Mental health issues affect countless people in Mzansi, yet access to proper treatment can be limited, especially in areas with strained public health resources and information. This leads to traditional healers being the first point of contact for those experiencing distress.
A KwaZulu-Natal resident who would like to remain anonymous underlines that after experiencing depression, he sought traditional help because it’s easily accessible and not recognised as conditions that require Western medicine assistance in his area.
“Growing up, we never knew about all these mental health issues. I believe that in the past there were no doctors and people got healing from nature and herbs. When I got severely depressed, I refused to go to a psychologist, and I didn’t have the money for sessions either. I received herbs and did some cleansing, and they helped me calm down and not overthink.”
Traditional vs Western treatment
According to Dr Christie van Zyl, a traditional health practitioner from Cape Town who integrates traditional healing methods with her personal experience and Western knowledge, traditional healers address a range of mental health concerns, with a focus on common issues like depression, anxiety, and nervous system disorders.
“Our approach to mental health goes beyond just symptoms. We source the root of the problem spiritually. Many times, it’s linked to trauma or spiritual issues. This could involve unresolved ceremonies or rituals impacting a person’s well-being.”
Traditional healer Dr Christie van Zyl
Van Zyl acknowledges limitations in severe cases. “If someone’s ‘lost their mind’ we might try to address the spirit causing the illness. If that fails, we’d recommend a mental hospital. However, traditional healers often treat conditions alongside Western medicine.”
Van Zyl further uses her own experience with bipolar disorder as an example. “I am currently treating myself for bipolar alongside Western medication. My bipolar disorder was caused by trauma, so I have been doing talk therapy.
“I have also been doing rituals and ceremonies to cleanse the residual energy of that trauma from my system, from being attached to my spirit, from energy stuck in my body, and from any disturbances it’s causing in my hormonal and mental balances. I also do a lot of breath work, meditation, and trauma-release exercises.”
With this, she adds that traditional healers don’t compartmentalise mental health; they address everything that might be affecting a person’s well-being and explains the unique advantages of seeking help for mental health challenges through traditional methods.
Delving into the spiritual realm
“We go beyond symptoms. We delve into the underlying issues, highlighting the ability of traditional healers to address the unseen aspects of mental health, often subconscious or energetic blockages, that contribute to mental health problems. Traditional healers address the entire person, including the mind, body, spirit, and heart. We believe imbalances in any of these aspects can impact mental health.”
“The unique benefit of this approach is that it considers not only mental health capacity but also spiritual hygiene and emotional hygiene. African customary practice suggests that spiritual events affect the physical, so treating individuals involves asking the spirit for information about their lives. This includes examining traumas, their impact on mental health, emotional and hormonal balances, and the spiritual realm. Treatment may involve cleansing, cutting off spiritual connections, or performing ceremonies to allow ancestors to walk with the individual,” explains Van Zyl.
Highlighting the difference between the traditional and Western approaches, Van Zyl says the traditional approach tries to understand the possible causes of mental health that could be affecting this human being from a spiritual point of view.
“Having a spiritual point of view means that I will be able to see what the root causes are and how these root causes are affecting optimal functionality. So we approach it differently in the manner that we look at the spiritual issues that are causing it.”
“Traditional healers receive specific training to treat mental health issues, depending on their ancestors and gifts. These healers learn to understand the language of communication from spirits, ancestors, angels, and gods and are taught whether they need training. They may self-train through dreams or visions or be trained by a spiritual mentor. While traditional healers may use medication, they focus on using herbs and concoctions to restore the body to a natural state, cleanse, or remove the connection to mental health.”
Partners in mental healthcare
Van Zyl adds that she is doing her PhD with the School of African Medicine to be able to get a formal qualification through a formal institution because the training that they do as traditional healers is not formally recognised; thus, they are trying to set up institutions that formally recognise their work.
Dr Lerato Dikobe-Kalane, a psychiatrist in private practice based in Cape Town, but also doing online consultations, and a member of the South African Society of Psychiatrists (SASOP), believes that traditional healers can be valuable partners in mental healthcare.
“Healers shouldn’t be taken lightly. This is especially true given the limited access to psychiatric treatment in the SA public health sector. They have intimate knowledge of traditional medicine and cultural and spiritual practices and beliefs. The community respects them, and their advice is highly valued.”
Psychiatrist Dr Lerato Dikobe-Kalane
“We believe traditional and spiritual healers can play a key role in early identification, referrals, and sharing cultural understanding with treatment-resistant patients who could be referred to alternative treatment modes.”
She believes that Western mental health practitioners and traditional or spiritual healers should collaborate. According to her, this collaboration would involve educating traditional healers about common mental disorders, treatment options, and referral resources for specialised care.
Dikobe-Kalane adds that public health funding and resources are extremely limited in the mental health arena and emphasises the need for mutual respect and understanding of each other’s roles and cultures, as this would help in fostering a positive working relationship that could improve awareness of mental health disorders, reduce stigma, and enable wider access to treatment.
“Although there is little evidence that traditional and spiritual healers have an impact on the treatment of severe mental illnesses such as bipolar and psychotic disorders, with appropriate education and information, they could assist in the early identification and relevant referral of patients.”
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