Traditional psychiatric practices in Africa

Abstract

Many leaders in Africa bemoan the disappearance of African culture, including the use of traditional medicines, and there have been numerous calls for recognition of their value and for the integration of these treatments into orthodox medicine. This is especially so with regard to psychiatric disorders. The literature on psychiatric practice in Africa contains very few references to herbal treatments, however, and more is to be learnt about the use of herbs as adjuvants in the solution of psychosocial problems from the anthropological literature. At a conference held in the University of Ife in 1974, psychiatric disorders were not included in a list of nine conditions (e.g. cancer) in which it was recommended that herbal treatments be further investigated.