[For a social psychiatry (author's transl)]

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Medical Anthropology

Context:

• Modern Western medicine frames mental illness as a disease akin to somatic conditions.
• This medicalization secures the image of mental illness but risks ignoring its broader implications.
• The patient's adaptation to medical structures is prioritized over individual experiences and societal factors.

Purpose:

• To critically examine the Western medical model of mental illness.
• To explore alternative approaches to mental healthcare, particularly those found in African societies.
• To highlight the potential of traditional healing practices for psychiatric understanding.

Summary:

• The Western psychiatric approach integrates mental illness into medicine, offering a disease-based framework.
• This model, while providing a sense of security, may neglect the questioning aspects of madness, including social, cultural, and personal experiences.
• African mental health practices emphasize collective action and symbolic forms within traditional social structures, presenting a contrasting paradigm.

Impact:

• African traditional approaches to mental illness offer valuable insights for Western psychiatry.
• Integrating collective and symbolic healing methods could enrich the understanding and treatment of mental health conditions.
• This comparative perspective encourages a more holistic view of mental well-being, bridging cultural divides in psychiatric care.