Ngare Kariuki, a trained civil engineer, professional journalist and a practising PR consultant is a living example that one can be a victim of mental illness and build a reputation in life. Ngare was diagnosed with depression about three years ago. However, he has lived with the condition for well over fifteen years, only that he did not know.
He was lucky to get a doctor’s advice just in time as his condition was already at a very vital stage and he had to be put under medication immediately.
With a smile, he recounts how his mother reacted on learning about his condition: “For my mother, it was a mixture of relief, confusion and sadness at the same time.” It was then that it dawned on her what her husband, Ngare’s dad had been struggling with for years. Ngare’s dad passed away when he was in form three but nobody really knew that he had depression as well.
Ngare is on constant medication and he fears that that this could be the case for the rest of his life. He also goes for counselling sessions once in a while. One of the challenges he has had to deal with is training his close friends and family how to deal with him. In his words, most people do not know how to help him ease the impact of depression and opt to keep distance instead.
Having been married for well over a year now, Ngare’s main fear is to one day have a child suffering from the same condition as him, his dad and grandfather before him. He, however, is open about it and plans to bring up his children in an open family in terms of communication unlike his case growing up without much knowledge about his condition.
He takes us through his life story as a depression victim: