Abstract
Culture guides the individuals to live their lives according to the beliefs set by the people of that culture. In order to know about the cause of any illness, the combination of knowledge and culture is considered to be a powerful tool. The study aimed to see the cultural perceptions about mental illness in Jalalpur Pirwala. This study focused on the carers of mentally ill persons by observing their perceptions regarding the mentally ill person of their families. The subject of the research was 18-60 years old mentally ill persons. Data collection methods included observation, unstructured interviews with practitioners (spiritual healers/bhoopa), and in-depth interviews were conducted with caretakers of mentally ill persons, selected through snowball sampling. Findings showed that cultural beliefs regarding mental illness are related to supernatural or divine phenomena in which causes of mental illness are Allah’s will or punishment, witching, black magic, evil eye, curse or women’s fault.
Authors
1-Shagufta Hamid Ali Lecturer, Department of Anthropology, Pir Mehr Ali Shah, Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan.2-Altaf Ghanni Bhatti Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Punjab, Pakistan. 3-Abid Ghafoor Chaudhry Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Pir Mehr Ali Shah, Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan.
Keywords
Culture, Mental Illness, JalalpurPirwala, Spiritual Healer, Carers, Beliefs, Cultural Perception
DOI Number
10.31703/gssr.2021(VI-III).17
Page Nos
159 ‒ 167
Volume & Issue
VI - III
