Table 1 Potentially traumatic events that meet the DSM-5 criterion A definition

Assault, Beatings

Descriptions of or concerns about the person with SMI being beaten, assaulted or attacked by a person or person(s)

R: “I have faced so many dangers before.… My leg has been broken. To your surprise, whether you believe it or not, this leg of mine was broken…. I: did someone break you? R: Yes, a person from this area. We do not [have] tribal or any other kind of relationship with the people in this area…. But they broke my leg. I have bent it like this… look. Right here. I: Yes. Yes. I saw it. I saw it. R: Right here the bone…. I have bent it this way and stood on it. What is this? I: When people broke your leg. R: Yes. I: It is because they want the land and they are not your relatives. R: Yes. They are not my relatives. I: They want you to drink. They want something to happen to you. R: Yes. Why is that? I do not even have a brother here.”—Person Living with SMI #5, Male

“I: Have you ever been beaten? R: Yes. My brother beat me one when I disturbed him. He did that when I tried to go around begging for money for alcohol and food. That was after I dropped out of the treatment about five years ago.”—Person living SMI #4, Female

Robbery

Descriptions of or concerns about the person with SMI being robbed, mugged, or burglarized

“I: Have other people abused him verbally after he became ill? R: Children abuse him a lot. They take whatever he has in his pocket. They play with him. They try to fool him. They give him alcoholic drinks and pick his pocket. I hear that but we disregard such stories to live in peace with people. I can’t go and confront them because I am old and my health is not so great.”—Caregiver #7, Father of man living with SMI (previously husband of a woman living with SMI, who has since died)

“R: Their father went to look for our son who got lost for a year. He just walked out of the house and got lost. My husband went to look for him but he was away for long looking for him. We heard that he was around Meki town. He went to different places hoping to find his son. Then he lost all hope and decided to return to his home. Nevertheless, he did not come back. In the meantime, he lost his mind to overthinking. He had some money he took with him when he went to look for his son. He was robbed. After that he became seriously out of his mind. Remember, when the father went to look for the one who was lost, I was at home taking care of our son who was also mentally ill and in chain.”—Caregiver #4, Mother of a man living with SMI

Animal attack

Descriptions of or concerns about threat of attack of people with SMI by wild animals

“R: His very first treatment was at Amanuel hospital in Addis Ababa [the psychiatric hospital in Addis Ababa]. They told us that he has some mental illness and mental retardation. However, when you look at him he does not act like a mentally retarded person. He is too active for a mentally retarded. His problem is that he does not respond though he understands well. His problem is that he does not foresee the risk. He does not care when it is dark outside and when the hyenas are coming. He does not understand that he has to close the door when it is dark or he has no idea as to when to wake up and open the door.”—Caregiver #10, Mother of a man living with SMI

Falls

Descriptions of or concerns about the person with SMI falling into ditches, pits, sewage drains, etc

“R: I got tired… Honestly I came back home because I was tired. I came home. He stayed home after a lot of trial. What can I do? He is sitting at home and I am sitting with him. Where can I take him. Did I not sit at home with him? Since I sat at home… if he went some where he would fall in the sewage. This is because I am the mother… if I was not his mother… I: If you were not… R: Yes. If I was not, what? I: If you were not… R: If I was not, he would have died in one of the sewages. I am suffering to sit with him.”—Caregiver #9, Mother of a man living with SMI

“I: What are his symptoms now? R: He cannot talk properly. He is very irritable and grumpy around others. He does not want to stay around the neighborhood. He wanders around aimlessly. His spine has a problem. He cannot run if something comes. When he goes around, I worry that he might fall into something.” – Caregiver #11, Father of a man living with SMI

Electric shock

Descriptions of or concerns about person with SMI being electrocuted

“I: What do other people say your illness was? R: They think I was doing all these intentionally. I go to them and apologize after insulting people. It wasn’t intentional. I experienced car accident and electric shock. I fell into water because I thought I was God and I had a feeling that the water won’t drown me.—Caregiver #12, Father of a man living with SMI (secondarily a person living with SMI)

Hit by vehicle or car accident

Descriptions of or concerns about the person with SMI being in a vehicle accident

“R: He complains that he has mental illness. He says something worries him a lot. It has been around seven years since this has happened. The cause is that he had an accident when he was riding a motor bike to one of the rural villages. He broke his leg and the accident was a major one. The illness started after the injury.”—Caregiver #2, Wife of a man living with SMI

Drowning

Descriptions of or concerns about the person with SMI drowning or nearly drowning

“I: When did you notice something is wrong with him? R: It was seven years ago. Something pulled him into the water. I think it is Satan. Myself and the whole family believes that Satan lives in the river. What else could it be that can pull him in to the water?”—Caregiver #12, Father of a man living with SMI (secondarily a person living with SMI

“R: I love her. She is my daughter. I do not hate her for her illness. She is my responsibility. Her worry is my worry. Her illness is my responsibility. I sometimes feel sick because of the stress of caring. I lose [my] balance to stand still sometimes. I hide when I go to attend social gatherings like mahaber [association with or without religious intention for the purpose of social support and recreation] and idir [burial association]. She does not control me much in this regard. However, whenever I leave the house, I have a fear that she might hang herself or drown into water. She has never tried anything like that to date. She never tried to harm herself.”—Caregiver #13, Mother of a woman living with SMI