“Extraordinary Conditions” and Experiments with Collaboration in “Zones of Social Abandonment”. Mental Health Care between Psychiatry and Prayer Camps in Rural Ghana

This paper explores the points at which psychiatry and religious healing intersect in the ordinary experiences and practices of people suffering from mental disorders in rural southwestern Ghana. I look at “extraordinary conditions” of madness (εzεlε) and experiments with collaboration between practitioners in the Nzema area, and I argue that a key role is played by certain frequently overlooked material and socioeconomic aspects: in particular, psychopharmaceutical commodity chains, informal trade practices, and mechanisms of social abandonment