They roam our streets barefoot, unclothed, unwashed, and unseen. We call them “mad people” and move on with our lives, as though madness erased their humanity. Yet before the streets claimed them, before their minds betrayed them, they were sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, friends and lovers. They had names. They had dreams. Today, they have only the cold pavement and a society that has decided they no longer matter.
Their pain is deeper than hunger or homelessness. It is the agony of recognition without acceptance. They see familiar faces, old friends, neighbours, even blood relatives, cross to the other side of the road, pretend not to know them, or recoil in shame. Some are insulted, spat at, beaten, or chased away with iron rods and stones, as though suffering were a crime. To be rejected by strangers is painful; to be rejected by those who once loved you is a wound that never heals.
The psychological trauma they endure is unbearable. Imagine losing your grip on reality while still being aware that you are being mocked, feared, and dehumanized. Imagine crying for help in a language only pain understands, while the human community, built on empathy and shared vulnerability, fails in its most basic moral responsibility. A society that abandons its most broken members has already lost its moral sanity. The actual madness is not in the demonstration of their irrational behaviour but in the failure of those who called themselves sane as they refuse to display the hall of sanity that makes one have mercy on those who are not fit to help themselves.
We comfort ourselves with lies. We say they must have committed a great sin. We say they abused hard drugs. We say they deserve their fate. These excuses are convenient, not truthful. The failure of brain consciousness that leads to insanity can happen to anyone, rich or poor, educated or illiterate, moral or immoral. Many cases of mental breakdown are caused by deep frustration, unresolved trauma, extreme poverty, heartbreak, job loss, war experiences, domestic abuse, academic pressure, genetic conditions, untreated depression, spiritual confusion, social isolation, or prolonged stress. Sometimes, the mind simply collapses under the weight of life.
Mental illness is not a moral failure; it is a human vulnerability. A state of the mind beyond one’s control. The same brain that reasons, loves, and hopes can also break. No one is immune. The line between sanity and madness is thinner than our pride and ignorance allow us to admit. Today, it is “them” on the streets; tomorrow it could be us, or someone we love.
The government must bear its share of shame. The absence of functional mental health institutions, rehabilitation centers, social welfare systems, and public awareness programs has turned the streets into open-air asylums. Instead of care, there is neglect. Instead of treatment, there is abandonment. A state that cannot protect the mentally ill is a state failing its most basic duty to humanity. Yet, the state has enough funds to rehabilitate unrepentant terrorists.
But government failure does not excuse personal cruelty. We, the so-called morally fit, must confront our own hearts. These people are not animals to be chased away with iron rods. They are not dirt to be swept aside. They are our brothers and sisters whose minds have betrayed them. A meal, a kind word, clean clothing, medical help, or simply refusing to abuse them can restore a fragment of dignity. Compassion costs nothing, yet it can save a life.
A society is measured not by how it treats the powerful, but by how it treats the powerless. If we continue to beat, mock, and discard the mentally ill, then perhaps the madness we should fear most is not theirs, but ours.
Please note this: Mad people still remember and desire love even when we don’t show them.
Where did our mercy go?
– Ambassador Ezewele Cyril Abionanojie is the author of the book ‘The Enemy Called Corruption’ an award winner of Best Columnist of the year 2020, Giant in Security Support, Statesmanship Integrity & Productivity Award Among others. He is the President of Peace Ambassador Global.