For 40-year-old Lewis Mureithi who is a certified medical doctor, his drinking and drug abuse pushed him over the edge into a complete breakdown.
Mureithi was quite successful through his studies in high school, and the University of Nairobi where he studied medicine before immediately landing a government job after completion. However, his deep-drinking life later threw him into a den that completely shuttered his life goals.
Having studied at Kajiunduthi High School in Tharaka Nithi County, Mureithi made history as the first-ever candidate to score a straight A of 82 points in KCSE exams.
The splendid performance got him straight admission to study medicine at the University of Nairobi until 2008 when he completed the course and landed his first job at a Murang’a hospital.
It is at Murang’a District Hospital that Mureithi began his drinking life to confront family disputes, unmet expectations and work-related challenges.
While the drinking started as a leisure activity, it would later grow into a serious challenge that not only saw him fail to report to work on numerous occasions but also got him into depression.
“I started gradually and without knowing, I found myself deeply inside the drinking den and could not forgo a day without. I would later realize I had other challenges such as depression occasioned by work feuds, family disputes, unmet expectations and so forth. I tried to leave alcohol but all my efforts failed,” Mureithi narrated.
During his drinking life while in Murang’a County, the doctor revealed that he developed many negative relationships with his workmates and his bosses as a result of absenteeism and ineffective in-service delivery.
As a result of unproductivity, Mureithi was frequently transferred from one hospital to another with a view to helping him fight alcoholism that the bosses suspected might have been caused by peer pressure.
“I would get so many show cause letters to explain the absenteeism or why I was unproductive in my work. I would be later sent to another hospital in Karatina before I got another transfer to Lugulu Hospital in Bungoma where I worked as the man in charge, having been seconded by the government,” he explained.
PHOTO/Mathew Ndung’u
Due to his deep intoxication, Mureithi would frequently confront the Lugulu hospital sponsors and local community who in turn recommended his removal from the facility, a situation that saw him land yet another transfer to Webuye district hospital.
It is at Webuye District Hospital that he lost his job over ineffectiveness, absenteeism, and reporting to work while drunk among other factors.
In his narration, Mureithi described addiction as a terrifying breakdown of reason, noting that while people struggling with addiction desire to stop, they are often confused and afraid.
Despite scarred livers, overdoses, court cases, lost jobs and lost families, the addicted, he said, feel like drinking more to remain alert as it is through drinking sprees that they find refuge.
Having undergone rehabilitation at Lifetime Wellness Rehabilitation Centre located at Kabuku in Limuru, Kiambu County for three months, Mureithi wishes to be reintegrated into society to continue serving Kenyans and hopes to maintain his sobriety by shunning alcohol through actively engaging in nation-building.
He further wants to create awareness about the dangers of alcoholism and to be inspirational to addicts so that they too can transform for the better.
According to Dr Andrew Mwengwa Githuka – chairperson for Youth for Behavior Change initiative, poor working environment, time-consuming demands, huge workloads, and regulatory requirements among other factors have lured tens of physicians into alcoholism.
Due to frequent exposure to traumatic medical situations, Mwengwa noted that most doctors become victims of post-traumatic disorder and while they hardly develop healthy coping mechanisms, most of them end up in alcoholism.
“Lack of proper counselling and healthy coping mechanisms have seen doctors and police, due to their nature of work, venture into alcoholism. Many become addicted while others get depressed. Alcoholism does not add any value,” he said, promising to help Mureithi get integrated back into the community.
Mwengwa urged Kenyans to support recovering addicts by embracing them back into society instead of oppressing and stigmatizing them.
He rooted for the creation of awareness that addiction is a disease and the ailing should not be excommunicated but should rather be supported to heal.
His sentiments were echoed by Njeri Wa Mureithia, a mother who urged the public to stop judging addicts and instead endeavour to walk the recovery journey with them.
“We are all potential candidates of being parents to addicts and as such, we need to learn how to react, how to stay with them, support their recovery journey and help them rise again,” Mureithia stated.
