How #BellaNaijaWCW Paula Aliu is Tackling Mental Health Challenges in Nigeria with Cogno-Aid

Thanks to social media and the internet, the world is now seeing the prevalence of mental health illnesses among the human race. However, the prevalence of the illness is not just the only problem; one of the biggest problems will be finding the right person to talk to as well as people actually opening up about it.

The challenge of not finding the right person to talk to who will listen well without judging or downplaying your experience is the largest contributor to the covertness of mental illness. Another issue is financial accessibility as most therapy sessions cost a lot money.

Thanks to our #BellaNaijaWCW this week Paula Aliu, these challenges are being eliminated through the platform she created – Cogno-Aid.

Cogno-Aid is an online therapy service that allows clients the ability to have standard remote psycho-therapy (talk-therapy) sessions with mental health therapists.

Clients get access to mental health professionals through a subscription-based account in partnership with Nigeria’s National Medical Board.

It’s a win-win for all parties as clients get the needed help in a secure platform, and professionals reach a greater number of clients.

Paula has been fascinated with computers since she was a toddler and this culminated in her getting a degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Lagos.

While in secondary school, Paula struggled to fit in socially and spoke to a counsellor about her challenges. That was when she realised that mental health was highly stigmatized in her community.

Losing a friend to suicide while in the university also pushed her to start Cogno-Aid, to help people access their needed help easily and securely.

Paula is a Windows’ #Insiders4Good Fellow and a freelance software developer and we applaud her for contributing to tackling mental health challenges in Nigeria.

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