PERCEPTION AND BELIEFS ABOUT THE MENTALLY ILL IN AFRICA~The Curious Case Of Thomas Matoke

Action Plan;
#Getting Accurate Information About Mental illness!!!
~5 mins read

When surveyed on their thoughts on the causes of mental illness, over a third of Nigerian respondents (34.3%) cited drug misuse, including alcohol, marijuana and street drugs as the main cause. Divine wrath and the will of God were seen as the second most prevalent reason (18.8%), followed by witchcraft/spiritual possession (11.7%). Very few cited genetics, family relationships or socioeconomic status as possible triggers.

Photo credits;mckenzie.kenya.mental health.cnn.

Thomas Matoke is a 33 year old Kenyan who got ill when he was just 3 years old and lost much of his high-level functioning. So his mother ties him up to prevent him from running away or hurting himself. 

Thomas' room is more like a cell because he is tied to a steel bed frame with a piece of blue rope. He's surrounded by pools of his urine, his mattress soiled and ripped to shreds.

His moans are interrupted when he chews his hand or the bed frame. He can't speak to tell his mother what he wants or feels. He's alone in his world of screams and agony.

When the weather is good, Thomas’ mother takes him from his makeshift cell and ties him to an acacia tree outside. If she lets him go, he runs off. What she most wants is a place where he can get proper care.But she says there is little chance of that happening.

He’s been like this for 30 years.

Countless trips to doctors and hospitals haven't helped him. And poverty means there isn't much medical help his family can afford.

"His siblings ask whether we wronged God, because we are really suffering," said his mom, Milkah Moraa. "I can't even hang his clothes outside because of the stink. The neighbors complain"(5).

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In Africa, many like Thomas' siblings view  mental illness as punishment for wronging God. While for some mental illness is viewed as the result of evil spell cast by one’s perceived enemy, or handiwork of the angry ancestral spirits who were offended.Others attribute mental illness to attack from evil unseen forces. So they seek for “solution” and cure for the mentally ill at traditional healers/marabouts and Faith healers. 

 In one study conducted in Nigeria, participants generally responded with fear, avoidance and anger to those who were observed to have a mental illness(4). The stigma linked to mental illness in that country can be attributed to a variety of factors, including lack of education, fear, religious reasoning and general prejudice(3). 

A study performed in Uganda revealed that the term ‘depression’ is not culturally acceptable among the population, suggesting that mental health issues are not acknowledged or considered a legitimate affliction(4).

On the side of the coin are those who acknowledge that “madness” definitely has  legitimate roots but there is the absence of affordable/inadequate government mental health facilities to manage the situation. The victims are left with no way out because of unaffordable high medical bills. While a handful is able get needed help at a very high cost albeit inadequate mental health homes. Photo:The conditions sufferred by Ghanians menatl health patients in state-run psychiatric facilities in Ghana~by Josephkay.

The so called “mad persons” are typically left untreated or attended to. They are either abandoned by their family members to roam about the streets or tied up in chains in isolated home away from the public due to “shame”, stigma without any form medical attention. 

For instance, in Nigeria, an old prison in Eket, is filled with people suffering from mental illness. They are chained, with barely any food, absolutely no medical attention, and are left to rot on sandy floors. They simply exist, and then die, shrinking away to nothing.

 Across Kenya, millions of mentally disabled people are hidden away: locked up and forgotten, often by families who can't get them proper treatment(5).

We now know that mental health is a deeply stigmatized area in most if not all of Africa due to a lack of education about the reality of mental illness, fear, religious reasoning and general prejudice.

So how do you personally view "madness"/mental illness or "mad people"/mentally illness?"madness" or mental illness what is the proper usage of these words?

 What is truly the root cause of this severe and often disabling difficulties that can leave a person isolated, frightened, unable to work, unable to function, at odds with friends, loved ones, and society, agitated, raw, despairing and suicidal?

Your Action Plan therefore, must be to get accurate information about what is actually going on with mental illness!!!

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References

~ (1).‘Investing in mental health’, World Health Organization, 2003, http://www.who.int. 

Ibid.

~ (2).Gordon, A., ‘Mental health remains an invisible problem in Africa’, Think Africa Press, 8 September 2011, http://thinkafricapress.com.

~ (3).Arboleda-Florez, J., 2002. What causes stigma? World Psychiatry, 1(1), pp. 25–26. 

~ (4). Kabir, M., et al., 2004. Perception and beliefs about mental illness among adults in Karfi village, northern Nigeria. Bio Med Central International Health and Human Rights, 4(3), pp. 1-5. 

~(5). CNN~“World’s Untold Stories”)