TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2016//
TI  - Explanatory model of psychosis: impact on perception of self-stigma by patients in three sub-Saharan African cities
JO  - Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology
A1  - Makanjuola, Victor
A1  - Esan, Yomi
A1  - Oladeji, Bibilola
A1  - Kola, Lola
A1  - Appiah-Poku, John
A1  - Harris, Benjamin
A1  - Othieno, Caleb
A1  - Price, Leshawndra
A1  - Seedat, Soraya
A1  - Gureje, Oye
SP  - 1645
EP  - 1654
VL  - 51
IS  - 12
N2  - BACKGROUND: Most cultures in sub-Saharan Africa subscribe to the belief that the root cause of psychosis is supernatural. Individuals in the community who hold a religiomagical explanatory model of causation have been shown to exhibit more stigmatizing attitudes towards people with psychosis. Self-stigma among individuals with psychosis is less frequently studied. <br><br>METHOD: We used a mixed-method approach, consisting of key informant's interviews to elicit information on explanatory models of causation of psychosis and questionnaire assessment of internalized stigma with an adapted version of the Scale for Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness. Twenty-four, 31, and 30 subjects with recent experience of utilizing the service of traditional or faith healers for severe mental disorders in Ibadan (Nigeria), Kumasi (Ghana), and Nairobi (Kenya), respectively, were interviewed. <br><br>RESULTS: About 44 % (42.1 %) of the Nigerian respondents had a high (severe) level of self-stigma with the respective proportions among Ghanaian and Kenyan respondents being 20.7 and 37.5 %. Compared with 4 out of a total of 12 respondents (33.3 %) who reported low self-stigma reported supernatural attribution, 14 out of 20 respondents (70 %) with the highest level of self-stigma reported supernatural attribution across the three sites. When low scorers ascribed supernatural causation, it was often with a religious focus. <br><br>CONCLUSION: There is a greater tendency for persons with high levels of self-stigma than those with low levels to ascribe supernatural attribution to their experience of a severe mental health condition.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0933-7954
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00127-016-1274-8
ID  - ref1
ER  -