Mental illness has multiple causes: beliefs on causes of mental illness by congregants of selected neo-prophetic churches in Ghana

The present study explored perceived causes of, and preferred treatment approach for, mental illness among congregants of six Neo-prophetic churches in Accra and Kumasi through in-depth interviews. Using thematic analysis, five themes emerged from participants’ causal attributions of mental illness....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Mental health, religion & culture
Authors: Salifu Yendork, Joana (Author) ; Brew, Gladys Beryl (Author) ; Sarfo, Elizabeth A. (Author) ; Kpobi, Lily (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Taylor & Francis 2018
In: Mental health, religion & culture
Year: 2018, Volume: 21, Issue: 7, Pages: 647-666
Further subjects:B Spirituality
B Mental Illness
B neo-prophetic churches
B Congregants
B causal explanation
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:The present study explored perceived causes of, and preferred treatment approach for, mental illness among congregants of six Neo-prophetic churches in Accra and Kumasi through in-depth interviews. Using thematic analysis, five themes emerged from participants’ causal attributions of mental illness. These included lifestyles and environmental stressors, spiritual causes, interaction of multiple factors, trauma and biological causes. Additionally, participants discussed four main mechanisms through which stress leads to mental illness. These included persistent worrying over stressors, use of inappropriate coping strategies to cope with stress, refusal to talk about one's problems and individuals’ appraisal of stress and available coping resources. These beliefs directly determined congregants’ preferred treatment approach. Implications of the findings are discussed.
ISSN:1469-9737
Contains:Enthalten in: Mental health, religion & culture
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/13674676.2018.1511694