Mental Illness - An African Taboo

Mental Illness - refers to a wide range of mental health conditions — disorder that affect your mood, thinking and behaviour.

Examples of mental illness include depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders and addictive behaviours.

As we are all aware by now Mental Illness is very serious and important especially in this day and age that we live in today, not only because it’s being spoken broadly about but also because we now understand it to the point where we all go out of our way to make sure we are the help and not the cause of it. I say help as in taking our time to understand and do our research to make life easier and better for each individual and I say cause as in being ignorant and not taking the time to understand and do research to make life easier and better for each individual.

Now you might be wondering since Mental Illness is so vitally important and seriously taken why is it such a Taboo in the African Community?

And that my beloved readers is what I’ll be enlightening to you in this piece/blog/post of mine.

Now back to the topic of Mental Health and Mental Illness

What is Mental Health?

Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices.

So as we can see by this Mental Health is very important because it determines not only the thinking of an individual but the way they feel, act and relate or even connect with others.

If an individual experience mental health problems aka Mental Illness , their thinking, mood and behaviour could be affected.

Many Causes/ Factors of Mental health problems include:

Biological: such as genes or brain chemistry

Life experiences: such as trauma or abuse

Family history of mental health problems

So as we can all see Mental Health is very important, therefore why is mental illness such a Taboo in Our African Community and the answer is simple: Perception.

Perception is the cause. Perception is the cause of the taboo and stigma in the community.

The definition of Perception is the way in which something is regarded, understood, or interpreted.

So as we can see by that definition alone the problem with Mental Illness in the African community is the way in which it is regarded, understood or interpreted.

So what is the way in which Mental Illness is perceived?

Here are a few examples:

A source of suffering from the spirits of the dead, demons, witchcraft and spells;

In the Shona language of Zimbabwe, they say “Akagarwa nemweya yetsvina”, which means a mentally ill person has some form of spirit in them which causes illness;

In Uganda, they use the term “Mulalu”, meaning a mad or useless person.

So as you can see by these examples the major problem with mental illness in the African Community is that they are incorrectly perceived as a spiritual issue, rather than a medical one.

You CAN’T just PRAY the Mental Illness AWAY!

So many of us have been told by a parent or loved one to pray about it but praying alone won’t fix that. Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with praying about it but only praying about it and not seeking medical/professional help is not the way to go.

Statistically speaking more than 7 million POC/Africans reported having a mental illness and each year the numbers grow.

Now imagine how many of those 7+ million took their lives because instead of getting an it’s okay, you’re gonna to be alright, we gonna get help response. They got a go pray about it response.

Praying helps yes, it truly does but it does not take the Mental Illness away. This does not make the illness go away, as mental illnesses require structured and educated treatment – usually in the form of therapy or medication, or both to manage.

So please African Community please please please change.

Let’s change for the better, Let’s rip of the bandaid once and for all and let the wound out in the open. Let’s speak and change the narratives and perceptions of Mental Illness. Let’s get rid of the Taboo and Stigma.

Let’s understand, Let’s research, Let’s learn and adapt before it’s too late because too many are already dying.

Beloved Mothers, Fathers, Uncles, Aunts, Grandparents and Loved ones please inform and educate yourself, yes the conversation might be new, unfamiliar and uncomfortable but it’s better than doing nothing and regretting it later. Educate and better yourself so that you can be the Help and not the Cause.

And so with that I end with these words:

Be the Help and Not the Cause!