The January edition of Muses – the arts blog from BJPsych International – features a review of a memoir about mental illness and recovery by UK-based Nigerian psychiatrist Victoria Olasegha.

“Bella stopped sleeping well. She started getting suspicious of the people around her. She ran away from home and slept in random places. She walked for miles until she got to a church camp and a random police station. It was a very trying period for all concerned…” (Chapter 4, Page 20)

Finding Me: My Journey to Wholeness by Praise Ogabi is about Bella, a law student diagnosed with a mental illness and her journey to recovery.  Told in a conversational style, the genre best applicable to this book is memoir, however some events described were fictionalized. 

Diagnosed with schizophrenia, Bella described the difficulties in accepting the diagnosis and addresses myths about mental illness through her lived experience. She reflects on how it is culturally acceptable to minimise mental illness in South-west Nigeria where she comes from. 

The reason for this is that people with mental illness are thought to be violent or uncontrollable. Bella dispelled this myth by referring to her episode when she was neither violent nor physically aggressive; the delusions she suffered from were distressing and made her vulnerable.

Bella touched on her struggle with unwanted consequences from her otherwise effective antipsychotic medication: weight gain impacts a person’s sense of self, but in her reckoning, it is a small price to pay for maintaining her mental health. 

In addition, this book describes the hopelessness often felt by people with mental illness about their prognosis. Bella opined that people may prefer chronic physical health conditions to mental health conditions due to the stigma associated with the latter. There is a sense that mental illnesses, particularly schizophrenia, are believed to be conditions not compatible with normal life in our society and sufferers should be avoided. Her observations about romantic relationships are particularly eye-opening. She details the stigma she experienced from potential partners when they learn about her diagnosis. 

Bella lauds the positive impact of a family support system particularly in low-income or developing nations without developed social support systems. She speaks particularly about how her recovery would have been halted without her family’s support and the support of her wider community in general.

She provides advice to people diagnosed with mental illness as well as to family members on optimising their mental health and maintaining recovery. She is honest about relapses and encourages sufferers that there can be recovery following a relapse and that people can live a full and normal life. 

This book is sorely needed to promote the awareness of mental health conditions in Nigeria. As a psychiatrist based in the United Kingdom, I believe books that tell the patient’s story are important for fostering co-production and patient-centred care.

Welcome to Muses – the arts blog from  BJPsych International.  Launched in March 2022, this new blog aims to highlight international art and artists, particularly from low-and-middle-income countries, with a focus on mental health. We welcome submissions for consideration, such as, comments on artwork, visual arts, literature, drama, films, podcasts, and videos. Do have a look at the instructions for blog authors for details on how to submit. General enquiries about the blog: BJPInternational@rcpsych.ac.uk  

Professor David Skuse, Editor-in-Chief, BJPsych International