Psychiatry in Kenya: yesterday, today and tomorrow.. An overview

The development of psychiatry in Kenya has passed through three stages with considerable overlap - primitive/non-scientific, humanistic and scientific. These stages are similar to those in the development of psychiatry in the Western societies. The prevalence of psychiatric illness amongst those seeking medical help is no less than 20%. There is a need for a full range of the various psychiatric services, but the problems involved are immense and constitute major differences between the practice of psychiatry in Kenya and in Western countries. There is, however, a clearly evident move to solve these problems.