British grime artist opens up about living with paranoid schizophrenia

• Rapper Shocka has opened up about living with paranoid schizophrenia 
• READ MORE: Half of schizophrenia ‘patients’ just have anxiety

A British rapper has opened up about living with paranoid schizophrenia and being ‘sectioned’ for the first time.

Grime rapper and mental health advocate Shocka, 35, from Tottenham, appeared on the Hurt to Healing podcast where he discussed struggling with mental health and manic depression.

In a snippet shared to Instagram, he candidly recalled a moment in 2011 when he ‘exploded’, leading his mother to call a Nigerian pastor to ‘pray’ away the incident.

An uncle who witnessed the episode believed his nephew was having a ‘breakdown’ and instead called the ambulance, who would go on to section the rapper the same day.

In another video, the rapper – real name Kenneth Erhahon – said schizophrenia was one of the ‘most frightening things’ he has ever experienced.

Rapper Shocka has opened up about living with paranoid schizophrenia and being ‘sectioned’ for the first time (pictured: Shocka on the the Hurt to Healing podcast)

Recalling the first time he was sectioned – which means being kept in hospital under the Mental Health Act – he said: ‘It was 2011, it was December. I remember because I got sectioned twice in December…

‘I remember I came home and I just exploded. I don’t know what I was trying to say to my mum but I was trying to say something to her but the words weren’t coming out.

‘My mum was realising that something’s wrong. She knew something was wrong because we don’t talk. So for me to come to her and be like babbling stuff…’

The rapper, who is of Nigerian descent, spoke of mental health being a taboo subject in ‘African’ culture. He then shared his mother’s reaction to the schizophrenic episode.

‘And I remember like obviously the African culture – her first thought was “let me call a pastor”. So she called a pastor from Nigeria and I remember him praying to me on the phone line… I still felt the same.

‘And then luckily I had an uncle – he was a doctor. So he came downstairs saw me and he was like “oh your son is having a breakdown we need to call the ambulance”. They called the ambulance and that’s how I got sectioned for the first time.’

The Grime rapper and mental health advocate, 35, from Tottenham, revealed that schizophrenia was one of the ‘most frightening things’ he has ever experienced

The rapper is pictured here in 2010 before he was sectioned for the first time. In the caption he recalled being ’embarrassed’ at the time, however he now sees the image as ‘evidence’ of his ‘testimony’

The Grime rapper – who last year penned his first autobiography A Section Of My Life –  has also opened up about living with schizophrenia.

Speaking in a separate video, he said: ‘It is one of the most frightening things – that out of all of them – out of all like the anxiety, depression, bipolar.

‘When you’re going through that – like a schizophrenic episode – I can’t begin to explain it.

‘It’s like I tried to explain it on another interview. It’s like putting on VR [virtual reality] glasses and the VR glasses that you’ve put on are like all your worst fears.

‘But you’re in that world by yourself. Everyone else looking at you thinks “what’s he getting paranoid [about]? I can’t see what he’s [seeing]. It’s like… it’s indescribable’.

Born Kenneth Erhahon, the rapper and influencer was born and raised in Broadwater Farm in Tottenham, North London.

The rapper, who is of Nigerian descent, spoke of mental health being a taboo subject in ‘African’ culture and recounted the moment his mother ‘prayed’ to a pastor about his condition

Earlier this year, he took to Instagram to reveal that his father had passed on, while also sharing that he had recently lost his mother.

Shocka released his first mixtape Beast on the Loose in 2008, of which its success would later see him link up with fellow rappers Vertex and Double S to form Grime collective, Marvell.

Two years later the group were named as the BBC’s ‘Hot for 2010’ alongside household names Tinie Tempah, Skepta and Chip.

However the group’s success was short lived and the sudden loss of Shocka’s once-promising music career would eventually lead to a deterioration in his mental health.

Years later he returned to the scene with new music, but he is perhaps best known today for his advocacy regarding mental health.

WHAT IS SCHIZOPHRENIA? 

Schizophrenia is a chronic and severe mental disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves.

People with schizophrenia may seem like they have lost touch with reality.

The cause of schizophrenia is not understood and it is believed to be a mix of genetics (hereditary), abnormalities in brain chemistry and/or possible viral infections and immune disorders.

Symptoms of schizophrenia usually begin between ages 16 and 30. In rare cases, children have schizophrenia too.

The symptoms of schizophrenia fall into three categories: positive, negative, and cognitive.

Positive symptoms are disturbances that are ‘added’ to the person’s personality and include:

• Hallucinations
• Delusions
• Thought disorders (unusual or dysfunctional ways of thinking)

Negative symptoms are capabilities that are ‘lost’ from the person’s personality and include:

• ‘Flat affect’ (reduced expression of emotions via facial expression or voice tone)
• Reduced feelings of pleasure in everyday life
• Difficultly beginning and sustaining activities

Cognitive symptoms are changes in their memory or other aspects of thinking and include:

• Trouble focusing or paying attention
• Problems with ‘working memory’
• Poor ability to understand information and use it to make decisions

Figures suggest around one percent of the world population suffers from schizophrenia with around two million in the US.

Source: National Institute of Mental Health

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