Beliefs About the Cause of Schizophrenia Among Caregivers in Midwestern Nigeria.

Schizophrenia is a devastating illness with a chronic and relapsing course. While Western countries may endorse, biological and psychosocial causes more commonly than supernatural causes, non-western cultures like Nigeria in contrast, tend to endorse supernatural causes. Belief in supernatural causes has been reported to have consequences for treatment seeking behavior.

Burden of care among relatives of patients with schizophrenia in midwestern Nigeria.

Background: Schizophrenia is a devastating mental disorder which places immense burden on family members. There are few studies that have explored the enormity of burden experienced by caregivers in sub-Saharan Africa.

Method: Two hundred caregivers who were relatives of 200 consecutive outpatients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and undergoing treatment at the Federal Psychiatric Hospital, Uselu, Benin, between August and November 2008, were studied.