Mental Health In South Africa Research Articles

Household food insufficiency and mental health in South Africa

BackgroundBoth mental illness and food insufficiency are common in low and middle income countries. However, there are limited data on the relation between food insufficiency and mental disorders, despite the...

Cumulative risk and AIDS-orphanhood: Interactions of stigma, bullying and poverty on child mental health in South Africa

Research shows that AIDS-orphaned children are more likely to experience clinical-range psychological problems. Little is known about possible interactions between factors mediating these high distress levels. We assessed how food insecurity, bullying, and AIDS-related stigma interacted with each other and with likelihood of experiencing clinical-range disorder. In South Africa, 1025 adolescents completed standardised measures of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress. 52 potential mediators were measured, including AIDS-orphanhood status. Logistic regressions and hierarchical log-linear modelling were used to identify interactions among significant risk factors. Food insecurity, stigma and bullying all independently increased likelihood of disorder. Poverty and stigma were found to interact strongly, and with both present, likelihood of disorder rose from 19% to 83%. Similarly, bullying interacted with AIDS-orphanhood status, and with both present, likelihood of disorder rose from 12% to 76%. Approaches to alleviating psychological distress amongst AIDS-affected children must address cumulative risk effects.

Traditional healers and mental health in South Africa

Psychiatric patients access both indigenous healers and services rendered by psychiatric facilities in South Africa. The various groups of healers which are available are clearly not all acceptable to the whole population and variable experiences are reported with different categories of healer and the different treatments provided. An increasing collaboration between psychiatric services and indigenous healers is becoming evident, as in other health services. Reports indicate that many African psychiatric patients seek treatment from indigenous healers while attending psychiatric clinics, in both rural and urban regions. This has led to much discussion and differing viewpoints as to the possible benefits and disadvantages of collaboration and simultaneous use of different treatment modalities. Included in this is the question of the medical competence of traditional healers and the possible neglect of serious conditions.

Ancestor Reverence and Mental Health in South Africa

The great majority of South Africa’s people consult traditional healers. The deeper meaning of much traditional healing centres on ancestor reverence. This belief system and its accompanying rituals may positively influence the mental health of the individual and the community. Among traditional Xhosa-speaking peoples, the relationship with the ancestors is given expression in life cycle rituals that have much in common with Western psychotherapeutic principles and practices. The common thread that underpins many rituals is that of making links via concrete, literal means. Examples include the participation of the community in the healing of the individual; the linking of body and mind through dancing and drumming. Dreams form an essential connection between conscious life and the unconscious. Understanding the psychological depth of these practices is important so that a respectful relationship between Western-trained professionals and traditional healers can develop. Analytical psychology, with its notion of the collective unconscious has a particular contribution to make to cross-cultural understanding. The ancestors may be understood as archetypal representations of the collective unconscious.

Ancestor reverence and mental health in South Africa.

The great majority of South Africa's people consult traditional healers. The deeper meaning of much traditional healing centres on ancestor reverence. This belief system and its accompanying rituals may positively influence the mental health of the individual and the community. Among traditional Xhosa-speaking peoples, the relationship with the ancestors is given expression in life cycle rituals that have much in common with Western psychotherapeutic principles and practices. The common thread that underpins many rituals is that of making links via concrete, literal means. Examples include the participation of the community in the healing of the individual; the linking of body and mind through dancing and drumming. Dreams form an essential connection between conscious life and the unconscious. Understanding the psychological depth of these practices is important so that a respectful relationship between Western-trained professionals and traditional healers can develop. Analytical psychology, with its notion of the collective unconscious has a particular contribution to make to cross-cultural understanding. The ancestors may be understood as archetypal representations of the collective unconscious.

The struggle for mental health in South Africa: psychologists, apartheid and the story of Durban OASSSA

The article provides a critical account of the way in which a group of South African psychologists and other mental health workers sought to use their professions as instruments of resistance to apartheid. Through recounting the history of the Durban branch of the Organisation for Appropriate Social Services in South Africa (OASSSA), a progressive anti-apartheid “social service” organisation, the aims of the paper are two-fold: firstly, to suggest some of the ways in which the practice of this broad-based mental health and social service organisation challenged mainstream psychological thinking and began to develop some progressive psychological practices within the conditions of apartheid repression and violence; and secondly, to note some of the difficulties and contradictions that arose in OASSSA's work with working class communities, given that the organisation's membership was largely made up of middle-class academics and professionals. The paper concludes with a critical discussion of the extent to which the group succeeded in achieving its goals of (i) service delivery, (ii) the political mobilisation of psychologists, and (iii) the challenging and critical redefinition of the terrain of psychological practice in South Africa. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Culture and mental health - A Southern African view

This is a long awaited text within the field of mental health in South Africa, as there is very little written about culture and mental health within the specific context of South Africa. This book is very useful for students in any field of mental health like psychology, nursing, social work and medicine.
 
 *Please note: This is a reduced version of the abstract. Please refer to PDF for full text.

School Violence and Adolescent Mental Health in South Africa: Implications for School Health Programs

This study examines the perceptions of high-school adolescents about gang violence in a periurban community near Cape Town and the implications for school health in South Africa. Using the qualitative focus group discussion (FGD) guide, data were collected from 60 high-school adolescents, between 10 and 20 years of age. Trained moderators conducted nine FGDs with small groups of six to eight students. The constant comparative ethnographic method was used to analyze the data. Results indicate that gang violence is very common among high-school adolescents living on the Cape Flat. Gangs, perceived by many as part of the “rite of passage” among adolescents, are a major threat to the public health, mental well-being, general welfare, happiness, and development of high-school populations on the Cape Flat. Gang activity interlock with many other social problems, including drug and alcohol abuse, school unrest and violence, and the increasing prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases, especially HIV and AIDS. These findings suggest an urgent need for concerted efforts to develop mechanism to protect school pupils from gangs and develop healthier social alternatives to gang-related activites. Ties among government, school, parents, and community education and participation are urgently necessary to implement a school-based approach to adolescent health promotion.

Book Review: Mental Health in South Africa

Book Review: Mental Health in South Africa

Child and adolescent mental health in South Africa

Mental health problems in childhood and adolescence pose a major threat to public health. Epidemiological studies in high, middle and low income countries indicate that approximately one in five children and adolescents suffer from a mental disorder. In many instances these persist into adulthood. In South Africa, HIV infection, substance use, and exposure to violence increase vulnerability to mental disorders. Child and adolescent mental health services play a key role in reducing the burden of mental disorders in childhood and later in adulthood. This paper focuses on service needs for children and adolescents in South Africa. It commences with a discussion of the prevalence of child and adolescent psychiatric disorders after which the legal and policy context of child and adolescent psychiatric services is described. A framework for child and adolescent mental health service provision is presented, following which steps for reducing the extent of unmet service need are considered. The paper concludes with a call to scale up child and adolescent mental health services in South Africa, based on the stark realities of unmet need and the constitutional rights of children and adolescents to appropriate mental health care.