Mental Illness is Not Madness: The Case for Early Intervention & Systemic Reform
Growing up with a family member who has autism, I became aware, at a very young age, of how differently people treat those with developmental or mental health disorders. When I was eight, my family traveled to Nigeria. Like many families desperate for answers, when medicine feels incomplete, they turned to spiritual solutions. We visited multiple prayer camps and attended healing seminars, hoping someone could help.
At one camp, the memory still haunts me: children and teenagers, handcuffed to trees, their wrists raw, their clothes dirty, their faces a mix of fear and vacancy. Some cried softly; others stared into nothing, as if the world had given up on them. Pastors walked around sprinkling holy water, muttering prayers, and declaring deliverance. One pastor insisted that to be healed one must live in the camp for a year. As I watched the other children restrained and isolated, I thought: there is no difference between special needs kids here and in the U.S, the only difference was where they lived.
In the United States, children with special needs have access to special education, behavioral/occupational therapy, and medical intervention. In remote areas of Nigeria, special needs children were left to spiritual interpretations, stigma, and silence. Society had written them off as “mad” or “imbeciles” words that erase their humanity and deny them care.
Stigma Is Rooted in Lack of Understanding
My experience at that camp became the foundation of my life’s work. I learned that mental illness and developmental disorders are not spiritual punishments, they are health conditions that require compassion, resources, and evidence‑based care. In many parts of Africa, mental illness and developmental disorders are still treated as spiritual or moral failings rather than medical conditions. This stigma leads to neglect, misdiagnosis, and in some cases, active harm.
We readily accept that diabetes, heart disease, or cancer can have genetic or environmental roots. Yet when schizophrenia, addiction, bipolar disorder, or autism appear in families, they are often met with suspicion, fear, or outright denial.
This lack of understanding fuels stigma. Stigma fuels neglect and neglect fuels preventable suffering.
Behavioral Therapy: Seeing the Person, Not the Diagnosis
As I grew older, I pursued work as a behavior technician, providing applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy to children with autism. ABA is a structured, evidence‑based approach that reinforces positive social and communication skills while reducing challenging behaviors.
One of my most memorable patients was a nonverbal 7 year old who uses a speech-generating device, a “talker”, to communicate. When he is hungry, he wails and throws his talker across the room in frustration, desperate to be understood. I pick it up, bring it back to him, and prompt him to click the food icons to indicate that he is hungry. By reinforcing this communication method over just eight sessions, he transitioned from throwing tantrums to tapping his device—a breakthrough moment where he feels heard.
So many “unfavorable behaviors” in children with autism or other developmental disorders stem from communication barriers. They are not “mad.” They are humans trying to be understood.
The Global Gap in Access
This is why my memory of those children in Nigerian prayer camps stays with me.
Children in the United States have access to:
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)
Speech therapy
Occupational therapy
Psychiatric services
The children I saw in Nigeria had none of this.
Opportunities for therapy, intervention, and education are often inaccessible to low‑income families across Africa. Instead, many children are ostracized, misdiagnosed, or left in spiritual camps where their humanity is stripped in the name of deliverance.
This is not just a tragedy of health—it’s a tragedy of human rights, education, and awareness.
Many challenging behaviors stem from communication barriers, not defiance. So many special needs children in low‑income communities, especially in Africa, are never given an opportunity for self actualization.
This is the critical difference between high‑income settings and resource‑limited environments:
In well‑resourced systems, children with autism can achieve meaningful progress with early intervention.
In low‑income settings, children often face stigma, isolation, or even abuse, despite having the same potential.
From Stigma to Science
We would never pray away a broken bone. Thus, recognizing mental illness as a medical condition rather than a spiritual affliction is the first step toward reform. By providing behavior therapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy, we give children the tools to communicate, adapt, and thrive. We recommend a 3 prong approach, PTA:
Policy: Governments and health systems must prioritize funding for early intervention programs
Training: Expanding the behavioral health workforce, including applied behavior analyst, speech language pathologists, and occupational therapists
Awareness: Public campaigns to reduce stigma and emphasize the science of mental health
Ziora Health’s Mission
Ziora in Igbo means to show the world and our mission is to show the world that mental health deserves the same dignity and economic investment as physical health conditions. We understand that stigma is rooted in lack of understanding and Ziora Health exists to bridge that gap. Through compassion, science, and reform we aim for Africans at home and in the diaspora to have access to mental health care that is culturally competent and evidence based. By connecting science, empathy, and reform, we move closer to a world where mental illness is not synonymous with madness.
Yours,
Ziora Health
