“Hope deferred…”: meeting the challenges of stigma toward Ghanaians diagnosed with mental illness

ABSTRACT

Despite advances in human rights and treatments, stigma toward individuals diagnosed with mental illness is common across the African continent. This article explores experiences of stigma and social exclusion among individuals diagnosed with mental illness and receiving treatment in a psychiatric facility in Ghana. The study, based on in-depth, semi-structured interviews generated the following themes: beliefs in spiritual causes of mental illness; spirituality as a coping mechanism; mistreatment and abuse. The findings highlight the significance of social exclusion and spirituality as the main roots of stigma; also the importance of awareness-raising as tools for anti-stigma work in the global South.

KEYWORDS:

• Mental health
• stigma
• spirituality
• Ghana

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. In Ghana, fetish shrines are spiritual places controlled by traditional priests, who have access to the spirit world (e.g. gods) and offer spiritual services – often medical in nature – to clients in exchange for payment. For more details, see Anderson Jnr (2015).

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Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada [430-2017-00326].