Abstract

The family holds a central position in the life of the patients with mental disorders and on the decision where to seek help. They make a tremendous contribution to the therapeutic process. We aimed to explore the experience of the families and relatives of the people with mental illness regarding mental illness, traditional healing and modern psychiatric treatment .so we conducted Focus groups discussions among families and relatives who accompany patients undergoing treatment in the traditional healer’s centres in Central Sudan. The families and relatives defined mental illness according to the perceived underlying cause. They recognize the mental illness by the changes that occur to the person character and behaviour, illogical thinking, talkativeness and aggression. They strongly belief in the supernatural causes such as: Jinn possession, evil eye, black magic and evil-doing as well as other psycho-social factors. They also have strong belief in the effectiveness of traditional healing for treating mental illness. They are doubtful about the effectiveness of modern psychiatric treatment. Cultural beliefs and social factors of patient family and close relatives play important role in determining the choices for help-seeking behaviour in people with mental disorders. These have important implication on mental health service use by people with mental disorders