Lifestyle

Psychiatric care in the DRC

15 million Congolese out of a population of 60 million suffer from mental illness. After more than 20 years of political unrest, the psychological effects on the populace has definitely been large

Published

11 years ago

June 19, 2014

Khanyo Olwethu Mjamba

Since 1998, more than five million people in the Democratic Republic of Congo have lost their lives in a series of wars that, taken together, are the deadliest since World War II.

Traditional medicine practitioners are the most common healthcare providers in the country’s eastern North Kivu region. Many of these practitioners believe that psychiatric illness is the result of black magic or demonic possession and thus use outlandish methods of treatment.

Source: Al Jazeera Photos credit: Patrick Meinhardt/Transterra Media