Most people have had some brush with mental illness in one form or the other – either directly experienced, or involving a family member or loved one. It is a broad spectrum ranging from childhood autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children; through depression, bipolar, psychotic disorders, and substance use disorders in adolescence and adulthood; to dementia in the elderly. Unfortunately, it is often shrouded in secrecy as affected individuals and their families are ashamed and worried about stigma and discrimination. Sometimes the burden of anticipated stigma and discrimination is worse than the actual experience of the condition. Yet, it remains in the shadows and is barely spoken about.

Living with Mental Illness (LIMI), Africa aims to celebrate and share positive stories of persons with direct or indirect experience of mental ill-health and its challenges. It is one of the exceptional projects launched by the Asido Foundation on the 10th of October, 2020, to mark World Mental Health Day, when the entirety of our lives as humans on earth revolved around the emergence of a novel virus called SARS-CoV-19. This project provided a platform to highlight the positive aspects of how people cope, what and who helped, what made it easier (or tougher), and how people with lived-experience of mental illness have been able to make progress.

The initiative was facilitated by both the directorates of Service User Empowerment and Media and Publicity of the Asido Foundation. It started as a positive and inspirational Facebook stories page that drew inspiration from the Humans of New York (HONY) stories, which showcased the diversity of positive human experiences and kindness. The Asido Campus Network publication team also contributed to this initiative by featuring stories on their Medium page.