Mental health literacy : conceptions and attitudes toward mental disorders and beliefs about treatment among African residents of Sisonke district in KwaZulu-Natal.
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Date
2016
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Abstract
Nearly 1 in 10 people have a mental disorder worldwide, and there are many
people with chronic or severe mental disorders who are unaware that they have a
diagnosable disorder or that effective treatment is available. This may lead to delays in
appropriate help-seeking and negative attitudes toward patients with mental illness. It is
plausible that this is largely because of the public’s non-alignment of biomedical
understanding of mental illness which may imply lack of mental health literacy. Such
assumptions, however, do not take into consideration the fact that various societies draw
their knowledge from different worldviews, which in turn informs their conceptualisation
of mental illness.
This study investigated conceptions and attitudes toward three mental disorders,
namely, depression, schizophrenia, and alcohol dependency, and beliefs about their
treatment among African residents of Sisonke District in KwaZulu-Natal. The sample was
drawn from two municipalities of Sisonke District (Kokstad and Kwa Sani) using a survey.
In total, 787 African participants of both genders were randomly recruited, and they
completed a self-administered questionnaire. Data was analysed using Statistical
Package for Social Sciences for Windows, Version 24.0.
The results show an endorsement of multiple explanatory models of illness, thus
suggesting an embracement of both Western and indigenous influences in
conceptualisation of mental illness. This study found that participants did not use standard
psychological nomenclature to describe mental illness, but instead used very broad,
over-encompassing terms which may be indicative of their worldview. Of the three
disorders investigated, depression was mainly conceptualised using psychological and
medical terms, and schizophrenia and alcohol dependency were conceptualised in
psychological and social terms. In addition, only schizophrenia, among the three
disorders investigated was conceptualised using supernatural descriptions such as
bewitchment and ukuthwasa. The results also show that conceptualisation of mental
illness is not haphazard; but is viewed as holistic and as encompassing social,
psychological and physical factors. The results of the current study also revealed that
participants’ conceptions of mental illness are significantly related to their aetiological
beliefs.
The results of this study highlighted the strong preference among the respondents
for professional help-seeking, particularly from social workers and medical practitioners,
for the treatment of depression and alcohol dependency. However, traditional healing was seen as more helpful for treating schizophrenia. Furthermore, the results indicate that
vitamins, minerals and tonics, pain relievers, antibiotics as well as tranquilisers were
considered more helpful for the treatment of depression.
Regarding attitudes towards mental illness, the key findings in this study indicate
that negative attitudes towards people with mental illness are widely maintained. Of the
three disorders investigated in this study, most of the participants attributed stigmatising
attitudes more toward alcohol dependency. Furthermore, the results suggest a general
willingness to have a closer social distance with mentally ill individuals, especially when
the relationship is perceived as less intimate. However, this finding was converse when the
relationship was perceived to be more intimate.
The results of this study highlight the importance of awareness campaigns that
take into consideration and respect the cultural differences of the people, collaboration
between traditional and medical practitioners. Suggestions for future research,
emphasising the use of discourse analysis to further explore indigenous communities’
constructions of mental illness and their beliefs about its causes and treatment are
recommended.
Description
Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2016.