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ZimOnline (cute name, that) reports that 40 percent of Zimbabweans suffer from mental disorders. This is staggering to me, but in a country where unemployment stands at 80 percent (!) I guess it's not entirely unlikely. At the same time, demand for alcohol is extremely high.
Liz Spikol is senior contributing editor of Philadelphia Weekly. She writes the award-winning column The Trouble With Spikol, which began as a chronicle of her struggle with mental illness, and has since expanded into humorous musings on everything from graphic novels to how to use a mop. She also writes the paper's book review column, Lit Gloss. This blog -- named one of the Top 10 Bipolar Blogs of 2007 by PsychCentral -- is about mental illness policy, news, personal journeys and more.
Comments
That is an insanely high number...but the upside is that it will be one country where perhaps any stigma attached with MI would be completely eradicated, as a result of its extremely high prevalence.
Posted by: Masale.Wallah | August 27, 2007 08:13 PM
Since colonial rule of Zimbabwe ended, there has been virtually no food available to the people of Zimbabwe, and very little water. Leave it to the media to blame all of the problems of this nation on alcoholism and insanity.
From BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/country_profiles/1064589.stm
"Aid agencies and critics partly blame food shortages on the land reform programme. The government blames a long-running drought, and Mr Mugabe has accused Britain and its allies of sabotaging the economy in revenge for the redistribution programme."
Posted by: Sally | August 28, 2007 02:33 PM