Beliefs About the Treatment of Mental Illness Among the Namibian Aawambo: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

The ways mental illnesses are treated has the propensity to vary across cultures. Although psychotherapy and the alliance between clients and therapists is efficacious for treating mental illness in some contexts, cultures have developed equally as valid mechanisms for treating such conditions elsewhere. The purpose of this study was to explore beliefs about treatment for mental illness among a small Namibian Aawambo sample. Participants (N = 14) were interviewed using a semistructured interview protocol. Grounded theory ethnographic analyses led to the identification of four categories: (a) witch doctors, frauds, and odudu (traditional healer); (b) counseling, medicine, and religion as means of healing; (c) seeking care—decisions based on beliefs and needs; and (d) the role of families for omunanamwengu (“mad one”). The idea of faith—or more aptly with the data, belief in a given treatment—emerged in the findings as key to understanding the type of intervention one may seek in the event of mental illness. Results highlight participants’ perceived importance of belief in treatment, traditional practices, families, and concurrent use of traditional and Western services to heal mental illness. These are discussed with respect to potential for integration of treatment modalities while recognizing that further research can expand understandings of treatment beliefs across Namibian cultures.