MHM Magazine

Perceptions and impressions of what is mental illness, its causes and preferred treatment differ significantly from one cultural context to another. Consequently, a holistic conceptualisation and ways to care for mental illness are typically dependent on sociocultural, spiritual, and economic factors. Within the African and particularly the South African context, people are considerably influenced and guided by religion and traditional beliefs, which generally have an impact on how they perceive mental illness. Several studies on mental health in Africa state that mental illness tends to be linked to witchcraft, punishment for sins, and supernatural causes. So, people seek out mental health care from providers such as priests, spiritualists, and/or traditional healers. The use of water, biblical verses, fasting, prayer, and counselling is common. Relative to other African countries, South Africa, as a young democracy, is still divided between the Western and African philosophies. Despite this, traditional African healing has been in existence for many centuries and the use of traditional and indigenous medicine is not a new practice. Traditional healing used to be dominant in the rural areas because of the tendency towards the cultural way of living in those areas. The situation has changed in the 21st century with the influx of people from the rural to semi- urban and urban areas in pursuit of better economic conditions. Traditional healers are recognised, in South African communities, as a significant source of care including mental health care. They provide a belief system that compliments individual’s cultural belief in terms of the causes of mental health problems and, as a result, the treatment for them. These healers are available and easily accessible to the society. Relatively, the traditional healers are affordable when compared THE ROLE OF TRADITIONAL HEALERS IN THE TREATMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH EDITORIAL Dr Mirriam Kganya Principal Clinical Psychologist Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital Private Practice (Wonderpark Mall) Pretoria mirriamkganya@gmail.com or info@drkganyapsychologist.co.za Issue 6 | 2023 | MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS | 1 MHM