Therapeutic powers of medicinal plants used by traditional healers in Kavango, Namibia, for mental illness

Shirungu, Michael M.J.; Cheikhyoussef, Ahmad

doi:10.1080/23323256.2018.1486217

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Findings of the present study further revealed that Swati THs use different treatment modalities namely herbal remedies, nasal ingestion, rehabilitations and total withdrawal for the earlier alluded mental illness. These are the common traditional treatments approaches to mental illness employed by THs of other cultures in South Africa 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 and elsewhere 55 . However, the use of some of previously mentioned modalities by Swati THs primarily depended on the type of disease and the cause, but THs mainly integrate them for treatment of a single mental disorder.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychological ailments and their treatment protocols: a case study of Swati traditional healers in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa

Ngobe¹,

Semenya²,

Sodi³

2021

Afr H. Sci.

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Background: Evidence suggests that South African traditional healers (THs) treat various mental complaints. However, there is little literature on Swati THs’ accounts on this subject. The current study therefore, sought to address this gap. Methods: Data was gathered using qualitative research methods, namely semi-structured interviews with 10 purposely sampled Swati THs practicing in the Kanyamazane peri-urban township (Mpumalanga Province, South Africa). Data was thematically analysed. Results: Results showed that THs treat seven psychological aliments, viz. adjustment disorders, depression, mental illness due to ancestral calling, mental illness due to bewitchment, mental illness due to breaking of taboos, psychotic disturbance and substance induced mental illness. Generally, an integrated treatment protocol was utilised by THs to treat and manage these disorders. Most of these procedures are acceptable from either folkloric or scientific viewpoint, and have demonstrat- ed certain level of efficacy in treating mental illness. Conclusion: Taken together, the evidence presented indicates that Swati THs use different traditional methods to manage various mental complaints. In doing so, they carry a large share of the community caseload for mental health, whilst admit- ting patients in their homes for extended periods of time, and also referring some (patients) for additional care within the Western health sector. Keywords: Mental illness; Mpumalanga; Swati; traditional healers; treatment methods; psychological ailments.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychological ailments and their treatment protocols: a case study of Swati traditional healers in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa

Ngobe¹,

Semenya²,

Sodi³

2021

Afr H. Sci.

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“…Moreover, the benefits of plants in mental pathologies have already been reported (Parilli-Moser et al, 2021;Sarris et al, 2021;Sala-Vila et al, 2022). However, the ethnobotanical approach remains to be explored, since very few detailed monographies based on ethnobotanical studies on medicinal plants used in the treatment of mental illnesses are recorded in the literature, most of them based on African population (Romeiras et al, 2012;Ior et al, 2017;Shirungu and Cheikhyoussef, 2018;Wubetu et al, 2018;Mabaleha et al, 2019). In Europe, the ethnobotanical publications focused on mental health data are not so common (Calvo and Cavero, 2015;Motti and de Falco, 2021), but this does not mean those kinds of data are not collected during the fieldwork.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plants and mental disorders: the case of Catalan linguistic area

Irún,

Gras,

Parada

et al. 2023

Front. Pharmacol.

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Introduction: Mental disorders are among the leading causes of ill-health and disability worldwide. Despite the disease burden they cause, including significant direct and indirect impacts on individual’s health and major social and economic consequences in all countries of the world, it is still one of the most neglected areas of public health. In such a context, the medicinal plants traditionally used to pale these pathologies are presented as a promising tool for future drug development for the management of mental health disorders. The aim of the present study is to analyze the information about plant species used to treat mental disorders in the Catalan linguistic area (CLA) and compare these traditional uses with pharmacological literature in order to evaluate the most quoted taxa and their uses and to provide a basis for further research. Methods: Data have been recovered from the “Etnobotànica dels Països Catalans” webpage (https://etnobotanica.iec.cat/) and the meta-analytic work carried out in the present study covers 27 prospections performed in different territories between 1990 and 2019. Descriptive statistics and quantitative ethnobotany were carried out and some ethnobotanical indices were calculated. Results and Discussion: The number of use reports analysed to treat mental disorders in CLA is 2,544 spread over 183 taxa belonging to 64 families, being the most cited the Malvaceae (29.36% of use reports), Lamiaceae (16.71%), Caprifoliaceae (7.94%), Rutaceae (7.47%) and Papaveraceae (6.01%). The most used taxa to treat or alleviate the mental disorders have been Tilia platyphyllos Scop. (24.53%), Valeriana officinalis L. (7.47%), Salvia officinalis L. (5.07%), Sambucus nigra L. (4.28%), and Ruta chalepensis L. (3.89%). The flowers or inflorescences (47.68%), followed by aerial part (23.49%), have been the most used plant parts, and tisane the most commonly used pharmaceutical form (78.03%). The most reported use is as sedative with 40.92%, followed by anticephalalgic (21. 19%) and tranquilizer (20.01%). The informant consensus factor (FIC) was 0.93, and 3.72% was the ethnobotanicity index (EI) value. The information is coincidental with at least one of the comprehensive pharmacological literature sources checked for 73.68% of ethnobotanical uses.

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Human and plant interfaces: relationality, knowledge and practices

Gibson

Ellis

2018

Anthropology Southern Africa

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Therapeutic powers of medicinal plants used by traditional healers in Kavango, Namibia, for mental illness

Cited by 3 publications

References 16 publications

Psychological ailments and their treatment protocols: a case study of Swati traditional healers in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa

Psychological ailments and their treatment protocols: a case study of Swati traditional healers in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa

Plants and mental disorders: the case of Catalan linguistic area

Human and plant interfaces: relationality, knowledge and practices

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