Role of Faith Healing in Mental Health Care

On 12 November, BALM organised a seminar on ‘Role of Faith Healing in Mental Health Care’.

India has a rich history of treatment of mental illnesses in traditional spiritual practices. Durgahs, temples and churches are just a few examples of places where people seek cure for various ailments. In addition to these remedies rooted in religion, there are several ancient medicine systems such as Ayurveda, Siddha and Homeopathy that provide treatment.

Faith healing has been used extensively in India as a method of treatment of mental illness, especially in rural areas. Even though there might be no direct scientific proof for the effectiveness of faith healing, anecdotal evidence suggests that certain people benefit from faith healing, either in conjunction with allopathic medication or without.

Several factors contribute to people resorting to faith healing as a means of psychiatric treatment. To begin with there is complete lack of awareness of mental illness being a treatable illness esp. in rural India and even where there is, there is a severe shortage of professional psychiatrists in the rural areas1, compelling people to access treatment by ‘faith-healing’ methods.

Despite this however, faith healing is not always the last resort after seeking psychiatric treatment. It very often precedes other forms of treatment, since faith healing as a means of treatment is rooted in India’s cultural tradition and offers both reason and treatment for psychiatric ailments. This explains why faith healing is not just accessed by those in rural areas, but by the average urban Indian as well.

Against this background, BALM organised a one day deliberation on ‘The Role of Faith Healing in Psychiatry.’ The seminar provided a platform to a wide range of opinions and experiences on faith healing.

For a report on the seminar, click here