Brain Fag: A Case Study Showing the Diagnosis and Therapy in Nigeria

The co-occurrence of somatic complaints along with other forms of mental illness such as depression, anxiety and brain fag is well documented in mental health literature. In Africa, the notion that somatic complaints are a variant of depression is popular. However objective empirical efforts to prove this notion are inconclusive. The common co-occurrence of somatic complaints along with depression, anxiety and brain fag complaints in Nigeria may put clinicians in a dilemma in making diagnostic and therapeutic decisions for their clients. In this paper the authors applied the Harmony Restoration Therapy (HRT) in the management of somatic, depressive, anxiety and brain fag symptoms of a client. The HRT is a psychotherapeutic framework based on the Africa world view of health and illness where health is harmony and illness is disharmony in one’s world of relationships. The case was used to illustrate the co-morbidity of depression, anxiety, somatization and Brain Fag and tries to contribute to how Brain Fag can be treated.