“Doc, don’t you think most mental illnesses are spiritual attacks?”

This is a common question I encounter during some of our mental health awareness campaign programs. More often than not most people refer to episodes of mental breakdown as periods of “attacks”.

I consider myself as also being a spiritual person however here is my usual response to this commonly asked question

1. I believe that mental illnesses are not more spiritual than other physical illnesses. For instance the Bible listed madness¹ as a curse however it also listed fever², inflammation¹, burning fever¹ and blindness² as curses too. Do we then say when someone is blind or has a fever for instance, that he or she is cursed or demon possessed? The Bible records that Jesus cast out a demon from a ‘mad’ man and after the demons left, the man became sane.³ The same Bible recorded that Jesus also cast out a demon from a speech impaired (dumb) man too and the man started speaking.⁴ So will it be logical to argue that because of this isolated report that “majority” of speech impaired (dumb) persons are possessed? If this-"majority deduction"- doesn’t apply to the speech impaired why then is it different regarding mental illnesses?

 

 2.     Because science cannot explain the actual cause of most mental illnesses then it must be spiritual. Well you see it was just in the 19^th century – 1873 to be precise – that G.H. Armauer Hansen isolated the bacteria – Mycobacterium Leprae – that causes leprosy even though for thousands of years prior to that discovery leprosy was believed to be largely a curse from God or the gods. My point here is that because something is a popular belief for thousands of years does not make it true. I also believe that it is just a matter of time that causes of various mental illnesses will be better understood just like Leprosy is now better understood despite thousands of years of wrong myths and ignorance.

Like I said earlier, I consider myself a spiritual person and a man of faith, but the aim of this post is to cause a rethink of the notion that mental illnesses are largely “spiritual attacks”. This popularly held belief, particularly in Africa, has prevented many from seeking more appropriate and effective treatments that could have helped with many unnecessary years of suffering.

Let’s spread the awareness and not the stigma because "When you are better educated about what you are dealing with, then you're never without hope." Remember that people with mental illness can live more optimally fulfilling lives therefore talk to a professional today.

 

*Bible References: 1. Deuteronomy 28:28; 2. Deuteronomy 28:22; 3. Matthew 8: 28-34; 4. Luke 11: 14

 

NB: I gladly look forward to your comments, contributions and questions.

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Chioma’s Story: Demystifying Mental Illness series Part One

The day was Saturday August 1^st, 2015 when Chioma walked into my consulting room in the company of Chijioke, her husband. They had been married for about 5 years and had two lovely kids. Chioma was looking unkempt and appeared lost in a world of her own as she did not respond to any of my questions. Chijioke informed me that she had been this way in the last two years. She no longer participated in taking care of their young children. She always had to be persuaded and sometimes coerced to even attend to her personal hygiene like taking her bath, brushing her teeth and dressing up. Most times she just sat in a corner of the house almost motionless for hours. She had completely changed from her fun loving, caring and cheerful self. And this ‘strange’ behavior had persisted for almost two years.

Chijioke informed me that Chioma’s family members had taken her to various spiritual homes. Even though they had given various reasons for the cause of this strange illness every intervention did not seem to improve her situation. She was not getting any better therefore he had now finally decided to seek medical intervention and said he decided to go ahead without telling any of Chioma’s family members.

Following Chioma’s assessment, a diagnosis of schizophrenia was made and she was placed on medications. She returned two weeks later, this time she was better dressed and better kempt. In her husband’s words “she had made obvious improvement and was now about 60% her normal self before the illness.” She was sent home again to continue with the treatment. She then returned two weeks later, that is 28 days after her very first visit, and she had made even far more significant improvement. Chijioke reported that she was now engaged in the house chores and was now taking care of her children once again. In his own words she was now 99% are normal self.

This is about 4 months later and Chioma is still doing very fine. She is still on medications but more importantly she has got her life back. She can once again be a great wife to her darling husband and fantastic mum to her lovely children. You can imagine that this problem that lasted for 2 years was cheaply addressed in simply one month. The biggest challenge to mental illness, especially in counties like mine-Nigeria, is not the illness itself but ignorance about how to appropriately address this illness.

As far back as 1952, the first antipsychotic medication was created and the advents of antipsychotics have since revolutionized the management of such mental illnesses. I was inspired to share this story following a discussion I had with a new friend I met on Facebook (you know yourself) about the reality of the ignorance that still beclouds a lot of people, especially in Nigeria, from seeking proper care for their loved ones.

Let’s spread the awareness and not the stigma because "When you are better educated about what you are dealing with, then you're never without hope." Remember that people with mental illness can live more optimally fulfilling lives therefore talk to a professional today.

*Though the story is true, the real names of the individuals involved have not been used for confidential purpose.

Picture credit: culled from google images

4 Ways to help a loved one during a Manic Crisis

A manic crisis can be challenging especially for family members, friends and colleagues of the individual who is having a crisis. A manic crisis is one of the two-sided poles of a bipolar disorder which is also called a manic-depressive disorder.

Here are some few first aid tips to help deal with a manic situation in a loved one…

 

1.     Familiarize yourself with signs and symptoms of the illness so as to possibly detect the crisis early

A manic crisis is usually characterized by poor sleep or a reduced need for sleep. Characteristically, the affected individual sleeps for less than 4 hours daily. When awake they often busy themselves ‘noisily’ around the house, e.g. they may decide to watch T.V or play music aloud in the early hours of the day. You will also notice that the individual becomes either unusually happy or easily irritable. The individual may also become restless, hyperactive, talkative, and/ or become unusually disrespectful to others.

 

2.    Tactically engage the Individual who is having the crisis

During a manic crisis, the affected individual may make hurtful comments or act in annoying ways. It is very important during a crisis not to take these words or actions personally even though they are offensive. Communication may be difficult during a manic crisis therefore as much as possible stay calm and make your statements brief and simple. Even though the affected individual is easily irritable, they are not very likely to become physically aggressive with their loved ones.

3.     Seek for Help

Don’t handle a crisis alone. Reach out to other family members, friends and a professional. A manic crisis will always require proper intervention. This may sometimes mean admitting the individual in a hospital. Getting the individual to go for treatment during a crisis period may sometimes be very difficult since the affected individual often assumes that “there is nothing currently wrong with them”. I suggest that “forceful intervention” should always be the last resort after more respectfully humane and less traumatic approaches have failed. If possible, do engage the help of a professional as a guide and support to ensure the best approach for managing the crisis.

4.    Develop a Crisis Plan

During a phase of normalcy, i.e. when the individual is out of the woods, it is important to come up with a crisis plan. This plan should be placed somewhere the individual can easily assess it and it should also be shared with family members, friends and possibly colleagues. Among other things a crisis plan contains things like things you or others can do to help during a crisis and phone numbers of your health care provider.

 

 Final words, if you have a bipolar disorder, you are better off maintaining and staying on your ‘mood stabilizer’ medication rather than taking them intermittently. Just like the regular household electrical appliance, your gadgets are safer being constantly connected through the stabilizer rather than waiting for power fluctuations to occur before reconnecting them to the stabilizer.

Remember that people with mental illness can live more optimally fulfilling lives therefore talk to a professional today.