In Sudan there are many barriers to mental health service utilisation. The most significant relate to stigma, lack of knowledge of illnesses and their treatability, as well as financial constraints. Each of these barriers affects the availability, accessibility and efficiency of mental health identification, diagnosis and treatment.
For cultural barriers, Sudanese society has stereotyped views about mental illness and how it can affect people. Culture perpetuates harmful stigmas surrounding mental health and wellbeing, often leading to discrimination and the social isolation of affected individuals. For men, chronic mental illness often leads to an inability to maintain work, stymieing the ability to marry, afford food, and live constructively. For women, struggling with mental illness can lead to their family restricting their social presence and diminishing their opportunity to marry. Children in particular often face widespread abuse and neglect. The negative stigmas attached to mental illness likely prevent many individuals from seeking medical assistance.
Moreover, mental health needs are consequently deprioritised, especially for poorer, rural, and marginalised groups without access to private provision. These groups are likely to try and hide their mental illness, or to treat it using traditional techniques that increase social isolation and stigma.