Aims: To determine the general characteristics of people with mental disorders in traditional healers centres in Sudan in
terms of sociodemographic profile, common clinical presentations and diagnostic features, and to look at the treatment
methods and intervention procedures used in these centres for treating people with mental illness.
Recent qualitative research conducted in metropolitan Perth and the Kimberley region of
Western Australia has highlighted major gaps in service delivery to Aboriginal clientele
suffering depression and suicidal ideation (Vicary, 2002). Seventy Aboriginal people were
interviewed about their beliefs and attitudes towards mental health, western psychology and
Themajority of the population in South Africa use traditional health care to treat various mental conditions.
In this review, we present ethnobotanical information on plants used by the traditional healers in South
Africa to treat mental illnesses, specifically epilepsy, depression, age-related dementia and debilitative
In a follow-up to an earlier study we decided to interview a number of religious
healers and ascertain their views on mental illness. A sample of ten healers-Hindu, Muslim
and Christian-were interviewed at length. In addition, jive sites of healing were visited and
various religious rituals observed. The general emphasis in care is on a pluralistic holistic
Indigenous ‘‘First Nations’’ communities have consistently associated their disproportionate
rates of psychiatric distress with historical experiences of European colonization.
This emphasis on the socio-psychological legacy of colonization within tribal
communities has occasioned increasingly widespread consideration of what has been
Ethnobotanical knowledge is common and important among the tribal people but much of
the information is empirical at best lacking logical validation. A number of ethnic
communities residing in the study area are partially or fully dependent on the forest
resources to meet their requirements. The present study analyses indigenous knowledge
The purpose of this study was to
explore the clinical conditions
brought to indigenous healers by
people in the rural areas in search of
health care. The demographic
variables and preventive, promotive,
curative and follow-up activities of
indigenous healers were
investigated. Data were collected
from a simple random sample o f 35
Algeria’s fratricidal war has divided democrats, seriously damaged civil society and left a political
vacuum in the face of the ruling parties. There is almost no opposition with a proper base that can
take the demands of the people forward.
A year ago, waves of uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa swept away western-backed