My depression, bipolar disorder story — Charity Eke

Nollywood actress, Charity Eke, has opened up about how she lost her mind and fell into depression that she battled with for more than two years.

From mental health trauma to identity crisis among other mental-related issues that kept her questioning her sanity for months, Eke, who is popular as Chacha Eke Faani, shared her two-year long struggle with what she described as ‘’maniac episode of her life”.

She stated that her trouble started when she woke up one day feeling unsafe and had to run to nearby motor park and travelled to Asaba, the Delta State capital, from Lagos like a fugitive.

According to her, she loitered the streets/ hotels including beaches in Lagos for days aimlessly as she couldn’t explain what was going through her mind.

“It was a rough blend of schizophrenia, depression, identity crisis and bipolar disorders. Using this made-up identity card of me from one of my imaginary companies, I headed for Ghana by boat.

“Clad in a black jalabia, I kept moving. Passed one border after another, terrified, unrecognised. In that time, I was a drifter,” she said.

She also recalled how she later met a lady in Ghana, who she gave her name as Esther as she was the angel.

“The universe used to open my eyes to the reality I disconnected from. I began to make my way back home. I took days but I returned albeit, sickly and in denial”.

The actress added that she was thankful to have survived “one of the craziest episodes she ever experienced.”

She revealed that she would be staging the second edition of her mental health outreach and seminar in Asaba with theme, “A Whole Me”, on June 10 as therapists and psychologists will be on ground to attend to people whose cases are similar to hers.