Hassana Hassan Zubair, 24, is a remarkable young woman who is striving to remove the stigma of mental illness and create awareness that a psychological disorder can, in most cases, be controlled, if not cured.

A physiotherapy student, Zubair, who struggles with depression, an all-too-common psychological disorder, said her condition had been the impetus that made her start researching mental health.

She discovered that there were many forms of mental disorders and she realised that there were many people around her who also struggled with depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). And that’s what convinced her to start the Mind Haven Foundation with her friends and close ones.

She said many people in Maiduguri suffered from depression and other forms of mental illnesses, especially those who had lived through almost 13 years of the insurgency. Some did not know even know they had an illness and/or that it could be treated.

She realised that internally displaced persons (IDPs) were more likely to be affected because they had faced death and destruction and had been forced to flee their communities in droves because of the persistent and deadly attacks by insurgents. Every one of them – including young children – had experienced or at least witnessed some form of violence.

Having lived through life-and-death experiences and seen – and often been the victims of – the most gruesome extremes of violence, they were now living in congested camps, often abused by men on the inside and outside, scrambling and often begging to get money for food and doing their utmost to look after kids in unsanitary environments racked with health issues, Zubair decided to these women and girls were the most vulnerable and in need of help.

On Saturday, July 23, Zubair and her foundation held a one-day awareness event at Mairi IDP camp. It focused strictly on women and girls in the camp.

She said it was a common misconception among people in the camps that if a person was depressed or showed signs other mental disorders, they were possessed by an evil spirit. She wanted to disabuse this notion.

Hussaini Bulama Ali, a physiotherapist at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, who has suffered from depression for some time, told RNI reporter Ummi Fatima Baba Kyari that he had agreed to take part in the event to help create awareness about mental disorders.

Ali said those who were experiencing depression might not even know that was what was wrong with them.

“Those of us who took part in the event did so because we have suffered from depression ourselves and we know how debilitating it can be.”

He said people who had gone through extreme experiences were more prone to suffer from mental disorders. It was more than likely that anyone who had gone through the insurgency either suffered from a mental illness themselves or knew others who had mental problems.

“We held the awareness session to emphasise to people that it is not unusual for those who have lost loved ones and who had gone through the terror they had experienced to suffer from depression and other psychological disorders.”

He said that if anyone started to notice any odd or strange behaviour, if they were not acting as normal, for example sleeping too little, or too much, and unable to do the things they normally did, or they just did not feel right, it was important for them to speak to someone close to them, someone they could trust.

If people noticed that someone was working harder than normal or no longer worked at all, if their habits changed, if they were quieter than usual, these, he said, were often signs of depression or some other mental disorder.

“The problem with many psychological disorders is that they are not always visible. Those who are suffering might look physically fit and healthy, but underneath it all they are not psychologically stable and should seek medical attention.”

Ibrahim Mala Sunoma, also a physiotherapist, attended the awareness event too as he had also suffered from depression.

He said the event focused mainly on depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) because those were probably the major forms of mental distress that many women and girls in the camp might suffer.

An IDP woman, Falmata Jibrin Abubakar, 23, told RNI that she had initially not known what was wrong with her. She just knew that things were not “okay or normal”.

“I started to think evil spirits were affecting me. People around me were thinking I had gone mad. Some of them told my parents to take me to an Islamic scholar for prayers. But I knew if I went to a doctor, a lot of tests would be conducted to find out the problem, whereas all the Islamic scholar could do was pray for me.

“I discovered that when I was angry or anxious, I would just collapse. Then, when I regained consciousness, I just carried on with my normal life. I was later taken to the hospital and, after series of investigations and discussions with the doctor, I was placed on some medication. Gradually the medicine started working and I needed less and less of it. I thank God that I went for help and that my mental health has improved.

“It affected me so badly I even stopped going to school. I still have not returned. But I am slowly getting better and I’m not thinking about what happened in my past as much as I used to. I feel that I am on the road to recovery. I urge others like me to seek medical help.”

UMMI FATIMA BABA KYARI