Mother of five battles with mental illness

The tyranny of time seemed too heavy for Fungai Mandioma (46) of Hatcliffe Consortium whom for the past decade has been battling to come to terms with what had befallen her – her husband left her pregnant in 2011 under unclear circumstances and three years later she was diagnosed a mental patient.

Life has not been rosy for Fungai whom I met at Parirenyatwa Annex Hospital at a food distribution event organised by Phoebe Zimbabwe.

At first I was hesitant to accept the invitation but after a bit of kicking and pinching myself, I decided to bury and forget about all the negative stories that I have been told about mental patients.

 Mapenzi (mad people)-as they are refereed in our local language-are largely despised in our society and if one is seen having a conversation with them they are either automatically considered to be one of them or otherwise they are planning certain rituals. 

In between our conversation, Fungai would rarely smile but when she did, a different Fungai would be revealed-one with hope and who dreams of a better future for her and her children. 

I would have loved to meet that Fungai, but at the same time, I was glad that I met this other one for she took me through the struggles of most mental patients that society has despised, in so doing, demystifying all the myths and misconceptions we all have about mental patients. 

She shook her head in disbelief as she narrated her life battles since her husband left in 2011.

“I fell sick in 2014 and this happened after my husband left me for another woman in 2011.

“ He left me pregnant with our fifth born child. When I delivered in 2012, he never sent any money for the upkeep of the newly born baby.

“ That’s when I begun to lose my mind because I could not take care of the children he left me with,” she says.

She adds:

“I have failed to provide for my children so every time I think of that I start to lose my mind and start to destroy property to an extent of burning blankets.

“Most of the time I hear a voice in my head saying that I’m God and advising me that I should not wear black or red clothes. The voice is also the one that tells me to burn all my property.

“When it happened for the first time, I was brought at Annex Psychiatric Hospital.

“I have been admitted at the hospital every year since it happened because it continues to bother me to an extent that I’m now on high blood pressure medication.”

Worse with the developing mental health that is now at its pick, Fungai is facing resistance in the community that she leaves in. 

She has no friends to share her ordeals with no anyone to ask help from when in need.  

Hers is just but a struggle that she faces each day and has to find ways of dealing with it. 

“Society has not been kind with me.

“ First I was blamed for the divorce. I was called all names and up to today, people still say that I am possessed and that is why my husband left me,” she says.

Fungai says she has come to terms with her condition.

“When I fell ill in October my children took me to a nearby apostolic sect assuming that my condition will improve but it never changed. 

“I have come to understand that this is the challenge I have and I can only manage to ease it through taking medication,” says Fungai.

She thanks Phoebe Zimbabwe for the mealie meal they have been receiving since last year.

“ I’m happy that we have Pheobe  Zimbabwe which has been supporting us with meal meal monthly.

“I’m thankful to them because they have been helpful especially during the time of lockdown by providing food hampers and also their teachings on mental illness have changed many lives.” 

Psychiatrist Dr Munya Madhombiro says when a patient behaves in such a manner he or she suffers from bipolar disorder.

“It is formerly known as manic depression. It is a disorder associated with episodes of mood swings ranging from depressive lows to manic highs.

“The exact cause of bipolar disorder is not known, but a combination of genetic, environment and altered brain structure and chemistry may play a role.

“In her case of hearing a voice of God, these are hallucinations caused by manic depression,” he says.

Fiona Ruzha

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