Charisma opens up on battle with depression, reveals he tried to take his own life multiple times
By Paulette Mboga, March 24, 2026Kenyan musician Fidel Shammah, popularly known as Charisma, has opened up about his battle with depression in 2020, revealing that he reached a very low point in his life.
In a podcast on Monday, March 23, 2026, he said he struggled deeply with his mental health and even had thoughts of taking his own life multiple times. He explained that the situation was triggered by personal and career challenges that affected him heavily.
He said the period was difficult because many parts of his life were not going well at the same time. He explained that he was trying to balance his personal life, career decisions, and family expectations. He added that the pressure from all sides made it hard for him to cope.
“I fell into proper depression in 2020. Like, I was depressed for real, I was suicidal, I tried to kill myself a bunch of times. I was in the pits because you see, for me, let me tell you everything that had happened,” Charisma said.
He explained that his long-term relationship came to an end during this period. He said that the breakup was connected to how his struggles affected his ability to be present in the relationship. He added that he could not function as a partner because he was going through a difficult phase.
“My 5-year relationship ended because I felt like my career was not doing well. And not because the girl left me because of that. But because I was spiralling. I wasn’t able to be like a proper boyfriend to her,” Charisma said.
Career and pressure struggles
He said he had made a major decision to pursue music instead of law. He explained that this choice added pressure when his music career did not succeed as expected. He added that the lack of progress made things more stressful for him.
“And then, I had chosen to do music over law. Now this music thing is refusing,” Charisma said.
He explained that his parents also added pressure during this time. He said they encouraged him to go back to studying law because they believed his music path was not working. He added that this created more conflict in his mind as he tried to figure out his future.
“My parents are giving me a lot of pressure, they are just like, go back to this thing, to law, because this thing you are doing isn’t working. And of course, the music is not moving,” Charisma said.