Africa Factbook

Stigmatized mental illness and mental health problems in Africa What is Africa's mental health impact of displacement, war, sexual violence and rape, famine, and disaster in Africa? Mental illness and mental health problems are taboo subjects that leaves people stigmatized in much of Africa. Mental health issues often come last on the list of priorities.   Most developing countries dedicate less than 2 percent of governmental healthcare budgets to mental health care. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 56 percent of African countries have community-based mental health facilities, 37 percent have mental health facilities for children and 15 percent for the elderly. Mental illness is a taboo subject that is stigmatized in much of Africa but people in Africa don’t suffer any less because they are African and believe mental illness is caused by the wrath of God, witchcraft, or possessed by spirits. We don’t often think about the long-term mental health impact of the