An approach to mental disorder in the Dogon Plateau of Bandiagara, Mali

The management of mental illnesses in the Dogon Plateau of Bandiagara is ensured by the collaboration between traditional therapists and the Regional Center of Traditional Medicine of Bandiagara. The objective of this work was to list the main traditional nosologies, in order to better understand the current functioning of patients and their families, a guarantee of better care for the mentally ill in the Bandiagara circle. Thus, we used interviews with the therapists with whom the center collaborates and a clinical study of four patients who consulted the center and traditional therapists between December 2006 and April 2007. The main traditional nosological entity was spirit aggression. This study has therefore laid the foundation for better collaboration between the actors of the two medicines in the field of mental health in the Bandiagara circle.