Prayer camps

Prayer camps are religious institutions for as an alternative for hospitals for a variety of ailments in Ghana,[1][2][3][4] and Togo.[5] Methods such as being chained up or fasting are used.[6][7]

Beliefs

Ghana is said to be "the most religious society in the world" (Religion in Ghana), with 96% of the population identifying with a particular spiritual belief.[8] Mental illness is seen as caused by curses or demons. The only perceived solution to this problem is through spiritual healing, like prayer, with only minimal medical help being applied, such as through medication being given to patients.[9]

A 2016 Yale University study showed that both prayer camp prophets and staff and psychiatric hospital mental health professionals show interest at the idea of collaboration. Specifically, prayer camp staff are interested in help with the provision and use of medication, as well as improving the hygiene and infrastructure of prayer camps. However, prayer camp staff are highly opposed to medical explanations of mental illness, instead preferring spiritual and traditional explanations, while mental health and medical staff are concerned with the practice of extended chainings and fastings. Furthermore, despite the importance of long-term medication use in patient recovery, prayer camp staff only endorse its use over short periods.[10]

See also

References
  1. "The (In)human Dimension of Ghana's Prayer Camps". Human rights watch. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
  2. "Prayer camps chain mentally ill". BBC. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
  3. "Ghana's prayer camps: where the mentally ill are chained, starved and abused". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
  4. Mensah Adinkrah (2015-08-15). Witchcraft, Witches, and Violence in Ghana. p. 22. ISBN 9781782385615. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  5. Carey, Benedict (11 October 2015). "The Chains of Mental Illness in West Africa". New York Times. Retrieved 2018-07-29.
  6. Mensah Adinkrah (2015-08-15). Witchcraft, Witches, and Violence in Ghana. p. 22. ISBN 9781782385615. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  7. Vivian E D Ampadu. "The Depiction of Mental Illness in Nigerian and Ghanaian movies: A negative or positive impact on mental health awareness in Ghana" (PDF). Disability-studies.leeds.ac.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-01-11. Retrieved 2016-09-15.
  8. Edwards, Jocelyn (January 2014). "Ghana's mental health patients confined to prayer camps". The Lancet. 383 (9911): 15–16. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(13)62717-8. ISSN 0140-6736. PMID 24400332.
  9. "Ghana Breaks The Chains On Mental Health". Human Rights Watch. 2017-10-16. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  10. Arias D, Taylor L, Ofori-Atta A, Bradley EH (2016) Prayer Camps and Biomedical Care in Ghana: Is Collaboration in Mental Health Care Possible? PLoS ONE 11(9): e0162305. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0162305
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