TRADITIONAL HEALING OF INSANITY IN ANNANGLAND OF SOUTH SOUTHERN NIGERIA: A SOCIO-CULTURAL ANALYSIS
Abstract
Insanity is not only a dreaded sickness by the Annang but also opens up the family of the insane to public ridicule and shame. Insanity is one of the sicknesses that cannot be hidden but opens up the insane and deposits them in the public space, margins and periphery of society where they scavenge for food. In spite of all these there are Annang traditional medicine men and women who specialise in mending the ruptured selves of the insane and restoring them back from the margins of life to the centrality of community living. Anthropological methods of participant observation, ethnographic representation, along with personal interviews were the primary sources used for the symbolic anthropological data analysis. Secondary sources came from the library. The research discovers that, the traditional medical practitioners are also rendering very important medical services to the community as seen in the number patience brought to them. It is recommended that traditional medical practitioners should be well trained by government especially in the area of referral.
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