Maureen Waititu, a social media personality and attorney, claims that after her highly publicized breakup with Frankie Kiarie, she suffered from acute melancholy.
She claimed that while the split itself was not the worst part, social media’s response to the breakup severely damaged her mental health and nearly led to her suicide.
“The internet trolled me very badly. I was the topic of discussion almost everywhere for months on end and I was losing it behind closed doors,” she said.
Waititu said that she could not get out of bed, eat well or sleep properly for weeks.
“I started getting heart palpitations, light-headed and very distracted. I remember twice in a mall, I parked my car and left the door wide open just to come back and find concerned security guards next to my car,” she said.
She then started to lose interest in the activities she had previously found enjoyable and fell into a hole she was unable to get out of.
She eventually started to consider suicide.
“The thoughts were so persistent that I attempted to end my life three different times,” she confessed.
Waititu was speaking at the Girl Generation Festival, which was held in Athi River on Monday and aimed to promote the importance of girls’ and women’s mental health and wellbeing on a global scale.
She drove out of her residence onto Waiyaki Way in an effort to end her life one last time, intending to collide with approaching vehicles.
Then, though, a memory of her two young sons rushed across her thoughts, jolting her back to reality.
“Thankfully, at this point, I had been recommended to a very good psychiatrist who I still see even today,” she said.
Waititu said the first step towards mental wellness is acknowledging that you need help.
“It’s okay to seek help. I have never looked back since then. Even though I have had lapses in my mental health since then, it has gotten better,” she said.
She said that there is often a lot of negativity around medication for mental health but her doctor did what had to be done.
“I started off with very heavy anti-depressants which would put me out at night and keep me awake during the day. For two years, I was basically operating like a robot,” she said.
Waititu said said that with consistency, she was able to get better completely and get off the anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medication.
“If people tell you otherwise about medication, trust your physician. Take care of your health whatever it takes because no one has got you like you have got you,” she said.
She now freely discusses mental health and promotes mental well-being with assistance from Better 4 Kenya, a group that works to elevate the voices of influencers.
