Monrovia – Mental health is a stealthy and silent destroyer of millions. It often lurks beneath the surface and strikes with devastating psychological and physical consequences. By: Laymah Kollie, contributing writer In Africa, where the ailment is viewed with suspicion and treated as a form of divine retribution, the patients bear an enormous burden of stigma borne of retrogressive cultural beliefs and ignorance.
And like the Chinese say, a journey of a thousand miles starts with one step. In the case of Mary, Gloria, Siah and Faith,they have 800 miles to free themselves from the shackles of stigma. Their victory is neigh and will be at the vanguard of a determined brigade to tackle mental illness in Liberia.
The four are the true heroines speaking for the voiceless in the dark. “I never understood why I was always treated differently from the rest of my siblings. This left me confused and often angry,” says Mary (not her real name), a young student who has battled mental illness since her childhood.
For as long as she could remember, Mary never did anything right; she suffered rebuke for how she spoke and reacted to anything. Unbeknown to her, her parents, too, endured the stigma of her illness. So was the case with Mary (not real name) when she first suffered a mental breakdown.
Mary found herself in a lot of confusion with her family, the neighbors, and people she would necessarily encounter during the day. The young student who did grow up normal now became a distr.