Traditional healers and mental health in South Africa

Psychiatric patients access both indigenous healers and services rendered by psychiatric facilities in South Africa. The various groups of healers which are available are clearly not all acceptable to the whole population and variable experiences are reported with different categories of healer and the different treatments provided. An increasing collaboration between psychiatric services and indigenous healers is becoming evident, as in other health services. Reports indicate that many African psychiatric patients seek treatment from indigenous healers while attending psychiatric clinics, in both rural and urban regions. This has led to much discussion and differing viewpoints as to the possible benefits and disadvantages of collaboration and simultaneous use of different treatment modalities. Included in this is the question of the medical competence of traditional healers and the possible neglect of serious conditions.