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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
medicine
Traditional healers in the treatment of common mental disorders in South Africa
Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, Volume 197, No. 6, Year 2009
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Description
There are few population-level insights into the use of traditional healers and other forms of alternative care for the treatment of common mental disorders in sub-Saharan Africa. We examined the extent to which alternative practitioners are consulted, and predictors of traditional healer visits. A national survey was conducted with 3651 adult South Africans between 2002 and 2004, using the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) to generate DSM-IV diagnoses for common mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders. A minority of participants with a lifetime DSM-IV diagnosis obtained treatment from Western (29%) or alternative (20%) practitioners. Traditional healers were consulted by 9% of the respondents and 11% consulted a religious or spiritual advisor. Use of traditional healers in the full sample was predicted by older age, black race, unemployment, lower education, and having an anxiety or a substance use disorder. Alternative practitioners, including traditional healers and religious advisors, appear to play a notable role in the delivery of mental health care in South Africa. © 2009 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Authors & Co-Authors
Sorsdahl, Katherine R.
South Africa, Cape Town
University of Cape Town
South Africa, Observatory
Groote Schuur Hospital
Stein, Dan J.
South Africa, Cape Town
University of Cape Town
Grimsrud, Anna Thora
South Africa, Cape Town
University of Cape Town
Seedat, Soraya
South Africa, Stellenbosch
Stellenbosch University
Flisher, Alan J.
South Africa, Cape Town
University of Cape Town
Norway, Bergen
Universitetet I Bergen
Williams, David R.
United States, Cambridge
Harvard University
Myer, Landon
South Africa, Cape Town
University of Cape Town
Statistics
Citations: 157
Authors: 7
Affiliations: 5
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1097/NMD.0b013e3181a61dbc
ISSN:
00223018
Research Areas
Mental Health
Substance Abuse
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study
Study Approach
Quantitative
Study Locations
South Africa