How a NPO is offering cost-free therapy sessions to the youth

Mental health has never been so topical, as organisations, public figures and online conversations all try to educate about and destigmatise the problem.

Suffering from anxiety and depression can be a lonely experience and in tough times like these it gets even more difficult to cope.

Young people are dealing with the pressures of school, unemployment, pressures to be breadwinners and feeling the need to hide their struggles.

Now, a non-profit organisation has been launched to give young people suffering from mental health issues free therapy. Hope Guardians wants to provide thousands of young people professional therapy sessions in its first year.

Speaking to The Citizen, founder Ben Tuttle spontaneously decided to take a trip to Cape Town when he was in Zimbabwe. He found that three out of four South Africans suffering from mental health issues didn’t get any help and this is how the idea blossomed.

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Tips to cope

• Talk to a family member or friends, have open up conversations that could help build a support system
• Taking exercise, yoga, or meditate, help reduce the anxiety stress
• Diet
• Therapy

People can sign up on www.hopeguardians.com, where they are matched with a trained professional therapist for free virtual, weekly sessions.