Victor Makanjuola1, Yomi Esan2, Bibilola Oladeji2, Lola Kola3, John Appiah-Poku4, Benjamin Harris5, Caleb Othieno6, Leshawndra Price7, Soraya Seedat8, Oye Gureje2. 1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. vmakanjuola@yahoo.com. 2. Department of Psychiatry, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. 3. World Health Organization Country Office, Abuja, Nigeria. 4. Kwame Nkuruma University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. 5. University of Liberia, Monrovia, Liberia. 6. University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya. 7. National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, USA. 8. Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Most cultures in sub-Saharan Africa subscribe to the belief that the root cause of psychosis is supernatural. Individuals in the community who hold a religiomagical explanatory model of causation have been shown to exhibit more stigmatizing attitudes towards people with psychosis. Self-stigma among individuals with psychosis is less frequently studied. METHOD: We used a mixed-method approach, consisting of key informant's interviews to elicit information on explanatory models of causation of psychosis and questionnaire assessment of internalized stigma with an adapted version of the Scale for Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness. Twenty-four, 31, and 30 subjects with recent experience of utilizing the service of traditional or faith healers for severe mental disorders in Ibadan (Nigeria), Kumasi (Ghana), and Nairobi (Kenya), respectively, were interviewed. RESULTS: About 44 % (42.1 %) of the Nigerian respondents had a high (severe) level of self-stigma with the respective proportions among Ghanaian and Kenyan respondents being 20.7 and 37.5 %. Compared with 4 out of a total of 12 respondents (33.3 %) who reported low self-stigma reported supernatural attribution, 14 out of 20 respondents (70 %) with the highest level of self-stigma reported supernatural attribution across the three sites. When low scorers ascribed supernatural causation, it was often with a religious focus. CONCLUSION: There is a greater tendency for persons with high levels of self-stigma than those with low levels to ascribe supernatural attribution to their experience of a severe mental health condition.
BACKGROUND: Most cultures in sub-Saharan Africa subscribe to the belief that the root cause of psychosis is supernatural. Individuals in the community who hold a religiomagical explanatory model of causation have been shown to exhibit more stigmatizing attitudes towards people with psychosis. Self-stigma among individuals with psychosis is less frequently studied. METHOD: We used a mixed-method approach, consisting of key informant's interviews to elicit information on explanatory models of causation of psychosis and questionnaire assessment of internalized stigma with an adapted version of the Scale for Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness. Twenty-four, 31, and 30 subjects with recent experience of utilizing the service of traditional or faith healers for severe mental disorders in Ibadan (Nigeria), Kumasi (Ghana), and Nairobi (Kenya), respectively, were interviewed. RESULTS: About 44 % (42.1 %) of the Nigerian respondents had a high (severe) level of self-stigma with the respective proportions among Ghanaian and Kenyan respondents being 20.7 and 37.5 %. Compared with 4 out of a total of 12 respondents (33.3 %) who reported low self-stigma reported supernatural attribution, 14 out of 20 respondents (70 %) with the highest level of self-stigma reported supernatural attribution across the three sites. When low scorers ascribed supernatural causation, it was often with a religious focus. CONCLUSION: There is a greater tendency for persons with high levels of self-stigma than those with low levels to ascribe supernatural attribution to their experience of a severe mental health condition.
Entities:
Keywords:
Explanatory model; Psychosis; Religious theme; Self-stigma; Sub-saharan Africa
Authors: Oye Gureje; Victor O Lasebikan; Olusola Ephraim-Oluwanuga; Benjamin O Olley; Lola Kola Journal: Br J Psychiatry Date: 2005-05 Impact factor: 9.319
Authors: O Gureje; S Seedat; L Kola; J Appiah-Poku; C Othieno; B Harris; V Makanjuola; L N Price; O O Ayinde; O Esan Journal: Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci Date: 2018-11-27 Impact factor: 6.892
Authors: Judy Wanjiru Mbuthia; Manasi Kumar; Fredrik Falkenström; Mary Wangari Kuria; Caleb Joseph Othieno Journal: Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health Date: 2018-06-01 Impact factor: 3.033