Diepcity actress Nozuko Ntshangase (29) recently shared intimate details about living with depression and how she is making it through daily.
The Port Shepstone, KwaZulu Natal-born actress spoke candidly about attempting suicide three times and how she is now in a much better space and would like to give tips on how she has made it through a dark time in her life.
“I was a bit unsure of sharing this information because I am not a doctor. But I want someone who is currently going through what I have been through to relate, to learn, and find a way out. Maybe there’s someone who needs this.”
Nozuko has never seen a specialist or a psychologist but feels her depression started when she was in her teens.
“It started in my adolescent age. But now that I understand life and I am older I understand depression.” She recalls the first suicide attempt. “I was scared. I remember I didn’t want to die,” she says.
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“I used pills, Allergex. We always had Allergex at home. I remember feeling drowsy, but I didn’t get sick. I never went into the hospital,” she says.
At the time, she was 16 years old. Her second attempt was at 17 years old going on 18 years old and having just lost a friend. Nozuko says she tried to kill herself by drinking paraffin.
“I fought with my mom that morning and I lost it. When she left for work, I got into the toilet and drank paraffin. My little sister walked in. I am not proud of this moment, but I was going through a lot of pain,” she says.
“My little sister asked me what I was doing but I told her to leave. Nothing happened, thank God I didn’t get sick, but I was farting the whole time,” she says. Her last attempt was when she was 24 years old and she took Allergex pills again. After her last attempt, her partner helped to get rid of all the pills.
“The person I was dating at the time got rid of all the pills and we had a serious talk about my problem with suicide,” she says.
“But things got worse because I was in a toxic relationship and my depression was skyrocketing. I experienced the worst depression then but thank God that at the time I had built some strength.”
Nozuko goes on to say her family was unaware of her suicide attempts and issues with depression. “I don’t know how they are going to feel about this. But it was never about anyone else, it was about how I felt,” she says.
Nozuko shares five tips that helped her beat depression: meditation, journaling, finding your identity, unlocking your creative imagination, and the fifth actioning your thoughts and dreams.
“I don’t want to be religious, but Meditation relaxes your mind. I started with five minutes with guided meditation. Journaling, it is important to write down your thoughts. Finding your identity is asking yourself the right questions like who you are, what do you like where you are going and how are you getting there. Unlocking your imagination will go as far as you feed it. Actioning means walking the talk to achieve the goals,” she says.