The
day was Saturday August 1st, 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
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