The Network Approach: A Path to Decolonize Mental Health Care
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Date
2023
Authors
Alemu, Rediet Emebet Getnet
Osborn, Tom L.
Wasanga, Christine M.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Frontiers in Public Health
Abstract
The violent colonial history of psychiatry in Africa prevents individuals from helpseeking. Because of this history, mental health care is now stigmatized, and clinical
research, practice, and policy fail to capture the salient features of distress across
African communities. If we are to transform mental health care for all, we must adopt
decolonizing frameworks to ensure mental health research, practice, and policy are
enacted in a manner that is ethical, democratic, critical, and serves the needs of local
communities. Here, we present that the network approach to psychopathology as an
invaluable tool in achieving this purpose. The network approach recognizes mental
health disorders not as discrete entities, but rather as dynamic networks that are
made of psychiatric symptoms (called nodes) and the relationships between these
symptoms (called edges). This approach can pave a path to decolonizing mental
health care by alleviating stigma, allowing context-based understanding of mental
health and mental health problems, opening new avenues for (low-cost) mental
health care and empowering
Description
Article
Keywords
mental health, Africa, decolonize, network, de-stigmatization
Citation
Alemu, R. E. G., Osborn, T. L., & Wasanga, C. M. (2023). The network approach: A path to decolonize mental health care. Frontiers in Public Health, 11.