It is likely that this is largely due to the public's failure to adapt to biomedical understanding of mental illness, which may imply a lack of mental health. The results of the current study also revealed that participants' perceptions of mental illness are significantly related to their etiological beliefs.
Introduction Introduction
- Introducing Mental Health Literacy
- Definition of mental health literacy
- The problem of poor mental health literacy
- Research Aim and Objectives
- Research aim
- Objectives
- Rationale
- An Overview of the Thesis
- Definitions of Terms
Most studies on the topic of mental health literacy have been conducted abroad (Jorm, Christensen & Griffiths, 2006;). The current study aims to contribute to this effort to improve mental health literacy in South Africa.
Literature Review Literature Review
The ancient era
With the flourishing of Greek civilization and its continuation into the era of Roman rule (500 BC - 500 AD), naturalistic explanations of mental illness gradually became distinguished from supernatural explanations (Sue et al., 2010) . Apparently, this punishment was thought to involve withdrawing God's protection and handing the person over to the forces of evil, which manifested as mental illness (Butcher et al., 2011).
The Renaissance era
An important contribution towards the humane treatment of mentally ill patients was supported by a French physician named Philippe Pinel. With the new and improved humane treatment of mentally ill patients, it was inevitable that the need for mental asylums and hospitals would increase.
The scientific era
This led to the dawn of the scientific era in the history of mental illness. This led to the development of the theories that were based on the psychological model of mental illness.
The present: diathesis-stress model
Barlow and Durand (2012) suggest that the diathesis and the stress must interact to produce a disorder. However, it is also possible that the diathesis can be so strong that the disorder develops even under the most favorable living conditions.
Contemporary Views of Abnormal Behaviour
Despite its success in classifying mental disorders and its popularity, the DSM system has been criticized for many reasons, including some of the following. Cartwright (2008) states that the DSM system is further criticized for creating diagnostic categories that have a Western cultural perspective.
Current Global State of Mental Illness
- Epidemiology
- The burden of mental disorders
Mental Health Survey Initiative version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (Slade, Johnston, Browne, Andrews & Whiteford, 2009). A number of other important small-scale studies of the prevalence of mental disorders have also been carried out locally.
Mental Healthcare in South Africa
The focus of psychiatric services was on institutional care and psychopharmacological treatment of patients with psychiatric disorders (Petersen et al., 2009). In 1997, mental health was included in the White Paper for the transformation of the health system in South Africa (Lund, Petersen, Kleintjies & Bhana, 2012). 17 of 2002 was promulgated (Lund et al., 2012) and aligned the provision of mental health services in South Africa with the country's constitution (Mkhize & Kometsi, 2008).
Problematising Culture
2001) argue that most found it impossible to forget the ways of their ancestors and would, for example, consult traditional healers when they felt that Western-style medicine could not help them. Solomon and Wane (2005) maintain that many indigenous people have a growing interest in returning to their sacred cultural teachings and ceremonies and will continue to follow their traditions to sustain themselves and to help future generations. It is their contention that many people are beginning to recognize more fully that the traditional ways of their ancestors are valuable, reliable and more sustainable than today's methods of living in the universe.
Culture and Mental Illness
- What is culture?
However, according to Herselman and Parry (2004), it is clear that underlying the differences in people's beliefs and behaviors is their common human heritage, which is considered the main source of so-called cultural universals. Regarding mental health, the basic assumption of universalism, according to Swartz (1998), is that mental illness is universal. This conceptualization of the universality of psychopathology, according to Thakker and Ward (1988), derives from the biological model.
African Indigenous Views of Illness and Mental Illness
- Worldviews: an Africentric perspective
- Personhood in African-view
- African worldview: implications for health and illness
- Views on aetiology
- Views on diagnosis
- Views on treatment
- Relationship between aetiological and treatment beliefs
In these schools, elders or respected members of the community teach young people about African traditions. It is important to begin by acknowledging that there are many conceptions of the person in Western thought. According to Honwana (2001), the diagnosis is made by carefully examining the state of the patient's social relations in the community (attitude towards the living, towards the spiritual world and towards nature).
Integration of Western and Indigenous African Practices
It is clear that traditional healers play an important role in health promotion and disease prevention. Prior to the passage of the Traditional Health Practitioners Act, Puckree et al. 2002) suggest that there was legislation that allowed traditional healers to apply for licenses and call themselves "doctors". There are many organizations that can register traditional healers in South Africa, and these healers are licensed in terms of the Companies Act (Pretorius, 2001).
Conclusion
An interpretive model will be used to show that the meanings associated with mental illness are important in shaping how mental illness is experienced, expressed and treated. Contact theory will be used to argue that contact and interaction with the mentally ill can lead to a reduction in the stigma of mental illness. A health belief model is presented that shows how psychosocial constructs explain an individual's decision-making regarding health-related behavior.
Explanatory Models of (Mental) Illness
Explanatory models of mental illness recognize that people explain their distress in many different ways (Bhui & Bhugra, 2002) and that culture plays a major role in shaping health-related values, beliefs, and behaviors (Betancourt, 2004; Kleinman, 1978). . Explanatory models influence many aspects of illness, including compliance with treatment and patient satisfaction (Jacob et al., 1998). However, studies of explanatory models related to mental health are scarce in the province of KwaZulu-Natal.
Contact Theory
- Processes of change through intergroup contact
- Intergroup contact and mental illness
In short, according to the contact hypothesis, members of the public who have contact with people with mental illness would have more positive attitudes toward that group, including less desire for social distance (Phelan & Link, 2004). Self-stigma has been shown to have detrimental effects on the lives of people with mental illness (Corrigan, Watson & Barr, 2006). This means that people with mental illness are therefore likely to be feared if they are perceived as dangerous.
The Health Belief Model
According to Cerkoney and Hart (1980), the health belief model is based on the value-expectancy theories of social psychology. The second limitation of the health belief model is based on its assumption that individual determinants are only direct. These are the explanatory model, the contact theory and the health belief model.
Methodology Methodology
Study Location
- Sisonke District
According to Statistics South Africa (2011b), Kwa Sani Municipality is located at the foothills of the southern Drakensburg and is bordered to the west by the Umkomazi Wilderness area, Greater Kokstad to the south-west, the Ingwe Local Municipality to the east and Impendle. Local municipality in the north. This municipality has the smallest population in Sisonke District, and the residents of the district live in both rural and agricultural areas (Harry Gwala Health District Plan, 2014). About 75% of the community has access to electricity and 43% has access to waste disposal services (Municipality of Kwa Sani, 2016).
Research Design
- Quantitative approach
- Correlational design
- Survey
The generalizability of cross-sectional studies is usually good, because they are usually representative of the population studied. What the research questions attempt to answer follows directly from the objectives of the research (Greener, 2011). The biggest problem with self-administered questionnaires has to do with the veracity of the answers (Jackson, 2012).
Instrument
- Concerns and adaptation of the instrument
- Pre-testing the instrument
The second part of the questionnaire presents vignettes of different characters that meet the diagnostic criteria (according to the DSM-5: American Psychiatric Association, 2013) for depression, schizophrenia, social phobia or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Its prevalence appears to be in the range of the adult population worldwide (Jordaan, 2010), and its incidence is remarkably similar around the world, in both developed and developing countries (Baumann, 2007). The two participants who completed the English version of the questionnaire were satisfied with the way the questions were asked.
Pilot Study
- Pilot location
- Pilot sample
- Procedural difficulties encountered
- Adaptation
- What was learnt from the pilot study?
Debriefing meetings were held with research assistants at the end of each day of the pilot study to discuss their experiences and concerns. The pilot study information sheet originally stated that it would take 20 to 30 minutes to complete. This category was therefore added in the later version of the questionnaire used in this study.
Reliability and Validity of the Study 1 Reliability. 1 Reliability
- Validity
The researcher in this study used Cronbach's alpha on the data obtained from the pilot study to calculate the internal consistency of the items that make up the questionnaire. The reliability of the questionnaire for this study was expected to be confirmed by a Cronbach's alpha coefficient greater than 0.7 (Coolican, 2004; de Vaus, 2002), and the closer to 1 the better, because high internal consistency would mean that all items were measuring the same construct or idea (Devlin, 2006). Validity in this way was tested during the pretesting of the questionnaire in this study.
Procedure for Main Study
- Sample and sampling
- Procedure
- Cleaning of data
- Details of the final sample
After completing the questionnaire, she showed enthusiasm to help the research assistants recruit participants. The heads of the SAPS from both investigation sites also assured the investigation team of safety and security. The research assistants were available to answer any questions or provide clarity where necessary while completing the questionnaire.
Data Analysis
- Descriptive statistics
- Inferential statistics
- Demographic variables excluded from analysis
The Chi-square statistic, according to Diener-West (2008), can be used to test the hypothesis of no association between two or more groups, populations or criteria. According to Gavin (2008), and Jackson (2012), the following assumptions must be met before using the Chi-square test: 1) the sample must be randomly selected; 2) data should be reported in raw frequencies, not percentages; 3) the measured variables must be independent; 4) values or categories of independent and dependent variables must be mutually exclusive and exhaustive; and 5) observed frequencies must be greater than 5. According to Clark-Carter (2010), in regression analysis there is an assumption that a variable is a variable that is.
Ethical Considerations
- Independent review
- Informed consent
- Autonomy
- Competence
- Confidentiality and anonymity
- Non-maleficence
- Beneficence
- Data storage
This will allow participants to decide whether or not they want to participate in the research study. The researcher in the present study was very mindful of the fact that the principle of informed consent is closely related to the principle of autonomy and competence. Participants in the current study were recruited from the general community and the study did not seek vulnerable individuals as part of the sample.
Conclusion
Results: Part I Results: Part I
Demographic Characteristics of the Sample
Chi-square analysis was performed to compare differences between the samples in the two municipalities (Greater Kokstad and Kwa Sani) in terms of demographic variables of gender, age groups and education. Trends observed in sample demographics indicate that fewer males than females participated in this study. Although this is not part of the sample demographics, the researcher thought it important to show here how the vignettes were distributed across the two municipalities.
Conceptions and Causes of Mental Disorders
- Conceptions of mental disorders
However, it is clear that participants of all age groups declared mental illnesses to be psychological in nature. As shown in Figure 6.3 below, approximately participants between the ages of 35 and 49 used medical explanations for mental illness. In terms of gender, both male and female participants used psychological, followed by social, explanations for mental illness.
