Mphatso

Mphatso first experienced mental health problems in 2013. “I started to feel something in my brain, it was painful, sometimes I didn’t speak. I was just walking around without knowing what I was doing… I was very aggressive at that time, fighting, screaming.”

Doctors told him that it was vital that he kept taking his medication if he was to remain well. “I relapsed on the bus. I was very sick, and I didn’t know what to do… They put me in chains because I was fighting and very confused…”

Things started to change for Mphatso when he became a member of CBM’s partner organisation, the Mental Health Users and Carers’ Association (MeHUCA). He is keen to learn from the experience of other group members, all of whom have personal experience of mental health problems.

“If you are in a group they teach you not just to sit at home, they teach you how to cope with treatment and do work”

“I’m learning about fixing computers so I’m trying my best not just sitting at home and saying I’m off sick and I can’t do anything. I’m trying to learn, to do something for myself.”

Mphatso wants to help MeHUCA raise awareness of mental health in Malawi, so others know where they can access treatment. “It’s really essential because [mental illness] it’s affecting a lot of people around the world.”