The commemoration of the Genocide against the Tutsi is often characterised by an increase in cases of mental health challenges, especially among the survivors.

ALSO READ: Govt reassures Genocide survivors of mental health support

Every year, medics from Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) get ready to support those who find themselves affected by such issues, most prevalent of which is depression followed by post traumatic stress disorder.

While the medics are doing their work, members of the community can as well play a role in caring for those that are affected by mental health issues.

Here are a couple of things that RBC recommends people to do to assist a person who shows signs of trauma.

Identifying signs of trauma in a person

According to RBC, a person with mental health challenges can show extreme sorrow, may cry, depict a lot of fear, shock or panic, may shout out, are restless, and some even see hallucinations of attackers coming to kill them, so they try to hide or flee.

ALSO READ: World Mental Health Day: 5 most prevalent mental illnesses in Rwanda

Make effort to take them out of a crowd

In case the traumatised person is in a crowd, it is important that those who are offering them support take them out of the crowd to a quiet place, and does not have a lot of people.

Comforting and listening to them

Being close to the traumatised person, comforting them, and listening to them (but not forcing them to tell you what happened to them in the past) is also important.

If they fail to stabilise, call for medical support

In case the affected person is not getting back to their normal state, RBC says you need to call the medics. There are a number of telephone numbers that have been provided for the public to call if they need support.

These include:

- 114

- 912

- 112

- 7494

- 1024

- 5476

- 2060

- 2100

- 0788381542

These contacts belong to RBC and its various partners who are into supporting people affected by mental health issues.