SELF NARRATIVE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS IN ORAL PERFORMANCE AMONG THE OKPAI OF NDOKWA

This study explores the intersection of self-narrative, psychological disorder, and oral performance among the Okpai people of Ndokwa, Delta State, Nigeria. The research investigates how oral storytelling functions not merely as cultural expression, but as a therapeutic medium through which individuals articulate and manage psychological distress. Exploring psychoanalytic theory and performance theory, the study analyzes first-person oral narratives shaped by trauma, war, natural disaster, and family loss to reveal patterns of dissociation, hallucination, guilt, and healing. Using qualitative methods such as in-depth interviews, participant observation, and narrative analysis, the research uncovers how psychological symptoms such as anxiety, PTSD, and depression manifest through symbolic oral performance. The research emphasizes on oral tradition as epistemic practice, it demonstrates that oral self-narrative in Okpai provides an indigenous idiom of distress that reconfigures mental illness into culturally legible experiences. Findings show that storytelling among the Okpai functions as a form of narrative therapy, fostering personal reintegration, communal empathy, and identity restoration. The study therefore, contributes to mental health discourse by offering a culturally grounded model of psychosocial support in low-resource settings and enriches African literary scholarship through its focus on lived oral traditions. Ultimately, this research positions Okpai oral performance as both a mirror of internal suffering and a conduit for resilience and cultural continuity.