Chidera Onwuzuruike was only 19 when her battle against schizophrenia began. Constantly plagued with indescribable fear of doom and death and hearing strange voices that kept telling her that she was going to die, Chidera said her struggle with mental disorder took her to places she would never have gone
Chidera, however, stressed that even though her life has been challenged by schizophrenia, she is determined to overcome the disorder and also help create awareness about the mental health condition.
Schizophrenia starts mostly before age 25 –Psychiatrist
According to a Consultant psychiatrist at the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Yaba, Dr. Dapo Adegbaju schizophrenia develops in children as young as 10 years of age but mostly before age 25.
Explaining what schizophrenia is, Adegbaju said, “Schizophrenia is a chronic debilitating disorder that severely impairs day to day functioning of an individual. It is characterised by delusions, hallucinations, thought disorders and loss of motivation.”
Also, according to the World Health Organisation, “Schizophrenia is characterised by distortions in thinking, perception, emotions, language, sense of self and behaviour. Common experiences include hallucinations (hearing voices or seeing things that are not there) and delusions (fixed, false beliefs).”
WHO said this mental disorder affects about 20 million people worldwide. The global health agency also stated that Schizophrenia is treatable.
“Treatment with medicines and psychosocial support is effective,” WHO said
Read Also
Hearing strange voices sign of schizophrenia, not madness –Mental health experts
I was hearing voices, lost one academic year due to my mental disorder
Recalling how her battle against the mental health condition started, Onwuzuruike, said her fight against Schizophrenia started slowly but progressed quickly making her lose one academic year in the university.
Sharing her experience with PUNCH HealthWise, she said, “That day I woke up in school and something just whispered to me ‘you’d die today.’
“I struggled to get the thoughts out of my head but I couldn’t. I still went about preparing for the event I had later that evening but the voice in my head kept saying, ‘you’ll be shot today, they will rob you and you will die.”
“When I got to the stage that evening, I forgot my lines. I could barely remember what I was supposed to say.
Copyright PUNCH.
