Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T02:42:30.971Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Psychiatric Morbidity in a Small Ethiopian Town

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

R. Giel  and
J. N. Van Luijk
R. Giel
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine, Haile Selassie I University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
J. N. Van Luijk
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine, Haile Selassie I University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Virtually nothing is known about the prevalence of mental illness in Ethiopia. The only two mental hospitals, one in Addis Ababa and one in Asmara, caring for about 800 in-patients from a population of 22 million perhaps reflect the type of severe psychotic illness occurring in this country (Pavicevic, 1966). A few authors (Leiris, 1958; Lord, Fuller Torrey, 1966; Messing, 1959; Giel, Gezahegn and van Luijk 1968a and b) mention the existence of psychoneurotic illness, indicating that local cults and native healers play a role in their management. However no epidemio logical survey has been conducted to provide more systematic information. Any attempt at such a survey is bound to meet with consider able difficulties. Hospital statistics regarding admission rates are influenced most of all by economic factors and by distance from hospital, especially during the rainy season when travelling is at times almost impossible.

Type
Comparative Psychiatry
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 115 , Issue 519 , February 1969 , pp. 149 - 162
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1969 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Fuller Torrey, E. (1966). In An Introduction to Health and Health Education in Ethiopia, (edited by Fuller Torrey, E.). Addis Ababa.Google Scholar
Giel, R. (1968). “The epileptic outcast.” E. African med. J., 45, 27–31.Google Scholar
Giel, R. and van Luijk, J. N. (1968a). “Psychiatric morbidity in a general out-patient population.” To be published.Google Scholar
Giel, R. and van Luijk, J. N. (1968b). “Psychiatric morbidity in an Ethiopian village.” To be published.Google Scholar
Giel, R. and van Luijk, J. N. (1968c). “On the significance of a broken home in Ethiopia.” Brit. J. Psychiat., 114, 957–961.Google Scholar
Giel, R. and van Luijk, J. N. (1968 d). “Patterns of marriage in a roadside town in South-Western Ethiopia.” To be published in the J. of Ethiopian Studies. Google Scholar
Giel, R., Gezahegn, , Yoseph, , and van Luijk, J. N. (1968a). “Psychiatric morbidity in 200 Ethiopian medical out-patients.” Psychiat. Neurol. Neurochir., 71, 169–176.Google Scholar
Giel, R., Gezahegn, , Yoseph, , and van Luijk, J. N. (1968b). “Faith-healing and spirit possession in Ghion, Ethiopia.” Soc. Sci. Med., 2, 63–79.Google Scholar
Kessel, W. I. N. (1960). “Psychiatric morbidity in a London general practice.” Brit. J. prev. soc. Med., 14, 16, 16–22.Google Scholar
Leighton, A. M., Adeoye Lambo, T., Hughes, C. C., Leighton, D. C., Murphy, J. M., and Macklin, D. B. (1963). Psychiatric Disorder Among the Yourba. New York.Google Scholar
Leiris, M. (1958). La Possession et ses Aspects Théatraux chez les Ethiopiens de Gondar. Paris.Google Scholar
Lord, E. (1959). Cultural Patterns in Ethiopia. Ethiopian-United States Co-operative Education Program.Google Scholar
Messing, S. D. (1959). In Culture and Mental Health, (Edited by Opler, M. K.). New York.Google Scholar
Pavicevic, M. B. (1966). In An Introduction to Health and Health Education in Ethiopia, (edited by Fuller Torrey, E.). Addis Ababa.Google Scholar
Shepherd, M., Cooper, B., Brown, A. C., and Kalton, G. W. (1966). Psychiatric Illness in General Practice. London.Google Scholar
Tsung-Yi Lin, , and Standley, C. C. (1962). The Scope of Epidemiology in Psychiatry. WHO-Public Health Papers, Geneva.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.