Bio-Psycho-Social model ... "Outside the Asylum"

"In Sierra Leone the Krio word for sadness is 'poil-heart'. The literal translation is 'heavy-hearted'. A teenage girl explained it to me.

Outside the Asylum

'Someone who is poil-heart is in a group but she's withdrawn from it, she suffers from something and does not pay attention. If she has a baby she is confused and can neglect the baby. When she or he imagines what happened, she cries all day and cannot sleep or eat. She tries to work but it's no good. When she is at school her concentration is poor.' ...

Families lived in the ruins of their former houses. Life expectancy was less than thirty-five years. Almost every child in the group had lost at least one parent. ...

But none regarded feeling poil-heart, because of those experiences, as an 'illness'. It was a matter for friends or family, whose job it was to 'encourage' you.

The eloquent girl continued her explanation: 'If my friend was poil-heart I would go to her and talk to her to encourage her. If there was a football game I would encourage her to go. If lonely, I would ask her about her problems and exchange ideas. If she told me she could not sleep or was afraid, I would take her to my bed and share it. One would hear the problem, explain it and solve it.'

Nor did they confine themselves to individual solutions. The children were writing a play to educate people about the problems they faced. ... The drama was called All Is Not Lost." p.179-180.

Lynne Jones (2017) Outside the Asylum: A Memoir of War, Disaster and Humanitarian Psychiatry. London: W&N. ISBN 9781474605748. (Book cover image Amazon)

This isn't a review book but was a bargain in Waterstones (£6.99), Gower Street, London. I really wish the rail-strike situation was resolved. Waiting to visit again ... This is a great book too!!