Representations of Mental Illness in a Ga Community in Southern Ghana

Abstract

This study explored lay concepts about and attributions of mental illness in a Ga community in southern Ghana. The study’s sample consisted of 11 Ga men and 12 Ga women, ranging in age from 30-81. Participants completed one-on-one interviews. Participants ascribed to polyphasic attributions of mental illness including biomedical and spiritual explanations. Attributions informed understandings of help-seeking behavior. Stigma was recognized as an important factor in the lived experience of people with mental illness. The recognition of individual distress as a marker of mental illness seemed less prominent than social indicators. Our interviewees’ narratives highlighted the importance of the social context in identifying and making meaning of mental illness in the community of study.