Rather than offering medication or positioning herself as a replacement for professional mental health services, she has chosen another tool: the power of words.
Through two personal development books published in March 2026, Nyagado is encouraging readers to look beyond the surface of behaviours and confront the emotional issues that may be driving them.
The books, titled The Radiant Thrivers: Dismantling Toxic Dynamics and Fragile Barriers, are aimed at promoting self-reflection, emotional regulation, resilience, mindfulness and personal development.
In an exclusive interview with The Point, Nyagado described the publications as “ground-breaking personal transformation guides” that also serve as assistive therapeutic resources.
She said the books cover areas including self-actualisation, emotional regulation, mindfulness, practical gratitude exercises and resilience, with the broader objective of helping individuals understand themselves and develop healthier ways of dealing with emotional difficulties.
“My aim is to uproot the ills of society, heal and restore positive emotional well-being by instilling a sense of empowerment in ourselves and others for personal and social advancement,” she said.
According to Nyagado, the books are intended to provide readers with practical tools for confronting anxiety, depression and other psychological challenges while promoting emotional education as an important component of personal development.
She explained that her approach combines contemporary literature and modern psychology with other disciplines, including Islamic education and Eastern philosophies such as mindfulness.
The books, she said, connect concepts such as Ruh, Qalb and Nafs with scientifically validated approaches to personal development and emotional well-being.
Rather than focusing exclusively on mental disorders, Nyagado said her work places emphasis on “flourishing” by encouraging self-reflection, healthier environments, community action and mindfulness as ways of preventing emotional and psychological difficulties.
One of the central messages in Nyagado’s books is the need for society to look beyond outward behaviour and examine the emotional needs that may lie underneath.
She pointed to the relationship between parents and children as one area where emotional education is particularly important.
In some homes, she noted, parents may struggle to create enough emotional closeness with their children because of work, social pressures or other responsibilities.
According to her, this emotional distance can have lasting consequences for children’s well-being and development.
She therefore advocates greater parental responsiveness and emotional connection between parents and children.
“We have witnessed children resort to drugs, violence and harmful sexual activities, and we think they are just being irresponsible or badly raised,” Nyagado said.
“But beneath the surface of the misbehaviours lies unrestrained needs for emotional closeness, which requires healthy regulation skills.”
She believes similar emotional challenges can also be found among adults, where unresolved experiences may manifest through harmful behaviours.
Nyagado cited addiction, domestic abuse, gender-based violence and unhealthy lifestyles as examples of behaviours that may sometimes be connected to unresolved emotional baggage.
“We think they are just wasted lives, but beneath the surface may be unresolved emotional baggage, which they are intentionally or unintentionally unloading on others, because they may not have been taught how to regulate themselves without harming themselves or others,” she said.
For Nyagado, the solution requires society to place greater emphasis on emotional education alongside conventional education.
She said her books highlight what she considers some of the essential skills needed for personal, social and psychological development, including emotional intelligence, self-control, empathy, mindfulness and resilience.
She is also urging readers, parents, teachers and communities to avoid immediately judging people based solely on their behaviour.
“As the author, I advise my readers to look beneath the surface of behaviours or issues and tackle the root causes,” she said. “This is how we can eliminate harm and toxicity in ourselves and in other people for social advancement.”
Nyagado’s campaign comes at a time when conversations around mental health are increasingly entering public discourse in The Gambia, particularly concerning young people and the pressures they face at home, in schools and within their communities.
While she acknowledges that professional psychological and medical interventions remain important, she believes personal reflection and emotional education can complement those interventions.
For the young teacher-turned-author, the objective is therefore bigger than publishing books.
She wants her work to encourage people to understand their emotions, recognise unhealthy patterns and develop healthier ways of responding to life’s difficulties.
Her message is simple: before judging a behaviour, society should ask what may be happening beneath the surface.
