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Post by Admin on Oct 12, 2015 23:19:24 GMT -4
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Post by Steven Choi on Oct 14, 2015 11:59:46 GMT -4
What West Africa is doing for their SCZ patients isn't all that surprising to me, and I don't really blame them for approaching mental health in the way that they are. Their resources are rather limited, and on top of that, the general population has little to no knowledge on what SCZ is, let alone, mental illnesses in general. Their reactions are kind of reminiscent of what Europe did prior to the Industrial Revolution if you ask me.
So now, the next question is, how can we help in this manner? Short term medical mission trips can only help so much. They need more long term solutions. They need more in-patient psych wards for acute stabilization. They need more schools to train up local doctors, psychologists, therapists, nurses, NP's / PA's so that the local can get appropriate care.
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Post by Candace Chumley on Oct 14, 2015 13:52:18 GMT -4
The Chains of Mental Illness in West Africa is an article that presents a highly debatable topic which is under addressed not only in West Africa but also worldwide. For many people mental illness is not an understood diagnosis because there is lack of education and information available. It is inhumane and almost unbelievable that these types of camps exist, but in reality the people behind these camps may feel as though there is no other choice. These chained patients could be dangerous to themselves and to others but this by no means justifies these types of actions. In order to progress away from this "treatment", education needs to be provided on mental illness. Unfortunately just giving these patients drugs may not help them. Mental illness is a process that needs to be evaluated and perfected overtime. There is no simple cure for mental illness but there are ways to treat patients in order to help them live normal lives.
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Post by Norah Essali on Oct 14, 2015 13:54:50 GMT -4
The stories in this article resemble stories originating in the dark ages when mental illness was treated by religious figures "to cast out demons". While it's true that Psychiatry, the black sheep of medicine, is still facing many obstacles in the fight for equality with other specialties in developed countries, the state of mental healthcare in underdeveloped countries is just tragic. The World Health Organization, The U.N. and all its members of developed countries need to step up and send medical mission that are just as numbered and funded as medical missions treating malaria, aids and other diseases. It is with those missions that awareness and supplies start to influx to needy countries which in turn start building on that awareness by training their own mental healthcare professionals ans start emerging from the dark ages.
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Post by Ali Mahmood on Oct 14, 2015 15:53:51 GMT -4
This article underlies the issue of mental health in the third world. When countries are dealing with a litany of acute issues such as civil wars, Ebola, malaria and HIV infections it is easy for those with mental issues to slip through the cracks. These countries simply can’t afford to setup the proper infrastructure, nor can they even bring in the qualified talent. How are families supposed to afford a psychiatrist, and how do you expect them to wait for the only psychiatrist in a country? It is simple to say that we can help train or bring in psychiatrists but how many of us would move to places like Liberia (Civil war and ebola outbreaks recently) or Sierra Leone today? What is astonishing is that while the people of western Africa may not have the information necessary to understand psychosis THE PEOPLE WHO SETUP THE CAMPS DO. Many times these people are coming from the US. Why? Because Africa is one of the few places where Christianity is not only growing but is given priority over other things such as laws and science. For more examples of how these missions are taking advantage of the local population’s fears and turning them against one another please go watch “God Loves Uganda.”
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Post by Paul Lavoie on Oct 14, 2015 16:01:50 GMT -4
This article is nothing less than eye opening. Its shocking that people are being treated in this manner and it only helps me to appreciate the society that we are fortunate enough to live in. I have to agree with the above opinions, education would help immensely but it may be an unreasonable assumption thinking that obtaining an education is obtainable when the next meal is uncertain. There is a lot more we can do to educate the population regarding mental illness both national and internationally.
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Post by Gonzalo de Villa on Oct 14, 2015 16:12:33 GMT -4
This is a very interesting article that shows how a non-western culture handles mental illnesses. For us Westerners, chaining a human being onto a tree or a concrete wall maybe sound inhumane and unacceptable, but for some cultures in West Africa this might be normal practice. Having said this, a lot of these harsh orthodox West African traditions are being committed due to a lack of knowledge and education. Hence, it is important for worldwide groups to intervene and stop the misery and unfairness that this mentally illness (schizophrenic) patient are being put through. It is our duty to help and educate Western Africans to have a better understanding on how these patients can be treated.
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Post by Simran Bains on Oct 14, 2015 16:35:52 GMT -4
This article poses a very interesting and important dilemma in the healthcare world. In developing countries, there has not been as large of an importance on mental illnesses as in the developing world. In Africa and other developing countries, most believe that mental illnesses are not ‘real’ and the power of prayer is enough to vanquish any mental illness. I believe there needs to be an increased effort to educate people with mental health illnesses and their families about the importance of getting the help and treatment needed. People have the potential to lead near normal lives if they just receive the treatment for their psychiatric illness. The concept of prayer camps is shocking to me, because it is basically a dumping ground for unfortunate people who have nowhere else to go. If developing countries are more educated and begin to believe that mental illnesses are real and treatable, then there would be no need of prayer camps.
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Post by Princess Aleke on Oct 14, 2015 19:27:49 GMT -4
YAY, GREAT BEST ARTICLE EVER, I am an AFRICAN am proud to be one, the most important thing is to understand our culture, now let me try and explain a little moment.
African’s from the beginning like their culture and takes it very serious, its either they are Christians or they are pagan’s as we call it, these people with mental illness and their families does not want to accept the fact that it’s just an illness that can be treated, they think it’s an AFFLICTION hence explaining the fact that they are being taking these patients to Church Camps, or Herbalist camps And CHAINED, these people think someone BEWITCHED them somehow, why because that has been passed across-ed from generation to generations.
Africa is a great continent but because of this fetish believes people are dying out of ignorance, yes creating awareness will just help for a while if they are not properly explained to the victims and their families in the proper way via the right persons. There are good medical professionals in Africa and a lot of doctors but in other to help these people the head of these religious groups should be convinced first because these people rely on them, as they believe that they are their spiritual fathers or mothers or Leaders.
Finally I strongly believe that creating awareness about these disorders to head of churches, states and traditional leaders, will make them to talk to the victims and their families who sees them as superiors thus making them listen to the medical professionals who wants to help them thus Accepting Treatments for the various mental disorders.
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Post by Payal Manohar on Oct 14, 2015 21:25:19 GMT -4
Although this article is shocking and heart wrenching, but it is sad to say that these types of inhumane acts occur in many countries. I'm glad that media is covering such stories to shine light upon how underdeveloped medical care is in some parts of the world, so future doctors like us can potentially find a solution. In small villages such as Togo, families don't understand that odd behavior and thinking can be due to a mental illness due to a lack of education. In villages people have a home remedy for every illness because they all cannot afford proper medications, in this case the remedy is prayer or some type of black magic that can get rid of the mental illness. In parts of India black magic and tantric guru's are incredibly popular when it comes situations like these, and the gurus demand a sacrificial ritual in order to get what you want. At least in these prayer camps there is some sort of antipsychotics given to help the patients and teach them proper working habits that they can carry on doing once they recover. In the mean time it is United Nations job to send volunteers to help educate the families that mental illnesses such as schizophrenia is a real disease and severe just like malaria and AIDS, and patients should get proper treatment for it along with prayers.
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Post by Minh Tran on Oct 15, 2015 0:30:22 GMT -4
This article sheds light on a disturbing reality in West Africa but also many developing countries. The fact of individuals suffering from psychiatric illnesses being chained is a product of poor education and lack of facilities and resources for treatment. The reasoning for chaining someone from harming others and him or herself may be logical but is still very inhumane. The article notes that one survey has shown that at least one psychiatric illness such as schizophrenia is as prevalent to the global prevalence, which indicates that this is no minor issue. There is no quick fix for what is happening in developing countries, but I strongly believe it starts with education. Greater understanding of the psychiatric illnesses will lead to a larger budget for mental health in the developing worlds. The United Nations should be acknowledged for promoting mental health and well being, and for calling an end to the chaining of people with mental illnesses, but the UN needs to find a more proactive way of helping.
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Post by Ralph Reedy on Oct 15, 2015 10:08:28 GMT -4
Ralph Reedy MS3
Article Response, week of Oct.11
This week’s article has to do with the type of treatment received by individuals with symptoms of schizophrenia in underdeveloped areas in West Africa. Because of a lack of availability to mental health care facilities and specialist many patients are handled in a crude fashion including being chained to a tree in a camp called Jesus is the solution. The overall gist is that of an underserved area that is in need of and could really benefit from help improving availability of mental health care services especially antipsychotic medications in this case. I totally understand why a camp like this exists and realize that they have the best of intentions with addressing safety issues for the patient and the community. However from the perspective of an American medical student this situation looks reminiscent of the dark ages when people who were thought to be possessed by demons were chained up away from people. This is definitely a humanitarian priority that deserves attention from the United Nations in it’s initiative to reduce noncommunicable disease by 2030.
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Post by Manali Saraiya on Oct 15, 2015 10:32:21 GMT -4
Reading this article is very heartbreaking. Mental illness is unfortunately not as well understood or well accepted as it is here in the United States. The problem isn't that there aren't enough doctors in West Africa, the problem is that the people need to be properly well educated on the disease. Currently, the people are unaware of what is going on in their loved one's body so they believe the best solution would be to isolate them and pray it leaves their system. Also, what needs to change is their access to medication and to make it more affordable but that is something that will change once people become more aware.
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Post by Ibtesam Haider on Oct 15, 2015 11:44:48 GMT -4
It is very disheartening when people don’t receive proper treatment for their conditions, but it’s absolutely inhumane to see people chained up for their mental illnesses when nothing else can be done to treat them. These people are helpless because they don’t have the emotional or the financial support. I feel that it is absolutely necessary for these people to seek the proper treatment instead of relying on spirituality and prayers to guide them. Like other fields of medicine, psychiatry is also an evidence based medicine, and over time we have learned that antipsychotics are still the preferred treatment over prayers. These people and their families need to be educated and more treatment centers need to open up in these third world countries because I think having people chained up until they beg to be cleaned is practically maltreating them. I personally think these spiritual centers with priests are the ones who are psychotic and in need of mental help; they are the ones that need to be educated more than anyone else.
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Post by Stephen W Beckett on Oct 15, 2015 12:44:04 GMT -4
The prayer camps of Western Africa seem to have arisen out of desperate measures to address a serious problem with little to no support from the government. What is not discussed in the article, is why there is a lack of understanding of mental health in these countries, and elsewhere in the world, including the United States and Canada. The pastor quoted in the article demonstrates evidence of the fact that the general public needs to be educated about these disorders, just the same as any other disease that might affect a given population. In the video accompanying the article, it is mentioned that the neighboring country of Benin has only one psychiatric hospital, and this in a country of 10.3 million people (only slightly larger than the state of Georgia). The UN pledge to raise awareness of mental health is a step in the right direction, and hopefully will have some influence with the governments of these nations to provide the necessary healthcare support. Once successful treatment is observed and trusted by the general population, then can human dignity be restored to those suffering from psychiatric disorders.
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