Afia akpa

For illustrative purposes 

How does it happen? What causes it? How does it start? And can it ever be cured?

If you are still wondering, I am talking about mental illness. It is happening more often than usual and the scarier thing is that it is affecting the younger generation more.

My first encounter with someone who transited from normalcy to madness was far back in secondary school, (I’m sure I’ve mentioned him in a past post); his nick name or guy name like we said in those days was “Afia akpa” Afia means Market/Sales/Trade, Akpa means Bag/Pocket and so what I am trying to say is that I do not understand the meaning of that name.

He was the ice cream vendor who came at close of school in his bicycle to sell ice cream to the students. We all loved Afia akpa especially the boys because Afia akpa was their main man; he sold ice cream to them on credit when they had a girl to impress but no money to buy the big yogo. Lol. He had a book for them where he documented how much each person owed him.

That wasn’t the only reason they loved him, Afia akpa was a “gee” he understood that the boys were coming of age and some of them wanted to try some very bad stuff and he was there to guide them through their first tastes of “Igboo” (weed (I had to put an extra O).

We watched him progress in madness, from chasing students around to pay him what they owed him, to staying up in the tree around the school and asking us to call him “Kulele” instead of Afia akpa and to loosing it completely. We watched his hair grow several inches in locks and saw him walk all over Enugu almost naked and really very dirty. It is still a very scary experience, it made realise that madness can be compared to death; the person is kind of dead to world, no communication and connection with theach people  on this other side. It is a bad omen indeed!

A friend recently told me of how she had to go take her brother from her mother because he suddenly started acting very bizarre and causing a lot of chaos in their community.

Another friend said that she couldn’t attend an event because she had to take her nephew to see a Psychiatrist. I mean it when I say that it is happening way too often, an old friend is currently battling her own demons; she is totally in her own world and can no longer connect with anyone.

Some friends collectively sent their old school mate to a mental hospital for treatment; she is out now but still acts weird and her friends are really sad.

This post is about two things; first the people who care for and love these mentally challenged people and second, is there really a cure for madness? An Igbo adage when translated means “No matter how a mad person is treated, he/she can never stop murmuring to himself/herself”.

Without being told, I know that it must be a lot of hard work to look after a mentally unstable person, understanding their needs, cleaning up after them and the risk that comes with looking after the violent ones. A lot of patience and indeed love are needed, patience to deal with every uncomfortable behaviour and love to accept them for who they are without shame.

It is usually easy to identify someone who has ever had a mental breakdown; they usually behave in a certain way, either too slow or too hyper. 

Standing with a friend on a particular day, a good looking young man just ran up to her, calling her name with so much excitement, hugging her and shouting for joy at seeing her and he asked for her number saying that he needed to be in touch with her. 

When he left, my friend told me that he was a professional who suddenly went gaga and started acting very strangely shortly after his professional examinations which he passed anyway. This is where my people say “E mere ya eme” (It was diabolically manipulated)

Recently a good friend went completely weird while we chatted, it was a brief stint in the dark world of mental instability, she is doing very well now after seeking medical help but I am still wary of her and it makes me very sad. I have a confession though, I am scared of mad people; I fear them and always run for my life when I see them.  

Mental illness is a big problem. Suffering from it in Nigeria is even a bigger problem, double jeopardy if you ask me and we all know why….…to be continued .