As the mental disorder worsened, it made her life a living hell, she recalls.
It was characterised by severe seizures which left her with injuries and scars she still wears today.
The seizures, she says, would happen any time of the day in any place.
Mostly she was helped by her male partner with whom they stayed in a house.
“But at times it could happen on the road and I would be helped by good Samaritans,” she recounted.
Doctors told her the bout was being triggered by her stress.
Depression sets in
It got much worse when she and her partner fell apart, and their fashion company collapsed.
The long spell of depression that followed drove her to do a lot of “bad things,” Malaika told Ruth Kalibbala in an interview.
“I drank a lot, I did drugs…the only thing I thank the Lord for is that I did not sleep around, but that was where I was heading.”
Malaika, who had run from home aged only 21, started working multiple jobs and doing side hustles to make ends meet.
“At one time a doctor told me, if I wanted to see 30 years, I needed to stop whatever I was doing.”
Enough
On another day, she says, the seizure came when she was alone in her room. She regained consciousness to find herself covered in blood.
“At that point, I prayed to God to either take my life or fix this,” she recalled.
At the height of her condition, Malaika said she had an internal bleeding, while on another occasion, she ended up in a coma.
She attributes her eventual recovery to God, stressing that while medication helped a lot, it was divine intervention at liberated her.
What is epilepsy?
Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder characterized by recurrent, unprovoked seizures. These seizures result from sudden, excessive electrical discharges in a group of brain cells.
The condition can affect anyone at any age and varies in severity—some experience brief moments of disorientation, while others undergo prolonged convulsions.
The causes of epilepsy are diverse, ranging from genetic influences to traumatic brain injuries, infections, and developmental disorders.
Treatment typically involves medication, which can control seizures in about 70% of cases.
For those resistant to medication, options such as surgery, neurostimulation, or dietary changes may be considered. Despite challenges, many individuals with epilepsy manage their condition successfully and lead full, active lives.
