University of Nigeria Research Publications ANYANWU, Joy I. Author PG/ M.ED/S/88/6142 A Survey of Traditional Conceptions of Mental Illness Title among the Educated and Illiterate Citizens of Emekuku- Owerri Imo State Education Faculty Guidance and Counselling Department December, 1989 Date Signature ii. --.-----DEDICATION This work Is dedicated to my f arnilies: Orientation and Conjugal. iii. This Gork would not have been possible without the expert advice and supervision of Dr. P .O. Wwaogu my Project Supervisor at the various stages of its production. I am indebted to you. I also wish to exprecs my sincere gratitude to my husband, Mr. C.U. Anyanwp for his moral and financial support . I am equally indebted to my brothers, Ezeikpe Ornemgbaji, Chinenye and my sister, Dr. (Mrs .) A.C. uwaegbute who through her motherly assistance made the completion of this programme possible at this time. Thanks to you all Dr. Ahurnibe, Dr. A.J. Orji, Mr. Ekwe and my other friends too numerous to mention for your invaluable a~sistence. This Thesis has been appr 1ved for the Department of Education University of NigeriU fl;ukka --------- INTERNAL &XAMINER --------- ------- EXTERNAL EXAMINER HEAD OF DEPARTMENT TABLE OF CONTENT -PAGE I Approval Page r. .. i I Dedication .. .s ii Aoknowled$eaent r. .. iii I Table of Content .. iv List of Tables v Abstract vi CHAPTER ONE Intorduction The FToblem Aim of Study -. .,' ' :. :stions .. ky$.Ah@&3 .. Area of Studv- ..- - CHAPTER TWO Review of Literature .. Researcn Methodology .. Design .. Population for the Study .. Instrument for Data Collection Method of Data Analysis .. CHAPTER FOUR Data Presentation and Analysis CImER FIVE Discussion of Findinga .. Conclusion ec~dSuggestions .. Limitations of the Study .. APPENDIX - QUESTIONNAIRE 6 . Conception bnaed on (cauees ~duca.tcd/illiterate citizens) 116 Description Table Conception bnee on (Zducated/illitecate citizens) It. 1R Conception based on Bat method of trcatDlaot Conception based on aelationship n Conception based causes (~~d.uleS/Y~~ths) ILB IIC li IID Conception bcsed on Pe:-iiztmency of Cure IIX: IIF Conce2tion hac;ecl. on relationship IIG li IIH IIIL IIIB Conception bmed on Method of trectr.ient I IIC 11 1133 Conception based on Permanency of 11II: cure 1, IIP Conception based on Relctionship IIIU it IIIH The Primary purpose of this study was to investigate the conception of the educated and illiterate citizens of Emekuku about mental illness. The study was carried out in Er~ekulcu made up of ten -. villages, There are four hundred eduoated and illiterate respondents randenly ,:elected from five of the ten villages - 80 people from each village. This number is made up as follows: 10 literate and 10 illiterate adult males 10 literate and 70 illiterate adult females 10 Literate and 10 illiterate young males 10 literate and 'I0 illiterate young females. *, *, To enhance data collection, $ame rebearch questions were used and they incLuder how do Emekuku people diagnose or identify mental illness What are the bharacterijtics of ~nentalillness Can mental illne:.s be classified and on what basis What are the clespes of mental illness. What modes of treatment are adopted for mental illness. Is mental illnezv curable How do people relate with ex-mental pntients. (i) There is no significant difference between the conception of mental illness by the educated and illiterate citizens of Emekuku. .- (ii) There is no significant difference in the conception of mental illness by the adults and youths, (iii) There is no significatodifference between the conception of the male. and females of mental illness. The data obtained were analysed using percentage. The chi-square (x2) statistic was also used to test the level of significance. It was found out that mental illness mean:: one thing to the educated group and another thing to the illiterate group as shown by the significant difference that exists in their conception of mental illness based on causes, treatment, curability, and relationship with ex-mental patients. The educated group were more enlightened in their k views tlbout mental illness, than the illiterate group. The female respondents in this study were also less traditional in their conceptions about mental illness than the male respondents and the difference was signigicant. The youths were equally less traditional than the adults as indicated by the significant difference that exist in their conceptions. mental illness is caused by witchcraft and inheritance among others has shifted to include drug addiction which is :,cl&.L : acclaimed to be the major cause by almost all the respondent- in this study. i The researcher therefore, suggested that (a) A well packaged and incessant entightenment campaigns, in vernacular, about the effects of drugs should be mounted in churches, schools, media houses and asylums to prevent or reduce incidence of mental illness. (b) Seminars and workshops should be orgnised to enlighten the public about mental illness, ways and means of handling mental a.id ex-mental patients, since relationship ?I with ex-mental patients is not cherished by normal people i2reapec'tive of age, sex or education. (c) Asylums should be provided with adequate facilities for crafts and other aspects of adult education to make for self actualization and enhance social integration of ex-mental patients after discharge. EilAF'TI3H ONE ~11'i'KOiXuCT10Ii Plental illness according to Roper (1978) i; arrested or incomplete development of the mind, psychaphathic disorder or any other disorder or disability of the mind. + From earliest times, mental illness has been defined primarily by social ceriteriar Those who deviated from perbcribed, expected or typical social behaviotlrs have been considered either insane, criminal, eccentric of sick. Little concern has been zhown for individual criteria such as people's happiness, feelints, or even effectiveness in functioning as members of the society as long as: they arc not public nuisance. ~~CTqn1,'fIC'- - ,d---,,,-------..-- OF TXC MENTULY ILL : '$he characteristics of the mentally ill vary greatly. Some 'ire confused a;; to where they arc, who they are, or who othors sre, that there cbn be no doubt about the ,,eriousne:,s of their ~bnormality. Others are excu;,:;ively elated or depre.,sed or unresp@,nsfv-. &bme possess stranbe processes of thinking that makes them LC;.,. unintelligible. All the; e people are suffering severe mental illness which the law calls insanity or madne:j.; in the local *arlance and they are treated in the psychiatric hospitals. 2. There are yet others whose mental illness is not as extreme but who still are so handicapped by doubts, fears, a~mrp~uLrrionb and worries that they become ineffective. They are aware that they are ill but may not realire that they &. suffer from psychoneurosis. They are notfound in mental hospitals. Another group is no unresponsive to the demands of society that they are in constant trouble with the law and of course, many of these are in correctional or approved institutions. In effect, there are various forms of mental illness tha-t a concise definition cannot be proffered. (&&&IFICATIOW----- Or' H61vTAL ILLNE.J;L: Mental illness from all indications can be cla~sified based on the characteristics of mental disorder. :ubst-quently, the diagonistic and htastistical Manual of Menttl Disorder 11 - DLM II published by the American psychiatric Association classified mental disorder into: 1. Mental Keturdation: This is subnormal intellectual functioning with jJr.~airment in learning, social hdju:<tment and maturation. ii. Organic Brain byndrome: This is a physical condition whose symptoms are caused by damagesi;ho brain tissues and leads to psychoses and non psychotic disorders. 3. iii. Psychoses not attributable to physical , .. u... conditions (such as organic brain damage). They include: (a) Schizophrenia - Impairment of integrated emotion, though! and behaviour; withdrawal from human contact and reality. (b) Major effective Disorders:- severe disturbances of mood and feeling. (c) Paranoid ~tates:- Delusions of persecution or ;,?~:..;ia- grspdiosity . IV. Neurosis:- Ltrong anxiety, conscious or uncon:;cious, no jiross distortion of reality or severe personality didorganisation. They include: (a) anxiety neurosis, (b) hxatericak neurosis; (c) phobic neurosis (d) depressive neurosis (e) neurasthemic neurosis (f) depersonalization neurosis (g) hypochondrical neurosis. V. Personality Disorders: Deeply ingrained maladaptive patterns of behaviour that are different from the psychoses and neurosis. ~omeof these categories reflect personality styles that re.;emble specific psychotic or neurotic divordzrs but which do not show the more 4. acute and disabling symptoms. Other categories refer to more specific forms of socfial deviance namely: pqrqnoid personality cyclothymic personality - mood swings from euphoria to sadness; hysterical peqonality antisocial personality; sexual deviation; alcoholism drug dependence Psychophysiological (psychosomatic) disorders: Physical symptsms such as high blood p:ressure or stomach ulcers produced in part by psychological factors. Special symptoms: - : peech di,turbance; specific learning disturbances, Tics; disorders of sleep (d) enurebis f~edingdisturbances. Transient situational disturbances. Hippocrates as quoted in Zilberg and Henry (1941) cla;siiiad mental illness into (a) phobias (b) epilepsy (c) mania (d) melancholia and (c) paranoia. -------ChUaEy OEiYEIu--.-------- TAL ILLIvLS Many studies have demonstrated relationships