Hlengwa, N.: A Southern African-centered account of mental disorder

_Inkanyiso_ 18 (1). 2026In this article, the author propose and argue for a Southern African-centred account of mental disorder that defines this mental condition in both evaluative and causal terms. It argues that mental illness must be understood through value judgements and primary causal factors. According to this account, for a condition to qualify as a mental disorder, it must meet three individually necessary and together sufficient criteria: (1) it must affect the mental state of an indi