The establishment of psychiatric services in Sudan is an interesting experiment in a developing country. Prior to World War II there were hardly any organized psychiatric services (Baasher, 1975). By 1950, the Clinic for Nervous Disorders, Khartoum North, was well established and the Kober Institution was built later to cater for 120 forensic psychiatric patients. This was followed by the establishment of four psychiatric units in provincial capitals at Wad Madni, Port-Sudan, El Obeid and Atbara . In 1964, a 30-bed psychiatric ward was built in Khartoum general hospital. Psychiatry in Sudan began in the 1950s under the guidance of the late Professor El Tigani El Mahi. He pioneered, among other things, rural services and the open-door policy. His successor, Dr Taha A. Baasher, shouldered the responsibility and extended services to more peripheral areas of the country. He established the Mental Health Association of Sudan and the Sudanese Association of Psychiatrists. In 1971, Omdurman Psychiatric Hospital (El Tigani El Mahi Hospital) was established as the national mental hospital (El Faki, 1997).This book gives brief description about mental health and psychiatric services in Sudan
This is a a wide-ranging 730-page account of traditional Sudanese medicine.I was born in the Sudan of Sudanese Muslim parents in Al-Dueim, on the west bank of the White Nile, central Sudan. I spent my early years in this town, and I went to school there. Since then, I have visited many towns and villages throughout the country. My mother tongue is Arabic, the main language of the country. I had a typical Sudanese childhood. I shared the daily life and activities of the people. My basic norms and values, I dare say, are those of the communities I describe in this book.At the age of four, I joined the khalwa (Quranic School), learned rudimentary Arabic, and memorized the first short chapters of the Holy Book. While I was there, I gained my first insight into the inner circle of religious healers, and at an early age, I saw the maseed (colloquial for mosque) and the Sufi followers.Many families in the Sudan have their patron saints that they consult or invoke in times of stress and need. Al-Mikashfi Abu-Umar of Shikanieba village, central Sudan, is the patron shaikh of our clan. At the age of five, my parents took me to his shrine, half a day's journey from my hometown. There, I saw the local asylum, for the first time, and was excited to see the mentally ill inmates under treatment. I had my first haircut there. My parents, with other worshippers, paid homage to the holy man. An impressive scene remained deeply engraved in my memory.During my childhood, I suffered every summer from attacks of epistaxis; I bled through the left nostril. Hospital treatment did not help. One morning my father decided to try his friend shaikh Awad Rahama, a laundry man in the market place, who was known as a traditional healer as well. He was particularly noted for his effective recipes for nose bleeding. The shaikh welcomed us and asked me to sit. He washed my forehead with water, and on it wrote some Quranic verses in copying pencil. He then gave me a hijab (amulet) to wear. That was the last time I ever had epistaxis!During my early life, I wore a variety of amulets. Some were to combat the evil eye, some to ensure success at school, while others were hafidhas (protectors). Some were paper hijabs, and others were mihaya (erasure of holy verse) that I had to drink or bakhra to burn and fumigate myself with.Several types of treatment and healing séances are vivid in my memory. For example, I saw the bonesetter in action. There was one in every neighbourhood in every village or town. Many were notably skilful and experienced. They used no painkillers while setting a broken bone or manipulating a sprained joint, because they knew none, and, hence, had to work dexterously. I remember Al-faki Al-Zubair and Al-faki Hamoda, the two notable religious healers in our neighbourhood. They also led the congregation prayers, taught the Quran, and stood as masters of ceremonies in weddings. I joined the Quranic School of the first, and had many amulets and bakhras from the second.The therapeutic musical extravaganza of the zar is a popular feature in northern Sudan. The zar is an exclusively women's congregation in which lavish musical ceremonies are performed. Several times, I escaped my parents' notice, and sometimes-even school, to sneak into one of the zar houses. I found the ceremonies fascinating, and still remember them vividly, and with pleasure. The rhythm of the zar music and the heavy fragrances that escape from the ceremony houses are unforgettable.Many Muslim Sudanese towns have religious Sufi fraternities called turuq Sufiyya (Sufi orders). In these turuq, people perform zikr, remembrance chants in praise of the Prophet Muhammad and Sufi saints. The ceremonies range from the highly rhythmic type of the Qadiriyya order, to the quiet melodies of the Burhamiyya. We joined the zikr circles whenever there was a ceremony in the neighbourhood; we danced, chanted, and always waited for that dervish who would dance himself into a trance.
"USEFUL TO THOSE SEEKING TO INITIATE RESEARCH, AS WELL AS THOSE INVOLVED IN ETHNOPSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH."--CHOICE. Do Africans experience the same mental illnesses as people in the Western world? What attitudes do Africans have toward the mentally ill? What part do sorcery & spirit possession play in traditional African psychiatry? These are among the questions addressed by this annotated bibliography of more than 900 books & articles published since the groundbreaking 1960 work, SEARCH FOR SECURITY: AN ETHNOPSYCHIATRIC STUDY OF RURAL GHANA. This volume tracks the rise of psychiatry as a science in Africa & the myriad ways in which indigenous & modern medicine are combined. A glossary of terms, & two indexes--one by geographic & ethnic group & one by subject-- make this an easy to use & rewarding guide to transcultural psychiatry.
The purpose of the World Psychiatric Association is to coordinate the activities of its Member Societies on a world-wide scale and to advance enquiry into the etiology, pathology, and treatment of mental illness. To further this purpose, the Association organizes mono- or multi thematic Regional Symposia in different parts of the world twice a year, and World Congresses dealing with all individual fields of psychiatry once every five or six years. Between these meetings the continuation of the Association's scientific work is assured through the activities of its specialty sections, each covering an important field of psychiatry. The programs of the World Congresses reflect on the one hand the intention to present the coordinating functions of the Association and on the other to open a broad platform for a free exchange of views. Thus, the VII World Congress of Psychiatry, held in Vienna from July 11 to 16, 1983, was composed of two types of scientific events - those structured by the Association and those left to the initiative of the participants. The first type comprised Plenary Sessions, planned by the Scientific Program Committee, anq Section Symposia, organized by the WPA sections; the second embraced Free Symposia, free papers, video sessions, and poster presentations prepared by the participants. Altogether, 10 Plenary Sessions, 52 Section Symposia, and 105 Free Symposia took place, and 78 free papers and poster sessions and 10 video sessions were held.
Integration of complementary and alternative medicine therapies (CAM) with conventional medicine is occurring in hospitals and physicians offices, health maintenance organizations (HMOs) are covering CAM therapies, insurance coverage for CAM is increasing, and integrative medicine centers and clinics are being established, many with close ties to medical schools and teaching hospitals. In determining what care to provide, the goal should be comprehensive care that uses the best scientific evidence available regarding benefits and harm, encourages a focus on healing, recognizes the importance of compassion and caring, emphasizes the centrality of relationship-based care, encourages patients to share in decision making about therapeutic options, and promotes choices in care that can include complementary therapies where appropriate. Numerous approaches to delivering integrative medicine have evolved. Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the United States identifies an urgent need for health systems research that focuses on identifying the elements of these models, the outcomes of care delivered in these models, and whether these models are cost-effective when compared to conventional practice settings. It outlines areas of research in convention and CAM therapies, ways of integrating these therapies, development of curriculum that provides further education to health professionals, and an amendment of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act to improve quality, accurate labeling, research into use of supplements, incentives for privately funded research into their efficacy, and consumer protection against all potential hazards.
Human migration is a global phenomenon and is on the increase. It occurs as a result of 'push' factors (asylum, natural disaster), or as a result of 'pull' factors (seeking economic or educational improvement). Whatever the cause of the relocation, the outcome requires individuals to adjust to their new surroundings and cope with the stresses involved, and as a result, there is considerable potential for disruption to mental health. This volume explores all aspects of migration, on all scales, and its effect on mental health. It covers migration in the widest sense and does not limit itself to refugee studies. It covers issues specific to the elderly and the young, as well as providing practical tips for clinicians on how to improve their own cultural competence in the work setting. The book will be of interest to all mental health professionals and those involved in establishing health and social policy.
This atlas is aimed at collecting, compiling and desseminating information on mental health resources in the world. It presents updated and expanded information from 192 countries with analyses of global and regional trends as well as individual country profiles. Newly included in this volume is a section on epidemiology within the profiles of all low and middle income countries. It shows that mental health resources within most countries remain inadequate despite modest improvments since 2001. Availability of mental health resources across countries and between regions remains substantially uneven, with many countries having few resources. The atlas reinforces the urgent need to enhance mental health resources within countries.
“The Hidden Patients” looks at questions of gender in psychiatric publications on the colonial Maghreb, which described “normal” and “abnormal” forms of behaviour among the colonised and compared these findings to descriptions of Europeans who had been diagnosed with psychiatric “abnormalities”. Many psychiatric experts claimed that Muslim women rarely went “mad” and that they only accounted for a negligible percentage of the patients cared for by colonial psychiatrists. Consequently, relatively little space was dedicated to female Muslim patients in the theoretical source material, even though case studies and statistics clearly showed that it was mainly an imaginary absence and that it contradicted the everyday experiences of the psychiatrists.
