The Executive Director of Weinglo Family International and a renowned mental health advocate, Gloria Boatemaa Andoh, has urged the public, especially celebrities and creatives, to pay attention to their mental health and stop living fake lives.
In an interview with Asoreba Thunderh, host of Onua Showbiz on Onua FM 95.1 as the world marks World Mental Health Day on Saturday October 10, 2026, Gloria Andoh mentioned that “Peer pressure, the pressure of wanting to be something that one is not. Most of the celebrities are not content with what they have and put themselves under pressure to prove that they are what they are not.
“They want to show off but most of them are living fake lives and that impose unnecessary pressure on them because they are always in need of money to maintain the fake lives.”
The suicide prevention activist explained that Mental Health is the state of the mind. What you think is how you behave whether happy or sad. Anything that puts you through stress and makes you not to think straight is an indicator that your mental health is at stake.
She added that there are certain things that affect a person’s mental health such as; the death of a loved one or the loss of something dear, marital problems, unemployment, exams failure, and how the individual is able to cope with the situation.
According to data from the World Health Organization and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, more than 1.2 billion people (roughly 1 in 7 people) worldwide live with a mental health disorder. Women are disproportionately affected (e.g., 620 million women vs. 552 million men), and adolescents and young adults aged 15 to 19 face a rising share of the burden.
Madam Andoh stressed that the things that people write or post on their social media statuses and timelines can indicate their state of mental health.
“When someone writes on the status: The world can go on better without me. Life is meaningless, I am hopeless or start dressing anyhow, stops socializing and withdraws from the things she or he loves to do, and usually starts giving away things and favors, it should signal that there is something wrong with the person’s mental health that you have to find out” Andoh emphasized.
She advised that people should prioritize their mental health, feel free to visit the hospitals to speak to psychiatrists or psychologists to ascertain their state of mental health just as they would go to the lab to test for malaria and other illnesses.
“Remember that the world and the people around you will move on without you, so let your mental health be important to you and focus on making yourself better, don’t be shy to seek help because of what people would say” she admonished.
World Mental Health Day 2026 was observed on Saturday, October 10, 2026, with the official theme “Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change”.
As part of the events to commemorate the day, Weinglo Family International in partnership with Ghana Tennis Federation organized an eight club tennis tournament under theme: ‘Changing the Narrative on Mental Health through Sports’ to raise awareness and wipe out the stigma attached to mental health. The event which took place at AMTEC, 37 in Accra included free screening and mental health education for all the patrons.
By Samuel Afriyie Owusu
