Addressing mental illness in African communities
DIEPSLOOT – In an attempt to break the stigma surrounding mental health, particularly in seniors, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag), together with Aspen Pharmacare, held a Mental Health Awareness Day in Diepsloot.
Speaking at the event, Anne Rajcoomar, Sadag project co-ordinator for rural and outreach projects, explained that contrary to popular belief, schizophrenia was not a split personality, but rather a mental illness characterised by abnormal social behaviour and was often difficult to treat.
According to Rajcoomar, when it came to mental disorders there was still a stigma attached to it in the African community.
She said a lot of it had to do with cultural and tribal beliefs. “In many African communities, symptoms of a person who had the calling [sangoma calling] were very similar to symptoms of schizophrenia, resulting in many people living [with the disease] without being diagnosed,” she said.
Nono Maseko, a senior Sadag counsellor based in Diepsloot added that cultural differences in the African community also resulted in many African’s self-medicating or relying on traditional healers first. This resulted in misdiagnosis.
“Even after receiving referral letters from doctors, many Africans refused to get treatment and turned to sangomas or traditional healers,” she said. Maseko explained that this was mainly due to lack of education on mental illness, cultural differences, as well as fear and mistrust of conventional doctors in many communities.
According to Maseko, such beliefs and attitudes made it more important that education and awareness of mental illnesses were addressed in such communities.
Rajcoomar added that it was also important that the community, as a whole, was aware of the different signs of schizophrenia.
“A lot of times the family needs to be the support structures, and they themselves don’t understand the signs and symptoms,” she said. This according to Rajcoomar was the reason that many people were treated incorrectly.
Symptoms of schizophrenia were typically separated into two categories – positive and negative symptoms.
Positive symptoms included delusions, hallucinations and disorganised speech or behaviour.
Negative symptoms included apathy with a loss of interest in everyday activities such as bathing, grooming, or getting dressed; feeling out of touch with people, family or friends; having little emotion or inappropriate feelings in certain situations; and losing the ability to experience pleasure.
She encouraged community members to seek help if they noticed these symptoms in their friends or family members by contacting Sadag.
Details: 011 234 4837; www.invegasustenna.com; www.sadag.org
Do you think that enough is being done to combat negative perceptions of schizophrenia in the community? Tweet @Fourways_Review with your comments
