SHE CALLED ME KEMI

SHE CALLED ME KEMI

I know you are hollering right now, of course, my name is Anita but she called me Kemi and no, I did not bother to correct her.  I am Kemi as long as it doesn’t make her feel stupid. I am rambling now, let me backtrack.

This morning, I pushed my jolly self out of the bed as Anita, got ready begrudgingly and made my way to the bus stop – joyfully bobbing to music from my headphones as I waited for the staff bus.

Yawn. I don’t want to bore you but by 8:20AM, I was seated while we waited for my colleague to come in. She looked around, greeted everyone in the bus with a singsong ‘good morning’ to which only about two people replied half-heartedly. That didn’t do for me and being the semi-intrusive person that I am, I turned to her and said my warmest ‘good morning’ with the sort of grin I wear when its payday.

‘Oh, good morning Kemi’, she said with her own confused smile. You can bet that the confusion transferred to my face but come on, I interview people for a living, and so I quickly ‘repaired’ my face and grinned again before facing my phone.

But the ‘Amebo’ in me pushed me to look at her again and I saw a sense of recognition on her face as she quickly glanced at me. She might have concluded that it was too late to correct her mistake. I don’t care what she called me; I care that this person can greet people and keep a job as a brilliant accountant.

She has risen past the stigma that comes with being bipolar and is a person of value. I love that regardless of the sneers and laughter at the corners of the mouths of our colleagues, she wears a smile each time she took her meds on our way back from work.

Most of our colleagues sometimes push her emotions, especially when she is in a switch zone, to make fun of her reactions. It is a sort of amusement for them that I honestly cannot understand. The situation is worse when she is not there, oh the pitiful tales and the jokes that they weave around her behaviour. What more! She is in her late thirties and unmarried despite the fact that she schooled abroad.

Of course, majority of the mockery is borne out of ignorance. A lot of them think bipolar is malaria and it ought to have finished by now and there are the spiritual people who have concluded that her strings are pulled from the village because of an abomination her wealthy father probably committed. The latter is the popular opinion.

I remember when I first began working here alongside a few others some years back, it took detailed explanations to restrain my fellow newbies from joining the mockery train with the rest. It was then I realised that mental health is still a taboo subject on this side of the globe and the people are not even ready to hear otherwise. For them, it is a very spiritual problem and all mental health issues are madness. Her family must have it worse because my brothers and sisters in this country have a problem with shutting their mouths. Hey, talking is not a bad thing, but ignorant talk? That one is a killer.

For me, my colleague is a pretty person that has her act together and does her job brilliantly. Yes, her bipolar rears its head and no, she doesn’t choose the timing. I don’t care what she calls me. I will be Kemi, Esther, Chidinma and even John if she wishes. You too can join the train. Please, be Kemi for people with mental health issues. It’s no fault of theirs.

I have attached some information on Bipolar below. Do check it out:  

Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks.

There are four basic types of bipolar disorder; all of them involve clear changes in mood, energy, and activity levels. These moods range from periods of extremely “up,” elated, and energized behaviour (known as manic episodes) to very sad, “down,” or hopeless periods (known as depressive episodes). Less severe manic periods are known as hypomanic episodes.

• Bipolar I Disorder— defined by manic episodes that last at least 7 days, or by manic symptoms that are so severe that the person needs immediate hospital care. Usually, depressive episodes occur as well, typically lasting at least 2 weeks. Episodes of depression with mixed features (having depression and manic symptoms at the same time) are also possible.
• Bipolar II Disorder— defined by a pattern of depressive episodes and hypomanic episodes, but not the full-blown manic episodes described above.
• Cyclothymic Disorder (also called cyclothymia)— defined by numerous periods of hypomanic symptoms as well numerous periods of depressive symptoms lasting for at least 2 years (1 year in children and adolescents). However, the symptoms do not meet the diagnostic requirements for a hypomanic episode and a depressive episode.
• Other Specified and Unspecified Bipolar and Related Disorders— defined by bipolar disorder symptoms that do not match the three categories listed above.

Signs and Symptoms

People with bipolar disorder experience periods of unusually intense emotion, changes in sleep patterns and activity levels, and unusual behaviors. These distinct periods are called “mood episodes.” Mood episodes are drastically different from the moods and behaviors that are typical for the person. Extreme changes in energy, activity, and sleep go along with mood episodes.