Kenya is experiencing a rapid increase in suicides, mental health illnesses and substance use.
There is inadequate data and information on the prevalence of mental disorders in Kenya.
However, it is estimated that up to 25 percent of outpatients and up to 40 percent of in-patients in health facilities have mental illnesses.
The most frequent diagnoses of mental illnesses made in hospitals are depression, substance abuse, and stress-related and anxiety disorders.
Violence, disasters, conflicts, unemployment and poverty are some of the causes of mental illnesses.
It is estimated that 50 percent of all mental disorders start by 14 years of age and 75 percent by the age of 24.
Three individuals recently opened up about their journey dealing with mental health after attempted suicides.
When post-election violence erupted in 2007/2008, Sandra Khisa was just 13 years old and in primary school. She lived with her family in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County, the epicentre of the worst violence in Kenya since independence.
Ms Khisa, now 27, said neighbours who had lived together for years turned against each other, with some dying and a majority losing their properties.
Even though Kenya moved on after the intervention of world leaders, the event marked the beginning of Ms Khisa’s battle with mental illness.
She started experiencing anxiety attacks, and her condition worsened when she joined St Joseph’s Chepterit Girls Secondary School in Kapsabet.
The once social, outgoing girl was now withdrawn from everyone.
“There was a lot of stigma and discrimination due to what I was going through. I spent time alone and people thought I was a snub. I kept saying I was unwell and the other students thought I was seeking attention.”
In Form Three, she attempted suicide but failed, and she had to live with what happened as no one around her knew what she had done.
“How I relate to people changed because during the post-election violence it was neighbours turning against neighbours, so I lost trust in people.”
It took a motivational speaker at school to make Ms Khisa realise she was sick.
“He mentioned withdrawal and isolation from others, lack of motivation to do things that once made me happy and fulfilled, extreme fluctuating moods like snapping at others for petty reasons, lack of happiness no matter the event and overall feeling of gloom and sadness.”
She only went to a hospital while at university and was diagnosed with depression but was never treated for it. Medicines were expensive, and the facility did not have a counselling department.
It took a family member who had experienced depression to get her to start therapy. But she had a relapse along her healing journey, and people around her noticed.
“I did not have healthy coping mechanisms and at some point I started relapsing. I have learnt healthy coping mechanisms like journaling, taking walks and working out,” she said, adding that relapse is normal and part of the mental health journey.
She now shares mental health information on her social media platforms after realising many people lack the information.
Mental illness
The mother of a three-month-old son said speaking out is a crucial part of healing, and many who go through mental illness are unaware of this.
Sandra Khisa.
“In African societies, mental health is a taboo topic, but it’s high time we speak about it. Speaking up is what gets you help. Even though it came with many challenges, I got the help and I am much better now.”
Julian Onyango was raised in a toxic family as his father was an alcoholic and his mother left the children to him.
“He was very happy when drunk and very harsh when sober. Growing up, I was full of hate, anger, distorted moods, and most of the time, for me to be happy, I had to drink a lot of alcohol, because alcohol was a normal thing in the house,” Mr Onyango said.
He started drinking at the age of eight. The situation got worse in 2000 when his father was sent on early retirement, forcing them to relocate from Kisumu to their rural home in Siaya, where his mother was residing.
Mr Onyango performed well in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and was to join Kisumu Boys High School or Nyabondo High School, but because of financial constraints he joined Mwer High School.
“I performed well in my final exams in Standard Eight, but because of financial issues in the family, I was taken to a different school, and no one bothered to ask if I was ok with the new school.”
He took alcohol for 17 years and attempted suicide three times, and people around him did not realise he had other problems.
“I lost my network that brought in income. I sold everything in the house just to get high. It got to a point where my wife asked me to leave the house.”
His father died in 2010 due to alcohol-related health problems. Years later, in 2014, he lost his brother in the same circumstances.
His late brother left behind a journal with secrets no one knew, including Mr Onyango. “When I read the journal, things went haywire, and drinking became worse.”
Fight back
Family and friends took him to several prayer houses in Nairobi but that did not help.
Julian Onyango.
In 2019 he felt he had two options: die or fight back. He decided to seek help. After the second evaluation, he was diagnosed with bipolar II, which involves periods of depression and periods of elevated mood called hypomania.
Apart from bipolar, alcohol had severely damaged his liver and kidneys, so he had to start treatment immediately. It’s now close to three years on his journey to recovery.
“I would go for therapy for my mental health problem and I would go for treatment for my liver and kidneys problem.”
The 36-year-old now spends his free time at the gym for detox from the alcohol he took for 17 years and his mental well-being.
For Waweru Muthumbi, his depression, substance abuse and anxiety drugs started from rejection.
The last-born in a family of five siblings joined Form One in 2001, and no one bothered to visit him at his school.
“I become alone from there. I would take myself to school and back home. That made me feel rejected. My three siblings were in boarding school, and I would always see how mum prepared to visit them. I expected the same thing, and it never happened.”
He was later transferred to a nearby school after he thought the distance made it impossible for the family to visit, but no one visited him even at the new school, which was closer to home.
In the third term when he was in Form Three, he was introduced to alcohol. Little did he know that this was the beginning of a dark ditch that he could not climb out of.
“I was drinking all through my high school years, and it got worse after, because there was no pocket money that I could use to buy the alcohol. I had to look for the means of getting alcohol, and I started drinking the cheapest liquor I could get.”
He gradually started using drugs like bhang.
Waweru Muthumbi.
The 2007/2008 post-election violence worsened his drinking problem as he was left to care for his sick mother.
The violence had left them homeless, as they were displaced, and he moved in with his girlfriend, who was accommodating enough to take in his sick mother, sister and niece.
Leave the baby
At the end of 2008, he had a baby, who added more responsibility to an already jobless man taking care of his sick mother and dealing with a drinking problem.
The pressure was too much for him to handle, and he contemplated ending his life and that of his girlfriend and child.
“With all that pressure, the thought of taking my own life crossed my mind. I did not want to leave the baby and the mother, so I wanted to end all their lives. However, someone came into the house and the plan backfired.”
In the span of 15 years, Mr Muthumbi attempted suicide three times.
While still in Eldoret, in 2016, he was diagnosed with depression and anxiety, but he had to be treated for alcoholism first.
In 2018, he decided to relocate from Eldoret to Nairobi to start over again.
That same year, he became suicidal and took himself to Mathari Hospital.
“I did not get anyone to help me, and security officers tied me to a bench for three hours, and later police officers arrested and took me to the Muthaiga Police Station.”
After was released, he went to Chiromo Mental Hospital, was diagnosed with severe clinical depression and anxiety and placed on medication and therapy.
“Once I realised I had depression, the journey was easy as I knew how to handle things. If I had been placed on medication in 2016, I would not have had this recurrence.”
He says that many mental illnesses relate to how someone was brought up.
At some point in their battle with mental illness, Ms Khisa, Mr Onyango and Mr Muthumbi have tried to take their own lives.
When people with mental illnesses want to end their lives, said clinical psychologist Emily Mutheu, it’s not about dying.
“It’s ending the unbearable sociological suffering, pain and at that point, they are not reasoning like ordinary people, they are having irrational thoughts. Their brains magnify what they are going through, and their minds are reading that this has no end,” she said.
There is always a sign of suicide before it happens, she said, but people do not pay attention.
“People tend to withdraw and pull away from others, and they will always talk about ending their lives. They might start giving away their belongings, keep saying goodbyes but going nowhere and even say they see no meaning in living.” These, she said, are signs to watch out for from patients with mental illnesses.
People should not take any suicidal threat lightly, she stressed.
Ms Khisa, Mr Onyango and Mr Muthumbi agreed that a support system is crucial in the journey of those dealing with mental illness.
They urged the government to decriminalise suicide. Chapter 63, Section 226 of the Penal Code stipulates that any person who attempts to kill themselves is guilty of a misdemeanour. The penalty is up to two years in prison or a fine or both.
“These people are sick. You do not take sick people to a police station, you take them to a hospital where they can heal,” Ms Khisa said. BY NATION MEDIA