Depression: Victims speak on silent killer

Depression is the most common illness worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Last year alone, about 450 million people were affected by depression globally while Kenya was ranked at position four in Africa with 1.9 million people who have the condition.

Depression is a disorder characterised by a persistently low mood, sadness and loss of interest. It is a persistent problem, not a passing one, lasting on average six to eight months.

It is a silent killer that holds its victims captive for months before striking a fatal blow. Many who have the condition do not want to admit that they are depressed and so, fail to seek help.

Many people with depression walk around with a smile, but are ashamed to show the world what their souls are really going through.

They hide the fact that they are dying inside even from close friends and relatives because they don’t want society to judge them. Several things in today’s world can lead to depression.

CAUSES

Culture shock as a result of new student experiences in a school, college or university, the struggle to fit in and peer pressure to abuse drugs.

Institutions of higher learning provide the perfect breeding ground for depression.

A struggle with body weight is one of the reasons known to cause depression all over the world. Some individuals may develop eating disorders as they struggle to achieve the desired weight.

Depression can also run in the genes, just like some types of diseases. If there are people who have had depression in a family, some relatives will be prone to it, the same way people who have ailments like diabetes and high blood pressure who at some point start developing those symptoms without any particular trigger.

Financial constraints are also a contributing factor for depression. Ms Evaline Muleka, 42, has suffered from depression.

“I had a hard time growing up. My parents separated when I was one year, nine months old. I therefore was raised by my dad and stepmother," she told Saturday Nation.

SUICIDE

Due to her family challenges, she dropped out of school at Form Two and was married at 17 years. For five years, she became a victim of emotional and physical abuse from her husband.

"I smoked weed, tried miraa and drunk alcohol all to try and find solace, but I later quit as it didn’t help," she said.

“I attempted suicide twice. I once bought kerosene, poured on myself and the house, but my husband came in just as I was about to light a matchstick."

That was how she was inadvertently saved from her own wrath.

Later, she walked out of the marriage and, with her two-day-old baby, she boarded a bus to Nakuru to start her life afresh.

It is when she started talking to herself, feeling confused, withdrawing from people and suffering from insomnia that she went to hospital and was diagnosed with severe depression.

“I remember one day I beat my last-born mercilessly until he lost consciousness. I poured cold water on him and continued beating him until my neighbours came to his rescue. I did all this unknowingly,” she recalled.

ALCOHOL

In 2016 she was diagnosed with hypertension and diabetes and got a stroke that affected more than half of her body. She is currently undergoing physiotherapy.

She can now comfortably sleep and interact well with people.

Ms Vicky Kones, 40, the daughter of the late Cabinet minister Kipkalya Kones, is a recovering alcoholic. She started drinking at the age of 12 when she was in Standard Six.

Her father used to hold parties in their home and she easily accessed alcohol. By the age of 20, she was an alcoholic.

Her condition got worse when she went to the US for studies. She fell into addiction when she started using cocaine and marijuana.

She got married and had two children, but her addiction led to her divorce. Because her student visa had expired, she was deported in 2008. Her father died in a plane crash the same year, and his son — also an alcohol addict — died a few months later.

"I continued taking alcohol as my defence mechanism," she said.

REHAB

Ms Kones checked into a rehab, remained sober for five years, but then relapsed. She was then diagnosed with a liver ailment and clinical depression and was put on an antidepressant for six months.

The degree holder in counselling psychology checked herself into rehab again for detox and has been volunteering as a counsellor.

“Suppression is a main cause of depression. I used to feel incomplete and I would drink my problems away. I kept thinking a lot of running away somewhere where no one knew me so I could start my life a fresh,” she said.

Thankfully, she now has the papers allowing her return to the US and looks forward to seeing her children again.

Mr Iregi Mwenja, the founder and CEO of Psychiatric Disability Organisation (PDO) in Nakuru, is a trained conservation biologist but he suffered from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder from a young age. By the time he was diagnosed with the disease, he was 35 years.

AWARENESS

In 2012, he resigned from his job in pursuit of internal fulfilment and in 2016 he started the PDO with the aim of bringing together people with mental conditions.

“I wanted to be the voice to violation of patients’ rights, to propel advocacy, create awareness and to provide mental help for free especially to the less fortunate,” he said in an interview. “The healing journey starts with acceptance.”

According to Dr Njau J W, a consultant psychiatrist for South Rift and Central Regions, 17 to 25 percent of the population suffers from depression between the ages of 20 and 50. “I attend to over 30 patients a month," he said.

Dr Njau said depression is more common in women than men on a 2:1 ratio due to hormonal differences, psychosocial stressors and environmental factors.

Mr John Mututho, the CEO and founder of Jomec rehabilitation centre in Nakuru, said everyone is prone to depression, irrespective of age. “The first step to recovery is to admit that you need help, then seeking treatment,” he said.