You may want to know about the effectiveness of traditional healers in treating mental disorders. If so, you are able to read an article, journal, research or any other forms of writing about it. When I tried to find the information about it, I found a writing or journal entitled Effectiveness of Traditional Healers in Treating Mental Disorders: A Systematic Review which was written by Gareth Nortje, Bibilola Oladeji, Oye Gureje, and Soraya Seedat.
According to The Lancet site, this writing was published in February 2016. Here is the abstract of the article.
Abstract
Traditional healers form a major part of the mental health workforce worldwide. Despite this, little systematic examination has been done of their effectiveness in treating mental illness or alleviating psychological distress. In this Review, we aim to fill this gap, with a focus on quantitative outcomes. We searched four databases and reference lists for papers that explicitly measured the effectiveness of traditional healers on mental illness and psychological distress. Eligible papers were assessed for quality, and outcomes and other details were extracted with the use of a standardised template. 32 eligible papers from 20 countries were included. The published literature on this topic is heterogeneous and studies are generally of poor quality, although some findings emerge more consistently. Some evidence suggests that traditional healers can provide an effective psychosocial intervention. Their interventions might help to relieve distress and improve mild symptoms in common mental disorders such as depression and anxiety. However, little evidence exists to suggest that they change the course of severe mental illnesses such as bipolar and psychotic disorders. Nevertheless, qualitative changes that are captured poorly by conventional rating scales might be as important as the quantitative changes reviewed here. We conclude by outlining the challenges involved in assessing the effectiveness of traditional healers.
About Mental Disorders
Some people may still not know what mental disorder is. Well, according to the Medline Plus site, mental disorders are conditions which affect your mood, thinking, feeling, and behaviour. Mental disorders can be occasional or long-lasting. On Wikipedia, mental disorder is defined as a behavioural or mental pattern which causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning.
10 Types of Mental Disorders
According to the MediciNet site, here are 10 types of mental disorders.
- Anxiety Disorders
People with anxiety disorder usually respond to certain objects or situations with fear or dread. Common anxiety disorders are specific phobias, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder. The symptoms include muscle tension, tiredness, chest tightness or pain, sweating, blushing, fear of being embarrassed, trembling, dizziness, headache, rapid heartbeat, and shortness of breath. The causes can be genetics, environment, stress, or chemical imbalances in the brain. - Mood Disorders
It is known as affective disorders and usually people who suffer from this disorder may undergo fluctuations between extreme joy and extreme sadness. The symptoms are difficulty sleeping or daytime sleepiness, feelings of hopelessness or helplessness, loss of appetite or binge eating, poor concentration, low self-esteem, fatigue or low energy, trouble making decisions, feeling jumpy or wired and being more active than usual, feeling ecstatic, high or elated for no reason, racing thoughts and talking very fast, being short-tempered or seeming extremely irritable, risky behaviours such as going on spending sprees or having reckless sex, feelings of being unusually important, talented, or powerful, and needing less sleep. The causes can be genetics, mental illness, chronic stress, isolation or poor coping strategies. - Psychotic Disorders
The symptoms are delusions, hallucinations, lack of emotion and/ or changes in facial expression, disorganized thought or speech, anxiety, difficulty understanding speech or other forms of communication, difficulty making sense of new information, difficulty solving problems, problems learning and remembering, poor hygiene, minimal movement or talking, lack of interest in spending time with people or having fun, depression. The cause can be stress, major life changes, drug abuse, chemical imbalance in the brain or family history. - Eating Disorders
Common eating disorders include binge eating, bulimia nervosa, and anorexia nervosa. The symptoms are exercising excessively, dramatic weight loss, avoiding mealtimes or eating in front of others, refusal to eat certain food, hiding food in strange places, wearing baggy clothes to hide the body, complaining about being fat, constant dieting, complaining about constipation or stomach pain. - Personally Disorders
Common personality disorders are borderline personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, and antisocial personality disorder. The symptoms are desiring constant attention, social anxiety that causes difficulty making friends, inability to realize or admit their faults, lack of impulse control or difficulty delaying gratification, angry outbursts, feeling of being cheated or exploited, blaming others for their behaviours and feelings, mood swings. The cause can be genetics or childhood trauma. - Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
It can happen after a traumatic experience such as physical assault, natural disaster, death of a loved one and some other reasons. The symptoms are feeling numb, reliving the trauma including nightmares, memories or flashbacks, trouble sleeping, avoiding certain people or places, and intense feelings such as fear, anger or worry. - Impulse Control and Addiction Disorders
Common impulse control and addiction disorders are pyromania, compulsive gambling, kleptomania, and substance abuse. The symptoms are stealing, hair pulling, compulsive lying, starting fires, poor social skills, ignoring responsibilities and relationships, being aggressive to animals, destroying the property of others, and violating rules. The cause can be history of physical or emotional trauma, problems with emotional regulation, neglectful or abusive parenting, and exposure to violence. - Factitious Disorders
The most common symptoms are chest pain, arthralgia, abdominal pain, diarrhea, infections, hematuria, hypoglycemia, skin wounds that do not heal, hyperthyroidism, weakness, and vomiting. The cause can be trauma, history of child abuse or neglect, history of illnesses that requires the individual to visit hospitals, social isolation, family dysfunction, early chronic medical illness, depression, work in the healthcare field, low self-esteem, and loss of a loved one through death. - Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
The symptoms are repetitive and persistent thoughts, repetitive behaviours such as washing hands or changing clothes too often, excessive fear of germs or dirt, feeling overly stressed when there is any change in routine, and repeatedly counting or checking things. - Sexual and Gender Disorders
Common sexual and gender disorders are sexual dysfunction, paraphilias, and gender identity disorder. The symptoms are sexual urges relating to objects, conflict between gender assigned at birth and gender identity, inhibited sexual desire, and avoiding sexual opportunities for fear of failure. The cause can be chromosomal abnormalities, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, hormonal abnormalities, and exposure to certain hormones before birth.
A bookworm and researcher especially related to law and citizenship education. I spend time every day in front of the internet and the campus library.
