Maje Ayida, a fitness entrepreneur, has opened up on falling into depression following his divorce from Toke Makinwa, the online personality.
Ayida tied the knot with the media personality, his longtime partner, in 2014.
However, their union hit the rocks over allegations of infidelity in 2015, leading to their divorce in 2017.
Speaking at a recent church gathering, Ayida said he became depressed due to the public backlash from the break-up.
The fitness coach said the situation left him “feeling ashamed and dejected from society”, adding, “I lost motivation.”
Ayida said he started losing his sleep and business deals, which lasted for a year.
He described the state as “being in a very dark space and a hole, needing a way out.
The entrepreneur added that he ultimately overcame his trying times after “taking practical steps” to find a way out.
“I will be honest about the fact that I went through a divorce, which resulted in me being depressed. It was a very publicised divorce,” he said.
“That left me feeling very alone. I withdrew from society, and I was ashamed of my situation. Not just for myself, of course, my self-esteem was affected. my legacy is very important to me. was ashamed of what I felt I had done to my family’s name. As a result, I went into hiding.
“I not only lose focus but also motivation. I lose the essence of even getting up in the morning. What am I getting up for? Everyone already feels a certain way about me. So, I started to lose work as a result of it. That was when it started to get to me.
“As a man, your work is your identity, and I started to lose work, business deals, so it became a real problem for me.
“That was when I made a decision. I had to decide for my survival because I was living in hopelessness. It went on for weeks.
“I was out of the loop for a whole year. I checked out of life for a year to recoup. I realised that I was in a very dark space. I was in a hole, but I needed to get out of it. I was on the floor. What’s sleep? I didn’t even know what that was. I had insomnia.
“That feeling of hopelessness and the noise that was going on around me, even though I was in silence, was out of control. I made a choice. I decided that I didn’t want to stay in this space.
“I researched how to deal with it. The top of the list was accountability. I took the blame on myself. It made me feel worse at first until I began to take practical steps.”