Can a mental disorder happen to a human without a cause?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mental disorders are conditions that affect your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, like depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia.
Click to read more about mental disorders https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-disorders
Schizophrenia, which is one of the worst mental disorders, is characterized by significant impairments in perception and changes in behavior. People with this mental disorder may experience persistent difficulties with their ability to understand the world, interact with others, and accomplish daily tasks. Some of the symptoms include persistent delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking, highly disorganized behavior, or extreme agitation. A range of effective options exists, like medication, psychoeducation, family interventions, and psychosocial rehabilitation.
Simply put, a schizophrenic person is insane.
To a lot of people, especially to the average man, having a mental disorder can stem from natural causes like smoking, drug abuse, and even accidents, and supernatural causes like bewitchment.
As Nigerians, it is no news that many people have gone mad through diabolical means. Years ago, we were told stories of our grandparents, or old family members believed to be witches and wizards who used their witchcraft to wreak havoc in the family or community, such as inflicting madness on others.
Some people still believe that to this day, anyway.
However, the story of Victor Ibahfidon Akhia has left his family in a state of confusion and untold devastation.
Victor, a 300L student in the University of Agriculture, Markurdi in Benue state, Nigeria, and in his mid twenties, was living his life like every other normal human being before things changed for the worse. Victor loved to sing, listen to music, and watch movies in his free time. He had a calm personality; he didn’t smoke or engage in drinking and womanizing.
So, what could have gone wrong?
In 2021, he went home to Edo State for the holidays, and his family noticed that there was a change in behavior. Whenever they tried to converse with Victor, he would become aggressive. There wasn’t a single thing that could be said that triggered him, and this was unlike him. He was fine before he came home. He was fine the previous holiday. As far as they knew, he hadn’t gotten himself into anything that would put him in that condition. When it persisted, his family became deeply troubled, so much so that Victor’s dad had to take him to a hospital for examination. That was when it was revealed to them that Victor was having a mental breakdown.
Victor couldn’t return to school as he had to be placed on medication.
His aggression worsened to the point of being violent to those around him, especially as he was restricted from moving around at will. The restriction was to prevent him from getting out of the house and losing his way. After a long while of treatment upon treatment, they realized that he wasn’t getting any better. The treatment didn’t seem to be doing any good for Victor, and his family decided to try another approach.
In December last year, he was taken to a pastor in Delta State, Nigeria, who specializes in the treatment of mental illnesses, such as the one Victor has been suffering from. The doctor assured Victor’s family that Victor was going to be well again and that there was no need to worry. They paid him some of the money from the fee that was charged and left Victor in his care.
A week later, the pastor called them and informed them that something more tragic had happened; Victor had escaped from his custody.
They were shocked to get this news, and ever since then, all efforts to find Victor have been abortive. They have done the very best that they can, but nothing is working. Finding him has become nearly impossible, as it is difficult for someone with his condition to remain in a particular place for a long period of time.
They have absolutely no idea what happened to him till this very day, and they don’t have a recorded history of mental disorder in the family.
However, they have not given up hope.
Victor’s family is still eager to find their son, and they would appreciate any information they could get that would help in finding him and getting him back home to them.
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It’s well
I hope they find him soonest 🙏🏿