The Sunday Mail
Emmanuel Kafe
Society has a terrible secret that has been hidden from the world for so long, that of individuals who barely exist.
People who have been abandoned and forgotten and are often times neglected and abused by their families.
These are the people with mental illness.
They are banished to the dark corners of the community. They live in locked, darkened rooms, chained and isolated in inhuman conditions.
One such character is Mordecai Muperi.
Muperi started manifesting signs of mental illness at the tender age of 15 and it got worse as he grew older.
Eventually, his mother decided to tie him up.
Since then, Muperi, now 24, has been living in chains and in the dark.
Attempts to get him rehabilitated were in vain.
“I have tried but nothing has worked, they keep referring me from one institution to another,” his distraught mother said dejectedly.
When she needs to do some errands, Muperi’s mother leaves him in a room with nothing but blankets and food to sustain him until her return.
Muperi, like many other mental patients, have noone to turn to in a society where stigma and discrimination against the mentally ill is deeply entrenched.
Most families opt to “chain”, hide the mentally challenged and pretend that they do not exist.
Health experts say mental illness ranges from common disorders like depression and anxiety to severe ones like psychosis, schizophrenia and bipolar disorders.
People suffering from mental illness have largely been ignored and ostracised by a culture whose traditional beliefs dictate that they should be avoided like a plague.
There is a general perception that mentally challenged people are under some form of spiritual attack and families with such members are ashamed to be associated with them, with the mental patients ending up roaming the streets without getting the necessary medical attention.
Disturbing figures that were announced by the Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr Obadiah Moyo, claim that over a million people in Zimbabwe suffer from mental disorders.
Traditionalist Sekuru Friday Chisanyu said mental patients are often ridiculed and abused by society, while in some instances they are viewed as social outcasts, hence their high number on the streets, where they lead desperate lives.
“It is widely believed that a mentally disturbed person is cursed for one reason or the other. This attitude has seen this disease being neglected and not being given the appropriate attention it deserves,” he said.
Media reports have been awash with cases of mentally challenged people being physically, emotionally or sexually abused.
But the reality is that everyone is at risk of mental problems regardless of class, current health status, level of education or other variances, said one of the leading psychiatrists in the country.
Dr Melusi Ndlovu said mental illness manifests in different ways.
He said very little information about the illness is available and that many people are ignorant of the effects of the disorders.
“There are various factors that can trigger mental disorders and according to researchers, the key elements are poverty, poor public health services and trauma related to violence,” he said.
Research indicates that a lot of people are not mentally healthy.
Health experts said the seemingly minor mental illnesses like stress and anxiety, although ignored by many, can affect one’s judgement, causing adverse effects on people.
Lack of awareness and understanding of mental illness has heightened stigma and created barriers to proper diagnosis and care of those suffering from the disease, experts have said.
Dr Moyo said one million people in Zimbabwe suffer from mental and neurological disorders and as part of efforts to address the problem, his Ministry is now in the process of establishing a drugs and alcohol abuse rehabilitative centre at Ingutsheni Central Hospital in Bulawayo.
The Ministry is also spearheading the development of a Psycho-active Substance and Alcohol Policy to help reduce mental illnesses.
The upsurge of mental illness has been attributed to the high prevalence of chronic diseases like cancer, HIV/Aids, blood pressure and diabetics, gender-based violence and sexual abuse.
This has resulted in many people developing anxiety disorders. Doctors say this can progress to depression and possibly lead to suicide.
Mental health has largely been ignored in public debates. There is need to integrate it into the primary health system.
The country currently has poor public mental services and this is compounded by lack of drugs and qualified personnel to treat and monitor the patients.
Currently, there are only 12 psychiatrists in the country at only nine public mental institutions.
These institutions are Ingutsheni, Ngomahuru, Parirenyatwa Annex, and psychiatric wards at Harare, Sakubva, Gweru, Mutoko, Marondera and Chinhoyi hospitals.
