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Gourmat Narimane / Mohamed Khaider biskra (Algeria)/  

Hadjlakehal Radhia / Mohamed Khaider biskra (Algeria)/  

 

Abstract: 

In this paper, we highlight the pathological culture of psychiatric and 

mental illnesses. We refer to schizophrenia in Algerian society, where 

society's culture of schizophrenia is mainly caused by magic, envy and evil 

spirit, even the thoughts of the schizophrenic patient. 

Society's culture attributes the causes of various psychological and mental 

disorders to many metaphysical factors. 

Keywords: Social culture, Schizophrenia, Algerian society. 

Introduction: 

"I have never been so desperate, I felt as if I was in an abyss when my son 

forced me inside the closet and closed on me, I almost suffocated. There is 

nothing worse than this. I was crying and I could not believe what was 

happening to my son whom I love." Schizophrenic mother. 

Xavier Amador (2007) says: “Staying in the hospital is only a temporary 

band-aid if we do not encourage him to take care of his treatment 

permanently.” He also directs his words to the families of patients with 

schizophrenia. “If we want someone dear to us to have great chances of 

recovery, we must We face the two problems of a lack of understanding of 

the disease and a refusal to treat it .“  

Schizophrenia is a mental disease characterized by a disturbance in 

thinking, conscience, behavior, and sometimes perception. If not treated, 

         IJO - INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEALTH SCIENCES AND NURSING

( ISSN: 2814-2098 ) Meliouh Khalida *

http://ijojournals.com/ Volume 06 Issue 12 || Dec., 2023 ||

Social culture of the schizophrenic patient in Algerian society

Social culture of the schizophrenic patient in Algerian society

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IJO - INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEALTH SCIENCES AND NURSING  

( ISSN: 2814-2098 )                                                                                                                         Meliouh Khalida 
* 

http://ijojournals.com/ Volume 06 Issue 12 || Dec., 2023 || 

Social culture of the schizophrenic patient in Algerian society 

 

 

 

it leads to a deterioration in the social behavioral level, as the individual 

loses his personality and thus becomes isolated from the real world and 

society. (Favrod, 2012) 

Through research on this disorder, we have come to define the meaning of 

schizophrenia, and we have also been able to say that there is no 

"miracle" cure, but tranquilizers that were discovered forty years ago only 

reduce symptoms, relieve the patient's suffering, and improve the fate of 

the disease. In the first months from the onset of the disease, it is difficult 

for the schizophrenic patient and for those around him, especially the 

relatives. We focus on the mother who suffers more than the pleasure of 

her liver and who counts the days and all the moments for her son or 

daughter to be straight. 

All families of schizophrenics are burdened by the illness of their relative. 

Acceptance of a relative’s illness is always painful, no matter what type of 

illness it is, and accepting schizophrenia is more difficult, especially for 

parents. The 30-year-old has a future as an inmate in a mental hospital 

because the waiting room in the mental health service is considered the 

waiting room of shame and failure. (Tobin, 1994). 

And through our clinical practice in the Department of Mental Illness, 

where we saw many cases, and what caught our attention is that most 

cases suffer from schizophrenia, and the worst of this is: 

- The schizophrenic patient improved in the hospital, but after being 

discharged, he became ill in a very short period of time. 

Failure to follow up on cases for treatment and their absence for long 

periods ranging from six months to a year. 

And that their return to the interest is through the police or civil 

protection, as they are in a state of agitation, that is, in a state of acute 

crisis. All this prompted us to search for the causes of relapse after a short 

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IJO - INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEALTH SCIENCES AND NURSING  

( ISSN: 2814-2098 )                                                                                                                         Meliouh Khalida 
* 

http://ijojournals.com/ Volume 06 Issue 12 || Dec., 2023 || 

Social culture of the schizophrenic patient in Algerian society 

 

 

 

period of receiving treatment and the reasons for their absence from the 

doctor's appointment. 

First, we wanted to search for these reasons within the family of a 

schizophrenic patient, and we focused on the mother, as she is responsible 

for taking care of her son. We conducted clinical interviews with the 

mothers of these patients, and we discovered that the mother completely 

denies her son's illness and is ignorant of its nature, which makes her 

explain it based on other factors that are referenced by irrational ideas, 

such as infection with witchcraft or the evil eye, for example. Accordingly, 

she does not see a benefit in drug treatment, and on the other hand, she is 

not aware of the disease, its symptoms, and its treatment method. 

Mothers of patients with schizophrenia believe that their children are 

affected by touch and witchcraft, and this belief has an anthropological 

dimension as well. Historical stages of religion, which is generally 

associated with the control of human beings in supernatural powers. 

Where Abdel-Latif (2009) explains: The symptoms of schizophrenia are 

strange, so charlatans linked them to confirm the prevailing popular 

beliefs for their own benefits. They claim treatment by the Holy Qur’an 

while they are far from each other, and the patient’s family is asked to 

slaughter a black animal and smear blood on it, or write his name on a 

stone, and we find people influenced by charlatans and charlatans. 

Multiculturalism in the midst of Maghreb society led to a change in 

concepts, especially in the field of health and disease. It is the one that 

determines the personality or dimensions of the Algerian personality. 

This change, for example, as the complete or partial absence of the mother 

on the child, has an impact on the emergence of some psychological and 

mental disorders, and some popular beliefs on the pathological map of 

mental and mental illnesses and conflicts in society, and here we focus on 

schizophrenia. That jealousy, envy, and witchcraft are the causes of the 

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IJO - INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEALTH SCIENCES AND NURSING  

( ISSN: 2814-2098 )                                                                                                                         Meliouh Khalida 
* 

http://ijojournals.com/ Volume 06 Issue 12 || Dec., 2023 || 

Social culture of the schizophrenic patient in Algerian society 

 

 

 

emergence of some psychotic disorders, this is what makes social diversity 

that can expose individuals to schizophrenia has become accepted among 

many researchers Bloke The idea that there are more stressful cultures 

than others and that there are cultural models and pressures Robert, 

Faris, Cooper, Sullivan, Kaplan, Palmer all believe that schizophrenia is a 

rare condition or even missing in cohesive societies that have weak 

contact with Western societies or are characterized by solid family ties 

and attitudes of tolerance and kindness. The so-called "ethnic psychosis", 

the presence of schizophrenia or the absence of schizophrenia in 

traditional societies described as primitive seems to be related to the 

development of culture in these societies, as the prevalence of 

schizophrenia cases is related to a large extent in many regions in Africa, 

India and elsewhere. This researcher looked at the gradual 

transformation of the social and cultural structures and their 

development towards patterns similar to Western patterns. The same 

thing almost happens and is repeated in the Arab Maghreb according to 

Professor Salim Ammar. The general number of mental patients has 

significantly doubled, whether it is for men or women, to reach in that era 

approximately 27% for both sexes, a percentage that is confirmed by a 

study by Bourisha in the same country. Salim Ammar attributes this 

increase to the transformation that occurred at the level of family 

structures. and aspirations of each group. Because of the disintegration of 

the bonds that used to unite its members, as well as to the radical shifts 

in needs and beliefs Chapter Two Psychosis 98 Based on the number of 

schizophrenia cases recorded per year for males and females, the 

prevalence of the disorder is for men and from 9% to 17% for women and 

from 12% to 27% For both sexes. The mental illness ranged from 1960-61-

62 to 1969-70-71 from 14% to 36%, which is an intermediate percentage, 

according to Salim Ammar, between the standard French classification 

(20%) and the international classification (35%), which is included in 

cases of schizophrenia, delirium The same reason may stand behind the 

increase in schizophrenia cases in Morocco according to Christozov, who 

also records a significant increase in the forms of catatonia and 

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IJO - INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEALTH SCIENCES AND NURSING  

( ISSN: 2814-2098 )                                                                                                                         Meliouh Khalida 
* 

http://ijojournals.com/ Volume 06 Issue 12 || Dec., 2023 || 

Social culture of the schizophrenic patient in Algerian society 

 

 

 

paranoïdes (because of the disturbances that the traditional society knows 

as a result of the shift towards modern life, and the category that is more 

vulnerable to this type of high Singles are affected in particular (65% for 

acute schizophrenia and 78% for chronic schizophrenia) disorders, as it is 

noted that 56% of them suffer from acute schizophrenia and 48% from 

chronic schizophrenia, which is a percentage. Most of them agree on the 

role of the cultural and social factor in its impact on the symptoms of this 

disorder and its clinical characteristics (Ben Abdullah Mohamed 2010, pp. 

165-168) 13-1 - Clinical characteristics of the phenomenon of 

schizophrenia in the Maghreb society. Among these clinical 

characteristics that The phenomenon of schizophrenia in the Arab 

Maghreb is characterized by many previous studies, to the dominance of 

delirium, persecution, poisoning, witchcraft and possession by the jinn, to 

religious, cosmic and political implications, to physical complaints and 

other symptoms that spread in the phenomenon of hysteria. The cyclical 

forms and the Hébéphénique forms for women and the paranoïdes for 

men, but in contrast the schizophrenic cases of the stuporous and African 

catatonic type are rare and are imprinted with strange features that give 

them relative privacy. These delusional thoughts, which are dominated by 

the element of persecution, appear catatonique, characteristic of 

psychiatry Chapter II Psychosis 99 in the view of Christof with a variety 

of sensory-motor reactions that include cases of calm as well as cases of 

agitation and a few cases of illness with ideas of paranoia. (Ben Abdullah 

Mohammed 2010). 

usurpation, impulsiveness, aggressiveness, and the dominance of 

paranoïdes delirious ideas that are sometimes associated with a class that 

discovers that the clinical characteristics of schizophrenia in Moroccan 

society are related to the prevailing cultural meaning in society, and this 

delirium is nothing but a disconnection from cultural reality, and 

therefore even The delusions of the schizophrenic mental patient are 

linked to the prevailing socio-cultural perceptions. ......All of them are in 

our well-established culture, relatives, and we find it common among 

women, and this same cultural given is prevalent in society, even the 

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IJO - INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEALTH SCIENCES AND NURSING  

( ISSN: 2814-2098 )                                                                                                                         Meliouh Khalida 
* 

http://ijojournals.com/ Volume 06 Issue 12 || Dec., 2023 || 

Social culture of the schizophrenic patient in Algerian society 

 

 

 

patient is affected and affected, as Abdul Latif 2009 confirms that the 

symptoms of schizophrenia are strange. We find him suffering from 

auditory hallucinations of voices speaking to him, and the charlatans find 

them the opportunity 

They interpret many mental illnesses as being attributed to natural 

powers such as witchcraft, the evil eye, and possessed by demons, and all 

these persecutory thoughts are attached to women because they only have 

this means to influence the family and society, and thus influence the 

behavior of men, as the concept of illness is especially mental. It varies 

according to culture, and this difference lies in the form of this disease 

and its connection to reality, and the condition of the mentally ill in 

Algerian society is the result of a "fit" or magic that causes harm to 

others, and is seen as disruption and threatening insults and insults, and 

sometimes stoning at the hands of child gangs. For society, the life of the 

mentally ill in urban cities is a physiological life that is characterized by 

misery, especially those who suffer from what has been said about the 

clinical characteristics of the schizoid phenomenon. Even the patient does 

not leave him to live a normal life. If he enters a mental hospital, he is 

stigmatized as insane, or what is colloquially called insane, and when he 

goes out into the street, children stone him with stones and run after him, 

and people and friends turn away from him. The case that aroused the 

researcher's attention is that a patient entered the mental institution 

with a group of very strange behaviors, from molding his thoughts and 

neglecting his hygiene. Chapter 2 Psychosis 103 He talks to himself a lot 

as a result of auditory hallucinations and a group of delusions, and he was 

diagnosed as schizophrenic. 

 

 

 

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IJO - INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEALTH SCIENCES AND NURSING  

( ISSN: 2814-2098 )                                                                                                                         Meliouh Khalida 
* 

http://ijojournals.com/ Volume 06 Issue 12 || Dec., 2023 || 

Social culture of the schizophrenic patient in Algerian society 

 

 

 

2 Culture of Psychological and Mental Pathology in Algerian 

Society: 

Culture is one of the concepts, perceptions and terminology through which 

the subject is transferred to the mind so that it is judged by the latter and 

prepares a set of different behaviors and practices from one group to 

another and from one place to another, and one person may differ in the 

same group from the other. Today's culture refers to a set of knowledge 

acquired that enables the individual to develop a critical spirit and 

judgement ability as well as all individual and collective behaviours as 

well as customs and traditions. With the addition of both tools of work 

and production, it is the centre that encompasses knowledge, beliefs, arts, 

morals, laws, abilities and qualities acquired by man as a member of 

society. Therefore, the influence of cultural beliefs coincides with all 

stages of human life and development through social and family 

upbringing and other accumulated experiences that affect ideas and 

beliefs that lead to different kinds of behaviour in the individual 

associated with his emotions and emotions And his perceptions, which he 

acquires over the ages through oral transmission, greatly contribute to 

the crystallization of his character. 

Culture and personality are among the most important subjects in 

anthropological research in general and anthropology in particular The 

latter is characterized by many wrong  practices that may bring the 

individual to turmoil. This illustrates the role that culture plays and its 

apparent influence in instilling the wrong ideas, values, principles and 

beliefs of every societal pattern, This explains the apparent difference 

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IJO - INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEALTH SCIENCES AND NURSING  

( ISSN: 2814-2098 )                                                                                                                         Meliouh Khalida 
* 

http://ijojournals.com/ Volume 06 Issue 12 || Dec., 2023 || 

Social culture of the schizophrenic patient in Algerian society 

 

 

 

between them and the impact on the composition of the components and 

specificity of the personality and its determinants. Many people, 

especially Algerian society, enjoy a broad culture and tend to have 

metaphysical interpretations, i.e., to rely on supernatural forces in the 

interpretation of psychiatric and mental illnesses. 

These behaviours were the result of misinterpretations dominating 

people's minds. Ideas about psychiatric and mental illnesses have been 

linked in their causes and symptoms, especially in Eastern societies, to 

the punishment of their sins or as a result of the influence of hidden forces 

of evil, such as witchcraft, envy and the eye. Culture is therefore directly 

responsible for defining individual insights and perceptions of psychiatric 

and mental illnesses. so that in some explanations gin and its touching is 

an inescapable fact that it has the mind or part of it, which makes them 

worse. The trend in psychiatric and mental illnesses tended to be 

superstitious methods of treatment by priests with prayers,spells And 

cleansing rituals. From psychological and mental illnesses, we refer to the 

schizophrenia that has been interpreted. To Both Jealousy.envy, magic is 

the cause of the emergence of some psychotic disorders, this is what made 

social diversity that can expose individuals to schizophrenia become 

acceptable to many Bloke researchers. Faris, Cooper, Sullivan, Kaplan, 

Palmer all believe that schizophrenia is a rare condition and even missing 

in coherent societies that have poor contact with Western societies or are 

characterized by solid family ties, tolerance and compassion trends, and 

Devereux remains the first researcher with great interest "The social 

theory of schizophrenia" or so-called "ethnic psychosis". The existence of 

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IJO - INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEALTH SCIENCES AND NURSING  

( ISSN: 2814-2098 )                                                                                                                         Meliouh Khalida 
* 

http://ijojournals.com/ Volume 06 Issue 12 || Dec., 2023 || 

Social culture of the schizophrenic patient in Algerian society 

 

 

 

schizophrenia or the absence of schizophrenia in traditional societies 

described as primitive appears to be linked to the evolution of culture in 

these societies, as the prevalence of schizophrenia is largely related in 

many regions of Africa, India and elsewhere. 

3-Cultural perception of schizophrenia in Algerian society: 

Bospsey explains the clinical characteristics of schizophrenia by the 

dominance of oppressive subjects in rave episodes of the process of 

interpretation associated with traditional perceptions prevailing in 

Maghreb society that attribute each disorder, every injury and every pain 

to others, as well as the group's method of taking care of the individual 

early and permanently from birth to death hence, mental disorder can 

only be perceived as a result of external assault or punishment due to an 

individual's excess of the prohibitions. (Mahfoud . B 1978  ) 

Conclusion : 

From what has been said in the clinical characteristics of the 

schizophrenia phenomenon, it is clear that in the Arab society in general, 

it suffers from ostracism and deprivation. and not understanding the 

meaning of disease, especially in our Algerian society, and linking it to 

popular beliefs such as witchcraft, juggling and touching of gin and devil, 

even the patient does not let him live a normal life, If he enters the 

psychiatric hospital with a stigmatization of the crazy, or so-called vaginal 

colloquialism, When he comes out on the street, the children translate 

him with stones and run him behind him. And people and friends keep 

their distance from him, by contacting the researcher with two mental 

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IJO - INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEALTH SCIENCES AND NURSING  

( ISSN: 2814-2098 )                                                                                                                         Meliouh Khalida 
* 

http://ijojournals.com/ Volume 06 Issue 12 || Dec., 2023 || 

Social culture of the schizophrenic patient in Algerian society 

 

 

 

patients in the interest of mental illness with diligence. s attention ", the 

case raised by the researcher was that a patient had entered mental 

health with a range of very strange behaviours of stereotyping and neglect 

of his hygiene. 

 

Bibliography : 

Abdul Latif Hussein Faraj (2009): psychiatric disorders (fear, anxiety, 

stress, psychiatric illnesses of children), B 'T, Dar Hamid, Amman, 

Jordan. 

Amadorx (2007):how to make the patient accept his treatment -

schizophrenia and bipolar disorder French translation:Dr P.klotzet 

DrY.Hodé.Paris. 

- Bin Abdallah Mohamed (2010): Psychopathology of Moroccan 

personality, P. T., Algiers University Publications Office, Algeria. 

Favord . JMaties . A(2012):Recovering from schizophrenia;Elsevier 

Maison S.A.S Lausanne.Switzerland. 

Mahfoud Boucebci (1978) : Psychiatric society and development2nd 

edition, national publishing and dissemination company, algiers . 

Tobin . C (1994): Schizophrenia in the Daily Life,,Editionodile Jacob,Paris 

 

 

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