By Love Wilhelmina Abanonave
Chief Executive Officer of the Accra London Health Centre, Vanessa Apea, has highlighted the often overlooked issue of depression that can set in after the initial grieving period following a loss.
She noted that funerals in Ghana are significant cultural events where friends and family rally around to offer support, but the real challenge begins when everyone returns to their daily lives, leaving the bereaved to cope with solitude.
“Grieving can be paralysing. In our culture, when we have funerals, friends and family come around to show their love and support to bereaved people, but what happens in the days after, when people go back to their daily lives and the bereaved are left alone to handle the solitude?” she said.
Speaking on the GTV Breakfast Show on March 2, 2026, Dr Apea emphasised that depression is a common phenomenon and stressed the importance of recognising the signs, especially when people begin to behave differently. She listed symptoms such as heart palpitations, sweating and poor sleep.
She further encouraged those struggling with depression to speak out and seek help, noting that support resources are available.
“Communicating with people helps because we expect them to see what we’re going through, but oftentimes they may not, so let’s speak up,” she advised.
Dr Apea also explained that although anxiety and depression often overlap, they are different. She said anxiety typically affects how a person functions, while depression tends to leave individuals feeling persistently low.
She added that coping strategies such as decompression, medication, counselling sessions and psychological therapy can go a long way in the recovery process.
