:00:00. > :00:00.World meet a man who has broken the silence as in courage in other
:00:00. > :00:09.patients to speak openly about living with mental illness. You may
:00:10. > :00:16.find parts of this film distressing. Have you heard about the dilemma? --
:00:17. > :00:30.the die Lallana. Is this ritual leader. The purpose of life is to be
:00:31. > :00:35.happy. Genesis is a man who is determined to succeed against the
:00:36. > :00:40.odds. -- Joseph. He is an open every person in an extraordinary
:00:41. > :00:44.situation. These people are speaking out about something very few people
:00:45. > :00:52.in their country are willing to talk about, mental illness. I have
:00:53. > :01:04.bipolar. You see how I become when I relax. -- relapse. Like a tiger. And
:01:05. > :01:09.when you are low, you are like a pussycat. They live in a country
:01:10. > :01:19.with only one psychiatrist for every million people. And traditional ways
:01:20. > :01:25.live on. I command you to come out! These former patients are trying to
:01:26. > :01:31.find a new way of living. They are swapping isolation and prejudice for
:01:32. > :01:36.hope. This is my world. I want to tell you my story about going mad in
:01:37. > :01:58.Uganda and how IM trying to break the silence about people like me.
:01:59. > :02:08.Joseph Atukunda was studying to become an accountant but something
:02:09. > :02:16.started going wrong with his mind. I went to a shop, bought some rat
:02:17. > :02:23.poison, bought a rope, put them in my bag and moved on this every road,
:02:24. > :02:30.looking for a field like this, when nobody could interrupt me, in order
:02:31. > :02:38.to commit the act. I intended to take the poison and as the poison
:02:39. > :02:42.was working, I would use the rope to hang myself. I was really determined
:02:43. > :02:50.to end my life. But Joseph had a change of heart. All of a sudden, I
:02:51. > :02:55.got like a vision, I don't know whether from Jesus, Krishna,
:02:56. > :03:03.Mohammed, all the Buddha, tellingly, you can still seek help, you can
:03:04. > :03:05.turn around, you can get a taxi back to Kampala, go to a doctor and seek
:03:06. > :03:28.some help. Maybe there is some Josef didn't understand that his
:03:29. > :03:32.dramatic mood swings were symptoms of bipolar disorder, as serious but
:03:33. > :03:42.treatable mental illness. Help is hard to find in Uganda and those
:03:43. > :03:45.affected are often shunned. This is Kampala's Butabika Hospital, the
:03:46. > :03:51.only psychiatric hospital in the country. Joseph has been admitted
:03:52. > :03:59.here many times. When he had manic episodes, he could be aggressive. In
:04:00. > :04:03.most cases, people in this ward are violent and brought in by the
:04:04. > :04:07.police. So, I would like to show due some of the places where they put us
:04:08. > :04:28.when we are violent. And this is called the isolation
:04:29. > :04:34.room. Just before you are put in this room, you are stripped naked,
:04:35. > :04:42.injected with a lot of medicine, I thought I was in hell, I thought I
:04:43. > :04:47.had died and I was in hell. The hospital says it has cut down on the
:04:48. > :05:01.use of these rooms. Now they are only a last resort. There are 700
:05:02. > :05:09.inpatients. Men, women and children. Some patients can be violent, a few
:05:10. > :05:17.have killed. There are also around 150 outpatients every day. It is an
:05:18. > :05:26.overwhelming work load for the four psychiatrists who treat the patients
:05:27. > :05:41.here. This morning, this Dr, Josie's psychiatrist, is on duty. Some have
:05:42. > :05:46.had psychosis related to drug abuse, some are bipolar, some have
:05:47. > :05:53.schizophrenia, and a few of the patients have mental retardation and
:05:54. > :05:57.behavioural problems. These of the majority of the patients we have
:05:58. > :06:02.here. The hospital is free but money for treatment is very tight. The
:06:03. > :06:06.staff say they are overworked but they do the best they can for their
:06:07. > :06:19.patients. But there is an overwhelming reliance on medication.
:06:20. > :06:22.Yes, we tend to use very large doses of medication here to get the
:06:23. > :06:29.patient is under control and then we manage the side-effects. They may
:06:30. > :06:36.feel extremely sedated, weak and unstable, they can't walk very
:06:37. > :06:42.steady. Every day, more patients are brought in. This man, after a
:06:43. > :06:44.journey of three hours from his village where he had been causing a
:06:45. > :07:19.disturbance. He has a chronic problem, degree of
:07:20. > :07:25.self-neglect. She is quite hot and has collapsed. We definitely have to
:07:26. > :07:33.give him fluids fast. In some way is, this man is lucky. He is now
:07:34. > :07:40.getting treatment. Hello, how are you? Most mentally ill people here
:07:41. > :07:48.never go to hospital but they may go traditional healer. Should be around
:07:49. > :07:54.here. As many as 90% of people in Uganda are thought to believe mental
:07:55. > :08:03.illness is linked to witchcraft or curses. All these structures are
:08:04. > :08:18.part of the shrine houses where the treatments are done.
:08:19. > :08:30.He is coming, he is coming, he is not inside here.
:08:31. > :08:45.Hallo, Dr. You remember me? Oh. How are you? You are back? Yes, I am
:08:46. > :08:52.back. I am showing them where I was treated. And maybe you can give us
:08:53. > :08:59.more information about some of the treatments that you gave me. Thank
:09:00. > :09:15.you very much. I will not forget you.
:09:16. > :09:25.Making you could tell me because after I left here, I didn't exactly
:09:26. > :09:32.know how your medication work. I treated you by tying up your hands,
:09:33. > :09:42.by putting medicine in your nose, by cutting you lined in your head, by
:09:43. > :09:51.raising new with all your head covered in blood so I could be you
:09:52. > :09:58.in medicine. Would you treating some spirits? Was I possessed by some
:09:59. > :10:04.spirits or was you treating an illness? Definitely you had spirits.
:10:05. > :10:13.You can kill spirits as if you are killing... Lice. Yes. Some doubles
:10:14. > :10:17.were on your head, talking so many languages, different languages, you
:10:18. > :10:24.could not understand who is your mother, who is your father, you
:10:25. > :10:32.would walk naked. But all of this was covered by me. I remember I've
:10:33. > :10:35.broke the chain and I ran away. Dr Serwadda mainly uses powders and
:10:36. > :10:42.infusions but these herbal medicines are not his most powerful remedy.
:10:43. > :11:01.Now we are going to the place where I move Devils from our patients.
:11:02. > :11:17.Now, we shall give her time to undress herself. The reason why we
:11:18. > :11:19.use this cock is that all devils speak and as they speak they have
:11:20. > :11:52.powers. You can see now how the patient is
:11:53. > :11:59.raising herself, begging for good spirits to come on her. Josef went
:12:00. > :12:05.through the same ritual with Dr Sarah Wilder. He is in two minds as
:12:06. > :12:10.to whether it helped him or not. Everything in this world have
:12:11. > :12:16.advantages and disadvantages. I was treated in the spiritual healer's
:12:17. > :12:23.structures and methods that you see here. But I am well now. Even
:12:24. > :12:29.conventional medicine has its advantages and disadvantages. So, I
:12:30. > :12:41.can't discard this spiritual healer as somebody who did not contribute
:12:42. > :12:46.at all. As well as the challenge of getting medical help, people like
:12:47. > :12:54.Jozef face another serious problem. At certain times in my life, I felt
:12:55. > :12:58.so lonely. Surrounded by people but they are going about their own
:12:59. > :13:03.lives, they are not noticing the turmoil you are going through and
:13:04. > :13:11.you feel so lonely at such times, all by yourself. It can even be hard
:13:12. > :13:28.for his Stanley Kubrick through. Joseph has four children. Jennifer,
:13:29. > :13:35.James, Joshua and Jordan. His wife Harriet says when he hit solo,
:13:36. > :13:45.everyone feels the pressure. Sometimes it is hard but I try to
:13:46. > :13:48.make it easier. I talked to him. If he is sick, I tell him to go to the
:13:49. > :13:56.hospital, take the medication, him happy, sometimes I talk to him
:13:57. > :14:06.in a slow voice, you persuade him, you convince them. Sometimes, you
:14:07. > :14:27.get challenges. Joseph is lucky, he has Harriet.
:14:28. > :14:27.Kampala is a Pentecostal Rory Sidey night ministry. Some of Joseph's
:14:28. > :14:38.friends have been brought here. is run by a charismatic pastor,
:14:39. > :14:48.Jeffrey. He takes in the sick and the abandoned. But his raging is a
:14:49. > :14:55.strict one. This woman will be kept shackled until the power of prayer
:14:56. > :15:01.has taken effect. She is still violent. So, this is why we chain
:15:02. > :15:08.her. These people are neglected from the families because they are bad.
:15:09. > :15:11.She has been abandoned. She is totally dependent on the pastor. And
:15:12. > :15:18.he worried take her to see a psychiatrist. For us, we have seen
:15:19. > :15:26.the power of God, we are not doctors, we just pray and ask upon
:15:27. > :15:30.God's powers and wait for deliverance. This is why we don't
:15:31. > :15:36.take them to hospital, this is why we just keep on praying for them.
:15:37. > :15:43.And get their deliverance. Pastor Jeffrey believes deliverance comes
:15:44. > :16:01.through the laying on of hands, to drum out the evil spirits.
:16:02. > :16:13.In the name of Jesus, I release you from the power of darkness and I am
:16:14. > :16:22.setting you free. I command you, give up your powers. Rooster!
:16:23. > :16:32.Rooster! I command you to come out. You have nothing to do with her. In
:16:33. > :16:35.the name of Jesus... Pastor Jeffrey repeats this ritual every day on the
:16:36. > :16:42.members of his congregation he is trying to heal.
:16:43. > :16:48.Back in Kampala, Josef has an appointment at the hospital. In the
:16:49. > :16:53.past, he too tried the church but he says it didn't work for him. He has
:16:54. > :17:00.decided to put his trust in modern medicine and receives a monthly dose
:17:01. > :17:11.of entire psychotic medication. -- anti-psychotic medication. He says
:17:12. > :17:19.his life is better now. Good. Thank you. And he has taken up swimming to
:17:20. > :17:24.help him relax. But what has really made a difference is the leap he
:17:25. > :17:29.took into the unknown. He's changed his attitude to his own mental
:17:30. > :17:31.condition by talking openly about it and he says it has turned his life
:17:32. > :17:39.around. This is good exercise! But it is
:17:40. > :17:54.killing me! Now he shares his experiences with
:17:55. > :18:06.other former patients who have become his friends. Guys! You have
:18:07. > :18:13.to keep practising. It is an opportunity to talk about what
:18:14. > :18:17.troubles them. Locally, people say Mulalu, which literally means you
:18:18. > :18:25.are mad, you are useless, you are not of any help to society. But
:18:26. > :18:30.where I come from, people say you are a walking dead, that means you
:18:31. > :18:37.are as good as dead. Another type stigma is people fearing Jew. When I
:18:38. > :18:44.am walking on the street at home, there are some people who see me
:18:45. > :18:48.coming, and they branch off. They don't want to meet me. But they have
:18:49. > :18:54.no experience that I have beaten somebody. They haven't had it that I
:18:55. > :18:59.have beaten anybody but they just fear completely with out any
:19:00. > :19:04.compromise. And in a country where the law still refers to people with
:19:05. > :19:10.mental illness as idiots, that stigma is hard to overcome. So,
:19:11. > :19:17.Joseph and his friends have set up a small support group which they have
:19:18. > :19:27.called Heartsounds. They work in partnership with Butabika Hospital.
:19:28. > :19:33.Peer support is very, very important, and it is something that
:19:34. > :19:38.should be given a lot of attention. Whereby the patients themselves
:19:39. > :19:43.support each other. Because we are expats by experience, we understand
:19:44. > :19:46.deep inside what happens, which of the psychiatrists are imagining,
:19:47. > :19:52.which the psychologists are imagining, they study it in books.
:19:53. > :19:56.But we can give solace to ourselves because this world is about giving
:19:57. > :20:00.solace to each other. When we meet like this, I know that everyone has
:20:01. > :20:05.the same problem and we are living like other people. No one can say
:20:06. > :20:12.that this person is suffering from mental illness, we are doing well,
:20:13. > :20:19.we are sharing, I'm feeling very happy because of that. My
:20:20. > :20:29.psychiatrist says I have bipolar. For by life experiences, I go
:20:30. > :20:33.through highs and lows. I think I have relaxed in the presence of many
:20:34. > :20:42.of you. You have seen how I become when I relapsed. A tiger. I don't
:20:43. > :20:50.know. You behave like a tiger when you relapsed. And when you are low,
:20:51. > :20:57.you are like a pussycat. Sure. That is what I have observed. Have you
:20:58. > :21:03.heard of the Dalai llama? He says the purpose of life is to be happy.
:21:04. > :21:06.By the way, a normal person who has never survived a mental illness, who
:21:07. > :21:11.is not happy, I don't want to be that person. I would rather have
:21:12. > :21:18.suffered from a mental illness but I am happy. Me, I have never composed
:21:19. > :21:26.a song, but I go to karaoke. When I am singing karaoke I am happy and
:21:27. > :21:40.the purpose of life is to be happy. The purpose of life is to be happy!
:21:41. > :21:42.Karaoke! Karaoke! The World Health Organisation estimates that over 90%
:21:43. > :21:52.of people with mental disorders in Uganda don't receive medical help.
:21:53. > :21:56.Karaoke of the highest order! But for those who do, psychiatrist say
:21:57. > :22:08.that support groups like Josef's can improve the chances of staying well.
:22:09. > :22:26.Thank you so much. A big round of applause. For uncle Joseph. Hello,
:22:27. > :22:30.hello! Disses psychosocial support. Medicine alone will produce a
:22:31. > :22:37.zombie, somebody needs to be supported and feel like a person
:22:38. > :22:43.here in this group, we are all that. So, what is most important is we
:22:44. > :22:48.shouldn't feel sorry for ourselves. To say that I am sick, I can't do
:22:49. > :22:50.this, so we tried to share with each other and encourage each other to
:22:51. > :23:13.have a better life. I believe in love. I believe in you,
:23:14. > :23:17.baby. I believe in Mum and dad, and I believe in you.