Esther Kiama was working as a teacher in Nyeri, central Kenya when she received the call. Her husband, David, was unwell.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it is not a minor illness,\u201d the caller emphasised, and then explained: \u201cIt\u2019s a mental illness.\u201d At that point, in 2005, Mrs Kiama had not seen her husband much over the previous year as he had moved to another town to set up a business.On the times she visited she had not noticed his health problems. But once the call came, Mrs Kiama left immediately to find him. \u201cWe had to go get him home so that he could get medication,\u201d she told the BBC.<\/p>\n
Mrs Kiama said that her husband \u201cwould talk to himself, throwing his arms about, appearing to be talking to people while there was really no-one he was talking to\u201d.She was describing what later would be diagnosed as bipolar disorder. \u201cIt got worse when he came home. I would leave him in the house and one day I found that he had burnt the ceiling, saying there were strange people he was looking for up there.\u201d\u00a0It was as if her husband had transformed into someone she did not know, and she did not understand what was happening. \u2018You have bewitched our son\u2019 She decided that she would take him to hospital but her relatives would not let her.<\/p>\n
They accused Mrs Kiama of casting a spell on her husband. \u201cHis dad came to take him and said: \u2018I have been told that my son is sick, I have come because you have bewitched him.\u201dThe forceful removal of her husband of 15 years was a traumatic experience for her and their four children. \u201cI was shocked at first, but I\u2019m a believer, even though it really shocked me, I believed this would end,\u201d she said. Meanwhile, she could see that her husband\u2019s health was deteriorating.<\/p>\n
But because of their belief that he was under a spell, Mrs Kiama\u2019s in-laws did not look for medical help. Mental health problems in Kenya are sometimes associated with witchcraft or curses, rather than something can be treated or managed. Kenya\u2019s ministry of health says that many people do not seek help for these kinds of conditions and would rather conceal their illness. The World Health Organization estimates that one in four people will be affected by a mental health problem or neurological disorder at some point in their lives. There are no up-to-date figures for the situation in Kenya – an indication, perhaps, of how much work needs to still be done on the issue in the country.<\/p>\n
Chased with a machete<\/strong><\/p>\n For three years, Mr Kiama was a burden to his parents, especially to his elderly mother who at some point fell ill, seeing the sad state of her son. Occasionally, neighbours would contact Mrs Kiama about her husband. \u201cSometimes I\u2019d be called to be told that he was in town roaming about and I\u2019d go hire a taxi and take him back,\u201d Mrs Kiama says.<\/p>\n She would at times go and cook for him. But she was still blamed for her husband\u2019s behaviour and this filtered through to him. \u201cHe once chased after me with a panga [machete] saying: \u2018You bewitched me.\u2019 But I asked him: \u2018If you kill me, who will cook for you?\u2019 He then threw away his panga,\u201d she said. Mrs Kiama was grateful that except for that incident, her husband was not violent.<\/p>\n Mrs Kiama said it was difficult watching someone she loved suffering so much from an illness that she hardly understood. She also struggled with the reaction she got from friends. Many turned their backs on her. Kenyan psychotherapist Maggie Gitu, who specialises in marriage, family and sex issues, said it was not right to label mentally ill people as \u201cinsane\u201d or \u201ccrazy\u201d, as often happens. The labels obscure understanding the condition.<\/p>\n Abandoned by friends<\/strong><\/p>\n She told the BBC that medical check-ups were necessary to determine what kind of mental disorder a person could be suffering from. She said that mental healthproblems could be triggered by stress, feelings of loneliness, fear, panic or a feeling of not being appreciated. Despite her husband\u2019s condition, Mrs Kiama was not going to abandon him, against all the advice from her friends.\u201cI told them it was because of the vow. We had had a Church wedding.<\/p>\n He came to pick me from home, as a young bride. To say the truth, we loved each other very much\u2026 we had four children\u201d. In the end, Mrs Kiama decided that she was going to reclaim her husband from her in-laws. \u201cAfter three years, I told my children [that] we are going to steal dad,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Together with her children and a psychiatrist, they devised a way to get her husband out of his parents\u2019 home. By then, she said: \u201cHis finger and toe nails had grown long and dirty that it would take days to clean them. His beard and hair had overgrown so much that it gave him a horrible appearance. \u201cHe was like Nebuchadnezzar of the Bible, totally unkempt.\u201d<\/p>\n Back with children<\/strong><\/p>\n Mr Kiama\u2019s bipolar disorder was then diagnosed and he was admitted to hospital for about two months. Since leaving hospital, he has been recovering at home, although he is still on long-term medication. The family is now back together. \u201cThe doctor has counselled my children, how to live with their dad and they should love him the way he is\u2026 and it has worked,\u201d Mrs Kiama said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Esther Kiama was working as a teacher in Nyeri, central Kenya when she received the call. Her husband, David, was unwell. \u201cAnd it is not a minor illness,\u201d the caller emphasised, and then explained: \u201cIt\u2019s a mental illness.\u201d At that point, in 2005, Mrs Kiama had not seen her husband much over the previous year […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":2727,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,8],"tags":[1467,1468,1469,1466],"class_list":["post-2726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-homepage-english","tag-bbc","tag-david-kiama","tag-esther-kiama","tag-nyeri-county"],"yoast_head":"\n