Six years ago, Annie Wanjiru was diagnosed with depression and schizophrenia (a chronic and severe mental disorder). This was after a failed suicide attempt.
“All my life I had felt that something was not right - I struggled with shyness and lack of interest although I was a bright student. When I went to university, I could hardly read, I felt mixed up and confused. I even went to see a psychiatrist, and he diagnosed excessive thinking and gave me some tablets which seemed to make the situation worse.”
Things did not get any better after university as the struggle of job hunting took a toll on her.
“I took on some personal projects and when these did not go as expected, I started to deteriorate both mentally and physically. Once I got a job, I could hardly work - I would go to the office and stare at the computer the whole day.
My boss realised there was a problem and I was sent on compulsory leave. However, instead of going to see a doctor, I started looking for another job. It took nearly eight years for me to accept that I was mentally ill but once I did, I started taking my medication consistently and now have confidence,” she says.
Annie, who holds a Bachelor degree in Maths and Chemistry, is today self-employed.
Elizabeth Ombati, a journalist by profession works with the Users and Survivors of Psychiatry (USP) in Kenya as the Learning, Monitoring and Evaluation officer.
Elizabeth, who is using her platform to create awareness on mental health, was diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorder in 2009. She says her symptoms started out as shyness, from an early age, with the same feelings following her through college and to her work place.
“I have quit four jobs because of the anxiety which comes with low self-esteem. I opted to join USP since it is a support group of persons with mental disabilities and their caregivers,” she said.
Elizabeth said USP uses peer support group members to offer psycho-social support to each other. They encourage their members to be advocates and speak up against stigma and discrimination.
Director of Mental Health at the Ministry of Health Dr Simon Njuguna says determinants of mental health and mental disorders include not only individual attributes such as the ability to manage one’s thoughts, emotions, behaviours, but also social, cultural, economic, political and environmental factors.
“The status of health is a major challenge in the country. People do not place emphasis on mental health as they do physical well-being. Stigma and discrimination is also a challenge,” Dr Njuguna said.
He says some people associate mental illness with socio-cultural beliefs due to lack of understanding.
“Some people associate hallucinations to cultural and spiritual beliefs. They think one is possessed by demons or view it as a curse, they do not consider it a disease. This influences their attitude hence people with mental illness are denied their rights, ignored or associated with certain stereotypes,” observes Dr Njuguna.
The doctor however, notes that mental illness should be managed like any other disease saying people should focus on its prevention.
“To do so, people should try as much as possible to live in less stressful and traumatic situations, address poverty, live in good health and engage in some form of physical exercise since this improves mental fitness.
Embrace life skills for young people, sharpen parenting skills and improve on maternal and child health. Early detection of the disease and seeking for early medical intervention is also paramount,” Dr Njuguna advised.
He said Kenya currently has 90 psychiatrists with one of these medics catering to about 30,000 people.
According to the 2015 - 2030 Kenya Mental Health Policy, one in every four outpatients (25 per cent) and four in every ten (40 per cent) of in-patients in health facilities suffer from a mental condition.
The most frequent of diagnosis of mental illnesses made in general hospital settings are depression, substance abuse, stress and anxiety disorders.
The policy notes that the prevalence of mental disorders may also be attributed to the noted cases of suicide, homicides and violence at household level.
