Chronicle Editor
Mbulelo Mpofu, [email protected]
IN a bid to raise awareness on mental health and wellness, United States-based bipolar survivor-cum-mental health advocate, Tafadzwa Negonde, has compiled a series of journals titled, “The Long Walk to Healing” which he hopes to one day transform into a book to bring to light mental health issues that are curable but often stigmatised by society.
Last month, the spotlight was highlighted on the need for men’s mental health to be given prominence.
In the Journals, Negonde, who suffered three mental breakdowns before eventually being diagnosed with bipolar disorder after close to a decade, believes some mental health issues that are leading people to dwell on the streets are curable.
He shared that he too walked the streets and even ate food from bins during his last relapse.
He went on to share his humbling journey when he walked over 60 kilometres from Nyakudya village to Musana village, close to Bindura during one of his manic episodes before his third and final relapse.
This long walk is one that alerted his family that he was seriously unwell and that in turn led them to take him to Harare Hospital Psychiatric Ward.
Negonde shared his overcoming tale at a time when there was an apparent increase in mental health-related illnesses evident with the high rate of suicide and drug abuse among other indicators.
There is however not enough information and consciousness on mental health issues in Zimbabwe, Africa, and the world at large.
Negonde, who suffered his first mental breakdown in 2005 while he was a student at St Lawrence University in the US as a result of untreated depression said stigma is one of the driving forces that lead patients to neglect their medication.
“Depression was a struggle, and I had a few challenges,” he said.
“I did not understand it and I did not take it seriously. I was inconsistent with my medication, some days I took my medication, and some days I skipped.
“My family did not accept it and neither did they understand it. They had never experienced it, I guess.
“I honestly cannot blame them. One family member, loving and well-meaning once said: ‘Tafadzwa siyana nezvimapiritsi izvi’ (Tafadzwa, leave these pills).
“This further worsened my lack of drug adherence,” he said.
Negonde also said fellow African students who were part of his close-knit circle of friends at the university were also ignorant of mental health.
“My African friends at St. Lawrence University would commonly say ‘depression is a white man or rich men’s disease.
“I was even considered ‘crazy’ at one instance, even before I had even relapsed.
“Apparently, Africans were strong and were not supposed to suffer from the depression, so they thought.
“How wrong this is? I thus suffered a lone battle although I did get counselling for grief from my school. Again, I do not blame them as they did not have enough mental health awareness and I didn’t have it too, at that time.”
“The psychologist I was seeing at the university told me that I was suffering from not having grieved properly.
“St. Lawrence University was super helpful! But what good was counselling if all my social support structures did not understand me and worse off, I didn’t take it seriously either?”
Tafadzwa was to suffer two more mental breakdowns, one of which left him eating from the bins.
With counselling and medication, he now leads a normal life as higher education administration professional in the US.
Before his current position, he went back to complete his B.A. Economics from St. Lawrence University and progressed further to study a Masters in College Personnel from the University of Tennessee Knoxville.
He has worked in different countries including China where he was part of the teaching staff at an elite school.
Negonde said he would willingly share his story to change lives and perspectives on mental health.
“I’m now willingly sharing my story with anyone interested and hope I can write more about mental health one day,” he said.
He paid tribute to Harare Psychiatric Hospital for assisting him at a great time of need.
“I am happy to share that though diagnosed with bipolar in November 2014 at Harare Hospital Psychiatric Ward after my last relapse and psychiatric admission and having suffered two previous psychiatric hospital admissions (2005, 2009), I will be celebrating a decade of good mental health with no relapse this coming November” stated Negonde.
“I take my medication religiously and had to do a lifestyle change and faith in God has helped me a lot.
“Since 2014, I have managed to teach English in China, got married, and most recently just finished graduate studies in the US.
“Where there is life, there is always hope,” claimed Negonde.
He said he would also want to share that “recovery from most mental illnesses is possible, but it starts with seeking help.”
Negonde’s story has all the hallmarks of being a good seller with mental health issues being heightened. – Follow on X @MbuleloMpofu
Online Reporter