A Hindu middle-class woman named Madhavi, has shared her tough experience of living with anxiety and depression.
It is her disappointment in the efficacy of common psychiatric drugs that make her narrate this.
Madhavi had to travel for six hours from Delhi in the company of her husband Raj trying to find comfort in a famous Sufi shrine in Badaun, Uttar Pradesh.
Madhavi felt an extraordinary sense of relief inside this sacred Sufi shrine, something she could not get through all conventional therapies.
This sad account shows how complicated is the global mental health problem which cannot be fully addressed even after many years.
Cases like that of Madhavi are crucial for understanding what makes mental healthcare so intricate.
The ‘Outcomes Paradox’ and Alternative Explanations
This phenomenon known as the ‘outcomes paradox’ finds its roots in studies conducted by World Health Organization during the late 1960s.
These studies showed that developing countries with weak psychiatric services had better long-term outcomes for severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia.
One attempt to explain it was based on symptoms being perceived as less threatening in ‘spirit-infused cultures.’
This would therefore reduce need for professional psychiatric intervention. Nonetheless, anthropologists disagree with this view, arguing that symptoms like hallucinations and mood variations cause fear and uncertainty in these societies thus making people seek medical help.
Another perspective is that these cultures contain forms of mental illness not included in mainstream psychiatric diagnostic manuals.
The concept of ‘asrat’ among Sufis exemplifies this idea as it refers to a disorder transmissible between individuals.
Unlike traditional biomedical ideas about psychiatric illnesses, an asrat usually begins within close family relationships or households.
Here Madhavi associates her sickness to a dispute over property with her brother-in-law’s family which is a common origin for asrati.
Shrine-Based Healing and its Significance
Mental distress is often eased at shrines such as Badaun where people find solace. As opposed to India’s meager psychological infrastructure, these Sufi shrines have been described as integrated spaces where patients can be housed communally.
However, such practices in these shrines look like treatments given in Hindu temples since they also emphasize shared rituals around ‘cooling’ water, amulets as well as trance-like states.
The Role of Sufi Healers and Their Impact
For instance, local-based Sufi healers such as Sufi-ji in East Delhi are mediators between conventional psychiatric treatments and shrine-based healing.
Their methods are similar to those practiced at Sufi shrines and Hindu temples, drawing huge numbers of patients who seek mental ailment relief.
Strangely, some psychiatrists condone these non-traditional methods of healing as evidenced in research by the mental health research institution on significant improvements among treatment seekers at a temple in Tamil Nadu.
Understanding Healing Mechanisms in Sufi Shrines
The concept of healing for mental illness within Sufi shrines is tuned to subjective and inter-subjective dimensions.
Ritual objects such as amulets and incense allow for containment of symptoms so that they do not get out of control.
Equally important, these practices often produce a sense of resonance within individuals and around their social networks, which supports the idea that healing comes from an attunement between oneself or others.
Perspectives on Spiritual Healing
According to analysts who refer to them as folk psychotherapies, these spiritual healing practices have been in existence for centuries.
Its 812th years celebration sheds light on the long history of the Badaun shrine as a place of healing contrasting with psychotherapy and psychiatry which are relatively new treatment modalities for such ailments as asrat.
From the viewpoint of Badaun, psychotherapy and psychiatry seem to have a limited knowledge on the treatment of asrat compared to holistic healing practices that are embedded in Sufi shrines.