Attitude of the Community towards mental illness and treatment practices in Debre-Tabor Town

Abstract

Mental illness is a condition that affects the cognition, emotion, and behavior of an individual. (WHO, 2010-2020).The study was used mixed with concurrent parallel design, conducted in Debre-tabore town. Data was collected from 399 participants using Community Attitude to Mental Illness Inventory (CAMI), used probability sampling techniques. Data were entered and Analyzed to SPSS version 26. Descriptive and multiple linear regressions, one –way ANOVA and Independent Sample t test analyses were employed. The response rate was 94.5% female (193) with the sex distribution of 48.8% (206) males. The result show that the attitudes of the community were moderate levels of AU, BE and CMHI, but a relatively high level of social restrictiveness towards mental illness. Getting information about mental illness the most common source is health institution29.1% & religious institution27.8%.Age the negative predicted variable and religious is positive predicted variable with (CAMI) sub scale AU, BE and SR but CMHI suggests that individuals who higher level of education tend to be may have more positive attitude towards mental illness P= 0.000b . (B=.104, P<0.05), Age 18-24 (91.06±27.13 SD) was significantly higher mean attitude scores for the other age group, Government worker (95.1±28.4 SD) was significantly higher mean attitude scores for the other occupational categories and educational level category reveals that respondents with a certificate and diploma have the highest mean attitude score (91.3±27.01 SD), while illiterate have the lowest mean attitude score (86.4±25.04 SD. And also between Gender (t=1.150, P<0.05). Suggest that females have a more positive attitude towards mental illness. Mental illness is cannot be treated there is no cure for mental illness and Mental illness treat in the surrounding area is dependent on the patient's health, and they use traditional methods and religiosity to treat mental illness, like got hermitage prayer with God and holy water. Recommend for health institution propose awareness creation programs conducted through governmental and non governmental mass media, conferences, seminars, magazines and newspapers about the scientific nature and treatment approaches to the mental illness on the community.