Determined To Change

September 16, 2021

‘Godfrey’ is a 27- year-old male from Wakiso district, Uganda who was diagnosed with Alcohol induced Psychosis on his first admission to Butabika Mental Hospital in 2018. YouBelong met Godfrey on his second admission in 2021 after he had spent two months in hospital with no family member visits.

After his first hospital admission, Godfrey didn’t adhere to his prescribed medication due to his lack of insight and low level of knowledge about his mental illness. Prior to his 2021 admission, he became aggressive and destroyed property which included car mirrors of local community members. He was arrested by the Police for destructive behaviour and was put in custody for days before the Police realized that he had a mental problem. He was then readmitted to Butabika hospital.

The YBU team traced his family and engaged with them to prepare to have Godfrey back home with medication and ongoing support. With Godfrey and the family, the YBU team developed a post-discharge empowerment plan. The plan included psycho-education with a focus on Godfrey’s mental illness and alcohol use, medication adherence, understanding the role of medication in the treatment of his illness, and the importance of attending reviews and engaging in productive income-generating activity that is critically important in the process of recovery.

Godfrey plans to take his medication as prescribed and report any early signs of relapse so as to avoid readmission in the hospital. He says hospital admissions is very costly for him because of the delay in achieving his life ambitions. He plans to try hard to avoid use alcohol because as he says, it does not solve any of his problems, but instead makes them worse. He also has plans on helping his grandmother do garden work and have produce to sell. Godfrey has plans of resuming his business in South Sudan where he still has connections.