JoyNews' latest hotline documentary dubbed 'Mind Matters' dives into the life of a mental healthcare patient who has been subjugated to sexual abuse by individuals who were mandated to ensure her improvement.

In the yet to be aired documentary that focuses on the gaps in Ghana’s mental healthcare delivery system, Mariama Issifu shares her story with Manuel Koranteng.

Mariama Issifu lost her memory from a ghastly motor accident. Since then, she has had to live under the torment created by those she believed had her interest at heart. As a trained teacher, she expected to receive compassion from her colleagues and fellow students, but that was not the case.

Her case deteriorated when she sought the assistance of caregivers at a psychiatric facility. After being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, Mariama Issifu believed that getting assistance from the health professionals would help her set her life back on track.

"After the accident, I lost my memory. So sometimes, I can be there, and throughout the day and night, I cannot sleep for several days or weeks," she narrated.

Her dependence on psychotropic medications drove her into the hands of a mental health service provider who took advantage of her.

She was blackmailed into believing the only way she could access drugs for her condition was by having sex with her caregiver.

"I met a mental health service provider. We spoke, and he agreed that I could be coming there every month for healthcare. Until he was transferred to Bongo Hospital. I followed him there, and there it all started.

He started sexually harassing me. He would come and demand sex. Sometimes when I go to Bongo, as at then, he was there. When I get there, he tells me he is at his quarters to come there. It got to a time that it looked like if I don't give in to his demands, I can't get drugs," she said.

Mariama’s story is just one of several quality rights violations in mental healthcare captured in JoyNews' latest hotline documentary produced by Manuel Koranteng.

The full documentary airs on the JoyNews channel at 8:30 pm on Monday, February 28. It will be broadcast again on Tuesday at 6:30 pm on the same channel.