After months of worrying about her daughter, a concerned mother brought her to the Mental Health Training Centre, Herat (MHTC-H).

The clinic doctor remembers that she was very thin and looked as though she had not taken good care of herself. Her mother described how worried she was about her 25-year-old daughter, who for the past 3 months had wanted to kill herself and was suspicious, even paranoid about her own family. She was also restless and sad. She had been married for about a year, and 5 months earlier had suffered a miscarriage. The family had tried to help her and had even had her hospitalized 4 times, but she would refuse to take her medication and not get any better.

During the first interview, the doctor remembered that she tried to leave the clinic and denied everything her mother said about her. Then she told the doctor that she often heard a voice telling her to kill herself.

The doctor started an appropriate treatment plan and carefully followed up with her to ensure she took her medication. Eventually, she began to trust in the clinic. After 2 months of treatment, her symptoms decreased, and after 8 months, she was almost completely better.

The last time the doctor saw this young woman, she was taking care of herself. She had a good relationship with her family again, and was pregnant and looking forward to being a mother.

Click here to read more success stories and learn more about IAM’s Mental Health Projects.

Note: Due privacy, the name of the client was not shared in her story