The Plight of the Unmedicated Bipolar Disorder Survivors in sub-Saharan Africa and other Third World Countries

 

As a survivor of Bipolar Disorder from the sub-Sahara African regions, I have a first-hand experience of what it looks like to battle with the illness without medication or professional therapy. Briefly, about my condition, the extent of anxiety that came with an instant shift in my financial condition that was mercilessly derailed by COVID-19 got me into a psychotic breakdown. The situation was followed by an admission into a psychiatric ward where I was subjected to an injection that sent me to unconscious sleep for three consecutive days. Weeks after leaving the hospital, curiosity and worry got me looking up further for the condition on the internet. After learning more about the condition, I was able to come to terms with the new label of Bipolar Disorder, something that has far kept me sane since I am always on the lookout for all the possible coping mechanisms. However, the internet strategy has not always been effective since it has sometimes involved situations of mild relapse, conventionally called hypomania. The entire relapses are attributed to a lack of medication for my condition and an inability to access professional therapeutic sessions. I do not however regret it since it has been the reason behind my effective coping skills before I can afford medication. I, therefore, take this opportunity, on this special day of my birthday, 25^th September, to share my lived experiences, coping mechanisms, and lessons learned, and also give an overview of what Bipolar Disorder may look like for people experiencing financial hardships at a particular moment.

After leaving the hospital, I was given anti-psychotic tablets that lasted for 21 days after which I was to acquire further medication on a personal arrangement. Owing to the fact that I had lost a fast food business that I had just started within my alma mater to COVID-19, it was difficult to rebound quickly financially. Also, the freelancing projects that had instantly changed my financial status were no longer available since I had lost clients during the hospital admission periods. The concept of ethnocentricity alongside unfamiliarity with mental health issues within sub-Saharan Africa also dissociated my social capital significantly, which made it more difficult to get any kind of surmountable financial support from able friends and families. The only dependable circle was just the nuclear family and very few friends who also had massive financial constraints. Nevertheless, the will to live and prosper was still constant and so, I had to craft ways to feed my spirits and keep on with the grind to change the world. This sent me surfing through the internet to acquire solutions for my condition as I strongly believe that the internet has literally every solution to all problems. As always, solving one problem lead to another, and looking up for solutions to my condition on the internet got me into an even bigger problem of learned helplessness. Through reading about Bipolar Disorder, I realized how devastating the condition could get if not medicated and this sent me into figuring out loud how best to tackle the condition. In trying to deal with the past ordeals, I ended up getting facial tattoos, which I have explained in my previous articles, as a way of confronting my personal dysfunction caused by the manic episode. The intention was geared towards clearing all the mess in the past and expressing remorse to those who believed in me. Little did I know that dealing with a mental illness situation requires more pro-activism strategies rather than trying to correct the past, which is literally impossible.

 The long interaction with the internet exposed me to various coping mechanisms that were openly shared majorly on reputable social spaces and international support groups like Quora Digest and Hey Peers. However, most strategies that were reportedly effective as shared in the spaces involved some type of medication or therapy with particular experts. This rendered most of them ineffective for me since I was unable to acquire any kind of medication or paid therapy. As a strong believer in the Pygmalion effect, which affirms that you become what you believe and feel, I have a conviction that one can always break from learned helplessness if they have a strong belief that they can change the course. I, therefore, decided to sample all the coping mechanisms shared in the peer groups and spaces that I had joined and committed to applying all of them except for the ones on medication. Through actively engaging in reading self-development books and psychology articles, a strategy that is one of the coping techniques during depressive episodes, I learned that the primary function of medication for a mental health condition is merely to reinforce the underlying coping mechanisms. Therefore, it is also an effective life-hack if one is able to learn, apply, and commit to the coping mechanisms for a particular episode without the help of medication.

For my depressive episodes, I learned to engage in activities that distract my intrusive thoughts and negative feelings. In such periods, one has to be very aware of their feelings, hobbies, and preferences to identify an activity that can best distract them from feeding their negative thoughts. For myself, the desire to be a better version of myself since I left the hospital made me interested in reading emotional intelligence and personal development books. In regards, reading such books has been a great therapy during moments of low feelings since I easily get captivated by such books. This has made it easy to shift my focus from the building up of intrusive and negative thoughts hence starving the unwanted thoughts while feeding the desired ones. However, this may not apply to everyone as the best coping mechanisms during depressive episodes may vary from one person to another depending on their preferences. One key factor to consider is the energy levels required to perform the activity as people tend to have low levels of physical energy and too much emotional and mental energy during depressive moments. Therefore, the activities to consider for distracting one from their negative thoughts and feelings should not necessarily require much physical energy, but definitely a high amount of mental and emotional energy. As long as the hobbies or practices picked are mentally constructive and appear alongside the spectrum of high emotional energy and low physical energy, they can be adopted.

On the other hand, manic episodes require a more opposite approach to depressive moments as it is characterized by more spontaneous levels of physical energy and low emotional and mental energy. Thus, people tend to act impulsively without deeper mental scrutiny since the emotional energy to sustain active thinking for better decision-making is too little while the physical energy to act on any idea is too much. With the awareness that more physical energy is emitted during manic episodes, one should know the activities they enjoy doing that require high levels of energy. However, this must be critical since one may overdo, or engage in activities that can turn out to be self-harming rather than building them. In this regard, the best activities should be ones that can be done in an enclosed setting and at least require some kind of body motions in a constant pattern. In my case, I have two activities that I have proved to effectively counteract my highs, which have always manifested as hypomania, courtesy of constant learning and reading about emotional intelligence. First, indoor workouts have massively counteracted the creeping in of mania. Secondly, writing articles on mental health and fitness has been an option for counteracting mania in situations where working out is not an option. The handwork involved in typing and body tissue motioning in working out provides a good venting platform for the energy levels in mania. I can confirm that even now as I write. Since it is my birthday, the jolliness of such a significant day activated my hypomania and this is a good platform to vent it out constructively. Engaging in such constructive physical activities are effective way of turning your manic episodes into a ‘blessing’ rather than a ‘curse’. The next article will focus on the trigger signs of symptoms to detect whether mania or depression is creeping in.     

Conclusively, through such engagements, I have peacefully come to terms with my illness even with my current inability to afford medication, something I hope will change soon. However, it is not enough to say that it is fully effective to survive without medication. The point is that the inability to afford medication, which is common for people living with different kinds of mental illnesses in sub-Saharan Africa and other third-world countries is NOT a death or madness sentence. You can always find a balance while still figuring out ways to afford medication and fully restore your mental health. It all calls for self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and the active quest for personal development to keep one’s life moving successfully towards their purpose in life. This article is therefore aimed at illuminating the plight of the unfortunate who are suffering from various mental health conditions and are unable to afford medication at the moment to restore their conditions. The situation is more rampant in Africa as most people and health governing bodies are insensitive to the concept of mental health. The problem, alongside the high level of stigmatization of mental health within society, makes it difficult for most people to survive such devastating moments. In order to restore humanity through speaking for the voiceless, kindly share, comment, and reach out for any kind of collaboration that supports mental health and other related programs. There is surely no health without mental health! 

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