Mental Health in Africa: II. the Nature of Mental Disorder in Africa Today

Abstract

Aspects of clinical psychiatric syndromes described in Africa which are discussed include the issue of schizophrenic disorders having a better prognosis in developing countries; controversy over this is by no means at an end. There is an increasing realisation as to the frequency of affective disorders in Africa; while somatisation is common, cherished beliefs, such as the absence of guilt, have not been confirmed by more recent research. Nor is suicide as infrequent as has been suggested. The relationship of background physiological abnormalities of cerebral functioning may be relevant to some of the clinical issues that are currently under discussion in African psychiatry.