadcaster and mental health advocate who has been open about her diagnosis of Type II Bipolar Affective Disorder. Three years ago, she took a deliberate career break to write Living Mindfully: A Journey of Being<\/em>, a memoir that draws from her experiences and stories. It has been lightly edited for length and clarity.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Dami Ajayi: <\/strong>Congratulations Tunmise on your book. I understand you took a career break from radio to write it. I was struck by its easy and direct approach to defining positivity, grounding techniques and mindfulness from your personal experiences. How was that journey?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tunmise<\/strong>: Being positive has always been the number 1 tool in my survival toolbox\u2026Broadcast journalism just seemed the one place I could pass on that torch. I tell you, while most of my presentations were extemporaneous, my opening and closing bits were definitely written\u2026I wanted that one person listening to feel like they were beside me, and I could feel them, and they knew someone heard them\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

D:<\/strong> Many listeners were supported by your openness about your diagnosis; how have you navigated your absence from radio?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

T:<\/strong> I continue to write on my social media handles (https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tunmise.kuku<\/a>, https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/tunmiseokuku\/<\/a>) With\/in the same tone\/spirit. Funny, you should ask. One person said this last week and thanked me for continuing though I was no longer on air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

D:<\/strong> Interesting, social media and podcasting are replacing radio and television but not without concerns about adverse effects on mental health; how do you moderate this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

T: <\/strong>Oh, I am very aware of that. And trust me, I am very reticent. But we can\u2019t throw away the baby and the bath water. Traditional radio and television is going nowhere. I tag my posts #diaryofabipolargirl to bring awareness, and then when the time is right, my years in broadcast journalism will be put to good use in the podcast world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

D:<\/strong> Will your podcast deal with mental health and healing as well?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

T: <\/strong>Yes. It will be called Mindfully with Tunmise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

D:<\/strong> In Nigeria, people with mental illness often resort to self-help. Tell me about your journey to seeking help and how that has influenced your advocacy and awareness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

T: <\/strong>I am blessed to have good health insurance from my husband\u2019s employer. And the hospital was very quick to pick up on anomalies in my medical history \/records. This and my need to understand what was happening to me and constantly engaging my doctors. Most Nigerians think their doctors don\u2019t want to listen to them. I am not saying that this is totally wrong. But I do know that 80% of doctors appreciate patients who engage them. Because it helps to get a diagnosis faster and a treatment plan easier. Also, the silent culture here is the most effective weapon against mental health in Nigeria and what feeds stigma. Visiting the Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital Yaba and discovering its amenity clinic, I understood there was help for those seeking it. I had a platform at the time, and I used it to create that awareness to signpost people to the help they needed.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about Tunmise\u2019s life, advocacy and book here<\/a> and here<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to Muses \u2013 the arts blog from BJPsych International.<\/a> <\/em>Launched in March 2022, this new blog aims to highlight international art and artists, particularly from low-and-middle-income countries, with a focus on mental health. We welcome submissions for consideration, such as, comments on artwork, visual arts, literature, drama, films, podcasts, and videos. Do have a look at the instructions for blog authors<\/a> for details on how to submit. General enquiries about the blog: BJPInternational@rcpsych.ac.uk<\/a><\/p>

Professor David Skuse, Editor-in-Chief, BJPsych International<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The April edition of Muses \u2013 the arts blog from BJPsych International \u2013 features an interview with Tunmise Kuku, a Nigerian radio broadcaster and mental health advocate who has been open about her diagnosis of Type II Bipolar Affective Disorder. Three years ago, she took a deliberate career break to write Living Mindfully: A Journey of Being, a memoir that draws from her experiences and stories. It has been lightly edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":884,"featured_media":54114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[2582,332,9705,2578],"coauthors":[9706],"class_list":["post-53749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psych","tag-bjpsych-international","tag-mental-health","tag-muses-the-arts-blog","tag-rcpsych"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/884"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53749"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54135,"href":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53749\/revisions\/54135"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53749"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=53749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}