'Religious marketing''and the appeal of prayer camps for the treatment of mental illness in the Gbêkê region (central Côte d'Ivoire)

In the Gbêkê region, prayer camps provide an alternative means of treating mental illness. As a Christian religious institution, prayer camps are both the first and last resort for people seeking treatment for so-called "spiritual" illnesses such as mental illness, given the lack of psychiatric care available in Côte d'Ivoire. However, thanks to their "religious marketing," the prayer camps in the Gbêkê region not only have a regional appeal, but also a national appeal. This study aims to understand religious marketing and its contribution to the attractiveness of prayer camps in the Gbêkê region. The results of this study are based on primary data from field surveys of 36 People Living with Mental Illness or Epilepsy (PVMME), their families, and interviews with the managers of 10 prayer camps in the Gbêkê region. The data collected covers the period from January to March 2019. From these analyses, it emerges that religious marketing at prayer camps obeys a pyramidal organization dominated by a pastor or prophet. Around 55% of PVMMEs reside in the prayer camps, even though they come from localities in the Gbêkê region. This does not prevent the prayer camps' national appeal, with 45% of patients coming from outside the Gbêkê region. It is important to remember that PVMME and their families living outside the Gbêkê region travel an average of 208 km to reach a prayer camp in the Gbêkê region. PVMME and their families are abandoning specialized structures in favor of prayer camps, even if accessibility and living conditions are difficult.