According to the World Health Organization (2014), mental health is an integral part of overall health and is defined as “a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to make a contribution to his or her community”. Thus, mental health is more than just the absence of mental disorders or disabilities but rather refers to a good quality of life as fundamental. It consists of an individual’s emotional, social and psychological well-being; therefore, influencing the way that a person feels, acts and thinks. It impacts how we handle stress, make choices, and ultimately relate to others.
In the South African context, spiritual, religious, cultural and racial constructs also impact on the mental health of individuals as they make sense of the complexity through spiritual, religious and cultural systems of meaning. When individuals are in distress and developing mental health problems, they tend to draw on religious coping mechanisms, such as prayer. These religious coping mechanisms may play a major role in the way they define and perceive experiences such as health or illness – more specifically, mental health and mental illness. It is important to note that there is a complexity of these effects in different cultural settings.
Throughout the last few decades, the discipline of psychology has been trying to catch up in its study of culture and religion, and how it influences psychological and emotional functioning of individuals – specifically, the awareness, expression and regulation of emotions.
Traditional healers, and the nature of their practices are important, as they play an integral part in incorporating indigenous methods to responding to life challenges. However, the mental health of the individuals performing traditional healing (i.e., traditional healers) is often negated in studies of help-seeking and care provision although they cover the health needs of a substantial portion of the African population. Instead, the focus of the literature has been on what traditional healers can do (their effectiveness in working with clients), rather than understanding their psychological and emotional functioning. Traditional healers play a central role in African cultures and ways of living. There is no particular process that one follows to see a traditional healer, patients go at their own will or are referred by one healer to another, therefore, traditional healers are usually filled with long lines of individuals wanting consultations. The clientele demographic ranges in gender, age, and religious affiliation. Due to this and the nature of how traditional healers work, this may ultimately take a toll on them – emotionally and psychologically. Traditional healers play a massive role in many people’s lives and just as we all require emotional support at times, we need to look after the wellbeing of our traditional healers as well.
World Health Organization (WHO). 2014. Mental health: Strengthening our response. Fact sheet No. 220. Geneva: WHO. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs220/en/. Accessed March 7, 2016.