Lebo Mashile’s Mental Illness Struggles

Poet and former TV Presenter, Lebo Mashile has a few tips on how she copes with her mental illness struggles. With almost everyone being on Lockdown, unsure of their future, depression, and anxiety could be slowly creeping up on the masses.

Lebo who has always been upfront about her mental health took to Twitter to dissect her current mental state. In a lengthy thread, she said that about two years ago she finally had the guts to confront her depression and to “talk” to it in order to understand what it was trying to tell her.

“lt looked like a dementor (Harry Potter) and I play a game with myself when I can feel myself getting dragged in to the quick sand, I asked myself where my depression is and how big is it…” she tweeted.

“Sometimes my depression is outside on the steps like a small child, sometimes at the gig & sometimes it is a 7th giant, wrapped around me.”

The dark feelings gave way to the realisation that her depression came at a time when she didn’t have the right tools to process the trauma.

“Since then, I practiced to listen to my depression. What it is telling me that I don’t want to confront. I can now use my depression to confront my own spiritual issues.”

Her fans thanked her for her transparency and also shared their own personal struggles.

The poet has always been vocal about a lot of issues including domestic violence.  She once slammed men for not speaking out against sexual abuse. She was quoted: “Kana when you tell SA men to be accountable, they say you’re bashing them and playing the victim.

Main Image Credit: W24