Browsing by Author "de Vos, P.J.G"

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    Some mental abnormalities affecting the white and native populations of south Africa.
    (Fosbrooke, 1978) de Vos, P.J.G
    It is necessary to define what is meant by the terms used in the above heading. By “Mental Abnormalities” are meant mental diseases of all descriptions, i.e. organic psychoses, psychoneuroses and the psychoses. By “White Population” is meant the people usually referred to as Europeans and by “Native” is meant the Bantu of South Africa and not the Cape Coloured. The question is often asked as to whether the Native is subject to types of mental abnormalities different from those which affect the European, or whether in the same abnormality the symptoms are similar or not in the two groups. If there are such differences, a field for research would immediately open up, as the etiology of such a difference, if discovered, might lead to early or preventive treatment. It is commonly accepted that certain European races are more prone to certain physical diseases than others and tendencies for certain mental diseases show a like selectivity, but the symptoms of any such disease show no more variation among different races than among different individuals of the same race. This is also the position when mental abnormalities are studied in Europeans and Natives in South Africa but there is a certain selectivity of types of abnormalities which may be of interest. It is very important to make thorough investigations before any particular abnormality, mental or physical, is quoted as not occurring among certain peoples. This is necessary to prevent misdiagnoses, wrong treatment and erroneous unscientific deductions. This sounds very naïve but I shall quote only two examples to demonstrate this point to which I shall also refer later when dealing with the psychoses.