Aminu Ibrahim Shehu, a marketing consultant psychiatrist at Aminu Kano Educating Hospital (AKTH), has beneficial a overview of the curriculum of journalism coaching establishments in Nigeria to include trauma journalism.
He additionally cautioned Nigerian journalists to take deliberate mental-health precautions as they proceed to work beneath intense deadline strain, fast-paced information cycles and emotionally demanding assignments.
Shehu made the options on Saturday whereas delivering a paper on the Kano Correspondents’ Chapel 2025 Retreat, organised with the assist of the Kano State Authorities and held in Kaduna.
He mentioned journalists face distinctive psychosocial dangers because of the nature of their work, stressing that unmanaged stress may result in burnout, nervousness problems, despair and different psychiatric challenges.
In response to him, the rising competitors inside newsrooms, strain to interrupt tales, poisonous on-line environments, and fixed publicity to traumatic occasions place journalists among the many most susceptible skilled teams.
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“Deadline strain has grow to be a big mental-health concern in Nigerian newsrooms. Many journalists work for lengthy hours, beneath tight timelines, and with restricted management over the tempo of occasions. This fixed strain can overwhelm the mind, impair judgment, and set off psychiatric signs,” Shehu acknowledged.
He suggested journalists to pay shut consideration to early warning indicators comparable to issue concentrating, irritability, emotional exhaustion, sleep disturbance, and emotions of panic or helplessness, noting that these signs shouldn’t be ignored.
Shehu outlined a number of precautions to assist journalists cope higher, together with breaking duties into manageable segments, planning forward to scale back last-minute rush, taking brief breaks throughout manufacturing, and minimising overstimulation from social media or extreme caffeine.
He additionally urged reporters and editors to hunt assist from colleagues, supervisors, or mental-health professionals every time workload turns into overwhelming.
“It isn’t a weak spot for journalists to confess they’re beneath psychological pressure. Early intervention protects psychological operate, prevents burnout, and finally improves the standard of journalism,” he mentioned.
The psychiatrist emphasised the necessity for Nigerian media organisations to determine mental-health assist methods for his or her workers, comparable to trauma debriefings, workload rotation, and entry to counseling providers, particularly for reporters masking crime, battle, disasters, and different high-stress beats.
He referred to as for a shift in newsroom tradition, stressing that more healthy journalists produce extra correct, moral, and impactful reporting.
“Newsrooms should perceive that psychological wellbeing is integral to professionalism. When journalists collapse beneath strain, society suffers as a result of the standard of knowledge suffers,” Shehu added.
Shehu inspired journalists who expertise persistent nervousness, despair, panic assaults, or trauma signs to hunt skilled care with out stigma, warning that untreated mental-health circumstances may escalate into extra extreme problems.
He urged media practitioners to prioritise relaxation, hydration, wholesome consuming, and post-deadline restoration, describing these as easy however highly effective instruments for sustaining long-term psychological resilience.
The decision comes amid rising concern about stress-related well being challenges in Nigeria’s media business, the place many reporters juggle a number of beats, irregular pay, security dangers, and a fast-moving digital panorama.
