Mental illness is neglected and heavily stigmatized in Kenya. Yet it is a common problem afflicting many people. Experts say one in four Kenyans will suffer from mental illness at one point in their lives. Between 20 to 40 per cent of people seeking outpatient services in hospitals have one or more mental disorders.
Kenya’s Mental Health Policy 2015-2030 notes that:
“Persons with mental disorders often have their human rights violated, as a result of stigmatization and discrimination. Many are denied economic, social and cultural rights, with restrictions on the rights to work and education, as well as reproductive rights and the right to the highest attainable standard of health. They may also be subjected to unhygienic and inhumane living conditions, physical and sexual abuse, neglect, as well as harmful and degrading treatment practices in health facilities.”
The media is one of the forces driving stigma against mental illness. In news reports about persons who commit suicide, have sex with animals or who run amok and butcher their kin, mental illness is never considered a possibility in explaining these incidents. The matter is often reduced to a money deal gone sour, a curse, “a love triangle”, witchcraft or simply bangi mingi.
Two stories published last week highlight how the media entrenches stigma against mental illness. On Tuesday, 20 March, The Standard published a report titled, “Man commits suicide with intention of appearing in media”.
Yes, that a man killed himself so that he could make the news. Incredible!
“A middle-aged man who promised that he would one day appear in the media for controversial reasons achieved his fate after committing suicide as his friends and relatives watched in Naivasha,” the report said. “The man dived into a flooded dam in Kinungi area off the Nairobi-Nakuru highway where he drowned as those present watched in horror.”
This was the third time the deceased had tried to commit suicide after falling out with his wife over his threats, according to The Standard.
The area Member of the County Assembly was quoted as confirming the incident. “He added that such cases were on the increase and called on young people with marital related issues to seek advice from counselors and church leaders with a view to solving them.”
Ahem! Marital issues, not mental illness.
Despite the man in this story attempting suicide twice previously, The Standard story framed this as arising from his desire to “one day appear in the media for controversial reasons.” With the suicide, the man “achieved his fate”, according to the paper.
End of story.
The same week, Nairobi News, an online publication of Nation Media Group, ran a story that received tens of thousands of hits, titled “Shock as night runner is busted after giving neighbours sleepless nights.”
According to the publication, residents of an estate in Busia Town woke up to a drama after a suspected night runner was trapped and caught by a witchdoctor.
Who, exactly, is a “night runner”? And who is a “witchdoctor”? Is this latter person a witch and a doctor at the same time? How now? Or is it just a word? If so, who coined it and with what intention?
Nairobi News published a picture of the “night runner” covered in dry banana leaves.
“When journalists reached the scene, the suspect was still running around the home while the witchdoctor, Tokosha Kamaliza, sprinkled water on him,” the website reported.
So, it is not bad enough that the man was branded a “night runner”, but he is also a “suspect”. Of what crime? The publication did not say.
No possibility of mental illness suggested.
The Mental Healthy Policy 2015-2030 states that: “Realization of the highest standards of mental health can only be achieved by bridging public perceptions and their needs through assessments, performance reporting, public awareness, transparency and public participation in decision making on mental health related matters.”
How will that be achieved, with such news reporting?
