Learn the story of Jessica, a woman with schizophrenia, who lived in chains for more than 14 years, without receiving psychiatric treatment.
EIt takes more than 160 steps up a concrete staircase to reach Jessica’s house, a place full of rubble and waste located in the upper part of Comas, one of Peru’s poorest and most marginalized districts of northern Lima. However, for the team of psychologists at Socios En Salud, distance is not an impediment to building bonds, especially with those suffering from some kind of mental suffering.
Jessica, a 34-year-old woman, lived chained and tied from the waist to a wooden beam, which was located in the middle of her precarious home and served as a support for the house’s roof. Her mother, Yrene, referred that she had no other option, since Jessica; used to hear voices, talk to herself, think that all people were looking at her, went out naked to the street and had tried to set fire to her home in 2019, and on other occasions, used to run away from home, returning a few days later together with police officers. Access to timely treatment could have prevented and controlled this combination of delusions, thought and behavioral disorders. Unfortunately, it could not be carried out.
After neighbors alerted local authorities, we managed to contact the Wiñay Community Mental Health Center (CSMC), one of the 3Community Mental Health Centers, with which Partners In Health works in an articulated manner through its Mental Health Program since 2019. This with the objective of strengthening multisectoral response capacity in the mental health of people with chronic mental disorder.
In March 2022, after the coordinated intervention between CSMC Wiñay, Socios En Salud and the community, Jessica, finally, is free from the chains, starts her psychiatric treatment, starting to develop in a dignified way and free from not only material, but also psychological and emotional ties, far from the suffering, crying and anger that tormented her for more than 14 years.
From this moment on, Socios En Salud provides constant accompaniment and monitoring to both Jessica and her mother. This with the purpose of ensuring compliance with medical appointments, access to medications, vaccinations, food and social support. Acommunity agent takes care of these activities in a helpful manner. At this moment, Jessica is making progress in her rehabilitation and recovery, so much so that when she receives the sight of the community agent, she receives it with joy, hugs and attention.
“Behind Jessica, there are many people helping her, there is the NGO, the Community Mental Health Center, there is the community itself and the neighborhood council that supports them. The progress and improvement in Jessica’s health is evident. I am very happy for Jessica,” said Belinda Pineda, neighbor and president of the community.
Belinda Pineda, neighbor and president of the community.
Like Jessica, there are 736 million women in the world who have experienced physical, psychological or sexual violence by partners or family members at some point in their lives. However, less than 40% seek some kind of help. In Peru, during the state of emergency caused by COVID-19, 22.6% of attacks ended in femicide, an alarming figure, which reveals the need to defend women’s rights and fight for a world free of gender violence. Likewise, in Peru, there are more than 280,000 people suffering from schizophrenia, a serious mental disorder that transforms reality in an abnormal way, but only 62% get a diagnosis of the disease.
At Socios En Salud we are certain that access to timely and quality health care is the basis for building an equitable and healthy society, where all lives have the same value. We will continue to work articulately so that gaps in access to health care are narrowed and social injustices are cured.