There are more than a billion people living in India. Health officials estimate that 100 million have common mental disorders and up to 20 million suffer from severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia. And with only 5,000 psychiatrists in the country, there is a huge gap in mental health treatment that has traditionally been filled by faith healers.
In the past, prejudice and stigma have kept families from seeking treatment. Some communities treat mental illness as a curse or demonic possession.
The Mira Datar Dargah shrine in western India, located at the tomb of an Islamic figure,
draws
thousands of people from various religions, including Muslims, Hindus, Christians and Sikhs. Many are seeking help with personal problems.
After state mental health officials found “inhumane” conditions for mental health patients within the shrine, psychiatrists searched for answers that would work with the local community. The results is the Dawa-Dua program, that has set up clinics inside the shrine with the approval of the faith healers. Psychiatrists have also trained some faith healers to spot symptoms of common mental illnesses.
Now, they work together to treat a patient’s spiritual and physical needs at the program, which has treated about 16,000 patients so far.
It is important for psychiatrists to respect the faith healers’ process with patients and vice versa, according to Dr. Yathin Bhushan, a psychiatrist who works at the program.
Both approaches help patients, and in some cases simply visiting the shrine can produce some mental relief, according to Milesh Hamlai, a mental health advocate in India.
“I’m sure they really feel very good that there is some place where they can go off-load themselves,” he said. Hamlai hopes the model can be repeated throughout India and other developing countries.
Warm up questions
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Where is India?
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The population of India is more than three times the population of the United States. What are the benefits and drawbacks of having a population that big?
Critical thinking questions
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How might beliefs and training differ between psychiatrists and faith healers, and what sorts of challenges could this produce for them as well as for patients?
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How do we treat mental illness in this country?
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Why is it important to build the health care infrastructure in developing countries like India?
