A field study on mental health treatment at traditional and faith-based healing centres in Ghana shows that about 30 per cent of persons with mental illness who patronise these services are exposed to potentially harmful treatments.
It revealed that traditional healers denied their patients food and water, flogged them, deprived them of sleep, and restrained them with chains and ropes as a part of the healing process.
The study was conducted by Basic Needs Ghana, a Non-Governmental Organisation, Mental Health Society of Ghana, and the Danish Institute against Torture with funding from the Danish Government.
According to the study, traditional and faith-based healers reported that such harmful practices were helpful to the recovery process of persons with mental illness.