Development of The Harmony Restoration Measurement Scale (Cosmogram) Part 1

Abstract

Literature on concepts of mental illness South of the Sahara was reviewed and summarized by Ebigbo thus: a healthy individual is one, who is in harmony or at peace with his world of relationships (Cosmos). If s/he is in disharmony with his/her world there is illness, in which case restoration of harmony therefore would also restores health. On the basis of this understanding Harmony Restoration Therapy was conceptualized. The process of restoring the harmony in the world of an ill person is called Harmony Restoration Therapy. The diagrammatic presentation of a person’s world of relationship is called cosmogram. In this process an individual’s world is divided into Enodcosmos (Mind/Body), Mesocosmos (significant others) and Exocosmos (ancestor, spirits, God, gods). This study presents an effort to generate items to measure the cosmos of an individual in Nigeria (Igbo). Using a sample of 346 Nigerian subjects comprising normals 246 subjects in Enugu and 100 mentally ill outpatients of the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric hospital Enugu, Nigeria, it was found that the scale showed high internal consistency in the various subscales and overall the scale is able to discriminate normals from mentally ill {t-test for equality of means sig (2 tailed)=.001 at p=.001<.05}. Other interesting findings as to the significance of the subscales were discussed. The authors described this as a pioneer work that needs more follow up.

Keywords: Indigenization, Harmony-Restoration, Cosmogram, Psychotherapy, Cosmos (Endocosmos, Mesocosmos and Exocosmos)