Crick Lund on Why We Need To Talk About Mental Health in Africa

Once a neglected area of health, the prevalence of mental health conditions is on the rise. In Africa, the issue is particularly acute: 85% of individuals have no access to effective treatment and there are only 1.4 mental health workers per 100,000 people, compared with a global average of 9.0 per 100,000. In the face of this scarcity, there must be innovation – and a recognition of the unique social contexts that shape both the origin and treatment of mental illness. In this episode of Afro-Catalyst, we speak to clinical psychologist Crick Lund, a professor at King’s College London and an expert on mental health in low-income countries. Lund breaks down sobering statistics about Africa’s mental crisis while highlighting creative interventions. We learn about everything from how grandmas are intervening to provide talk therapy in Zimbabwe to how clinics and healers in rural Nigeria and Ghana are partnering to refer patients to receive the care they need.