Saturday, 22 May 2021: Nigerian columnist and publisher of the famous Genevieve Magazine, Betty Irabor, reportedly battled grief and feelings of insecurity after losing her father and brother.

The writer while on this week’s episode of #WithChude, talked about the experience that pushed her into a season of depression, insomnia, and even attempted suicide.

“I always felt I wasn’t good enough or that I hadn’t accomplished enough, because at that moment, I was not thinking about my successes,” she said.

Betty could not have imagined that she would one day be a patient at the famous Yaba Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Yaba. The clinic was known to be a place for mad people.

It was not until Betty had consulted nine different psychiatrists in desperation for help that she opted to visit a professor at the hospital as advised by her uncle. Recalling this horrible experience, Betty said,

“All I wanted was my sanity. They say, ‘he who is down need not to fear foes. I was already at the grass level and I was looking for where I could find help.”

It took her series of medications, consulting a long list of doctors and repeatedly attempting suicide for Betty to eventually find a way to overcome her depression with the help of her husband and trusted friends. Today, she’s couldn’t be any better.

“In a strange way, I have managed to find a way of dealing with things that would normally knock me down. I am not that skinny, insecure woman, who fretted about everything. I am a different person, I am happier. I know that I am actually in control of what I internalize, and I can filter out what I don’t want in my life.”

Irabor has continued to share her story with the world in the hope that it’ll will inspire others to get help and hopefully, be in control of their stories—proving that depression is real, but definitely not insurmountable.