Effectiveness of traditional healers in treating mental disorders: A systematic review

The Lancet Psychiatry

Volumn 3, Issue 2, 2016, Pages 154-170

  Nortje, Gareth ^a   Oladeji, Bibilola ^b   Gureje, Oye ^b   Seedat, Soraya ^a  

^a STELLENBOSCH UNIVERSITY   (South Africa)

^b UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN   (Nigeria)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ANXIETY; AYURVEDA; BIPOLAR DISORDER; CLINICAL EFFECTIVENESS; CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY; DELUSION; DEPRESSION; DISTRESS SYNDROME; EVIDENCE BASED PRACTICE; GENERAL PRACTITIONER; HUMAN; INDIA; INDONESIA; MALAWI; MENTAL DISEASE; MENTAL HEALTH; MENTAL HEALTH CARE; MEXICO; OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER; PAKISTAN; PATIENT SATISFACTION; PRIMARY MEDICAL CARE; PSYCHIATRIC TREATMENT; PSYCHOTHERAPY; QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS; RATING SCALE; RELAPSE; RELIGION; RELIGIOUS HEALING; REVIEW; RITUAL; SCHIZOPHRENIA; SHAMAN; SINGAPORE; SOLOMON ISLANDS; SPIRITUALIST; SUDAN; SYSTEMATIC REVIEW; TAIWAN; TRADITIONAL HEALER; TRADITIONAL MEDICINE; TREATMENT OUTCOME; UGANDA; UNITED STATES; WITCHCRAFT; ZIMBABWE; MENTAL DISORDERS; RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL (TOPIC);

HUMANS; MEDICINE, TRADITIONAL; MENTAL DISORDERS; RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS AS TOPIC; TREATMENT OUTCOME;

EID: 84957380954     PISSN: 22150366     EISSN: 22150374     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/S2215-0366(15)00515-5     Document Type: Review

References (106)

1. Alem A, Jacobsson L, Araya M, Kebede D, Kullgren G How are mental disorders seen and where is help sought in a rural Ethiopian community? A key informant study in Butajira, Ethiopia. Acta Psychiatr Scand Suppl 1999, 397:40-47.
2. Familiar I, Sharma S, Ndayisaba H, Munyentwari N, Sibomana S, Bass JK Community perceptions of mental distress in a post-conflict setting: a qualitative study in Burundi. Glob Public Health 2013, 8:943-957.
3. Galabuzi C, Agea JG, Fungo BL, Kamoga RMN Traditional medicine as an alternative form of health care system: a preliminary case study of Nangabo sub-county, central Uganda. Afr J Tradit Complement Altern Med 2010, 7:11-16.
4. Girma E, Tesfaye M Patterns of treatment seeking behavior for mental illnesses in Southwest Ethiopia: a hospital based study. BMC Psychiatry 2011, 11:138.
5. Kapur RL The role of traditional healers in mental health care in rural India. Soc Sci Med Med Anthropol 1979, 13B:27-31.
6. Khan TM, Sulaiman SAS, Hassali MA, Anwar M, Wasif G, Khan AH Community knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs towards depression in the state of Penang, Malaysia. Community Ment Health J 2010, 46:87-92.
7. Kurihara T, Kato M, Reverger R, Tirta IGR Pathway to psychiatric care in Bali. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2006, 60:204-210.
8. Latypov A Healers and psychiatrists: the transformation of mental health care in tajikistan. Transcult Psychiatry 2010, 47:419-451.
9. Makanjuola AB, Adelekan ML, Morakinyo O Current status of traditional mental health practice in Ilorin Emirate Council area, Kwara State, Nigeria. West Afr J Med 2000, 19:43-49.
10. Mbwayo AW, Ndetei DM, Mutiso V, Khasakhala LI Traditional healers and provision of mental health services in cosmopolitan informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya. Afr J Psychiatry 2013, 16:134-140.
11. Razali SM Complementary treatment of mental illness in Southeast Asia. Int Med J 2000, 7:189-191.
12. Salan R, Maretzki T Mental health services and traditional healing in Indonesia: are the roles compatible?. Cult Med Psychiatry 1983, 7:377-412.
13. Varghese KJ, Gopal B, Thomas TM Revisiting psychotherapeutic practices in Karnataka, India: lessons from indigenous healing methods. Int J Health Promot Educ 2011, 49:128-136.
14. Wig NN, Suleiman MA, Routledge R, et al. Community reactions to mental disorders. A key informant study in three developing countries. Acta Psychiatr Scand 1980, 61:111-126.
15. General guidelines for methodologies on research and evaluation of traditional medicine WHO, (accessed April 13, 2014). http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2000/WHO_EDM_TRM_2000.1.pdf.
16. Bhikha AG, Farooq S, Chaudhry N, Husain N A systematic review of explanatory models of illness for psychosis in developing countries. Int Rev Psychiatry 2012, 24:450-462.
17. Farooqi YN Traditional healing practices sought by Muslim psychiatric patients in Lahore, Pakistan. Int J Disabil Dev Educ 2006, 53:401-415.
18. Gadit AA Shamanic concepts and treatment of mental illness in Pakistan. J Coll Physicians Surg Pak 1998, 8:33-35.
19. Beals J, Novins DK, Whitesell NR, Spicer P, Mitchell CM, Manson SM Prevalence of mental disorders and utilization of mental health services in two American Indian reservation populations: mental health disparities in a national context. Am J Psychiatry 2005, 162:1723-1732.
20. Hartmann WE, Gone JP Incorporating traditional healing into an urban American Indian health organization: a case study of community member perspectives. J Couns Psychol 2012, 59:542-554.
21. Walls ML, Johnson KD, Whitbeck LB, Hoyt DR Mental health and substance abuse services preferences among American Indian people of the northern Midwest. Community Ment Health J 2006, 42:521-535.
22. Lin TY Psychiatry and Chinese culture. West J Med 1983, 139:862-867.
23. Furnham A, Raja N, Khan UA A cross-cultural comparison of British and Pakistani medical students' understanding of schizophrenia. Psychiatry Res 2008, 159:308-319.
24. Dein S, Alexander M, Napier AD Jinn, psychiatry and contested notions of misfortune among east London Bangladeshis. Transcult Psychiatry 2008, 45:31-55.
25. Assion HJ, Dana I, Heinemann F Folk medical practices in psychiatric patients of Turkish origin in Germany. Fortschr Neurol Psychiatr 1999, 67:12-20. [in German].
26. Padilla R, Gomez V, Biggerstaff SL, Mehler PS Use of curanderismo in a public health care system. Arch Intern Med 2001, 161:1336-1340.
27. Buchwald D, Panwala S, Hooton TM Use of traditional health practices by Southeast Asian refugees in a primary care clinic. West J Med 1992, 156:507-511.
28. Khalifa N, Hardie T Possession and jinn. J R Soc Med 2005, 98:351-353.
29. Demyttenaere K, Bruffaerts R, Posada-Villa J, et al. Prevalence, severity, and unmet need for treatment of mental disorders in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys. JAMA 2004, 291:2581-2590. the WHO World Mental Health Survey Consortium.
30. Ae-Ngibise K, Cooper S, Adiibokah E, Akpalu B, Lund C, Doku V 'Whether you like it or not people with mental problems are going to go to them': a qualitative exploration into the widespread use of traditional and faith healers in the provision of mental health care in Ghana. Int Rev Psychiatry 2010, 22:558-567. the Mhapp Research Programme Consortium.
31. Sorsdahl K, Stein DJ, Flisher AJ Traditional healer attitudes and beliefs regarding referral of the mentally ill to Western doctors in South Africa. Transcult Psychiatry 2010, 47:591-609.
32. Durie M Maori knowledge and medical science: The interface between psychiatry and traditional healing in New Zealand. Psychiatrists and traditional healers: unwitting partners in global mental health 2009, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester. M. Incayawar, R. Wintrob, L. Bouchard (Eds.).
33. Sorsdahl K, Stein DJ, Flisher AJ Predicting referral practices of traditional healers of their patients with a mental illness: an application of the theory of planned behaviour. Afr J Psychiatry 2013, 16:35-40.
34. Macfarlane JE, Alpers MP Treatment-seeking behaviour among the Nasioi people of Bougainville: choosing between traditional and western medicine. Ethn Health 2009, 14:147-168.
35. Manson SM Mental health services for American Indians and Alaska Natives: need, use, and barriers to effective care. Can J Psychiatry 2000, 45:617-626.
36. Csordas TJ, Lewton E Practice, performance, and experience in ritual healing. Transcult Psychiatry 1998, 35:435-512.
37. Csordas TJ, Storck MJ, Strauss M Diagnosis and distress in Navajo healing. J Nerv Ment Dis 2008, 196:585-596.
38. Portman TAA, Garrett MT Native American healing traditions. Int J Disabil Dev Educ 2006, 53:453-469.
39. Devisch R, Dimomfu L, Le Roy J, Crossman P A community-action intervention to improve medical care services in Kinshasa, Congo: mediating the realms of healers and physicians. in: applying health social science: best practice in the developing world 2001, Zed Books, London.
40. Finkler K Non-medical treatments and their outcomes. Cult Med Psychiatry 1980, 4:271-310.
41. Kirmayer LJ The cultural diversity of healing: meaning, metaphor and mechanism. Br Med Bull 2004, 69:33-48.
42. Patel V, Todd C, Winston M, et al. Outcome of common mental disorders in Harare, Zimbabwe. Br J Psychiatry 1998, 172:53-57.
43. Kleinman A Culture and depression. N Engl J Med 2004, 351:951-953.
44. Steel Z, Silove D, Giao NM, et al. International and indigenous diagnoses of mental disorder among Vietnamese living in Vietnam and Australia. Br J Psychiatry 2009, 194:326-333.
45. Incayawar M Efficacy of Quichua healers as psychiatric diagnosticians. Br J Psychiatry 2008, 192:390-391.
46. WHO traditional medicine strategy: 2014-2023 WHO, (accessed May 11, 2014). http://www.who.int/medicines/publications/traditional/trm_strategy14_23/en/.
47. Robertson BA Does the evidence support collaboration between psychiatry and traditional healers? Findings from three South African studies. S Afr Psychiatry Rev 2006, 9:87-90.
48. Cloninger CR The science of well-being: an integrated approach to mental health and its disorders. World Psychiatry 2006, 5:71-76.
49. Dixon M Does 'healing' benefit patients with chronic symptoms? A quasi-randomized trial in general practice. J R Soc Med 1998, 91:183-188.
50. Boelens PA, Reeves RR, Replogle WH, Koenig HG A randomized trial of the effect of prayer on depression and anxiety. Int J Psychiatry Med 2009, 39:377-392.
51. Mehl-Madrona LE Native American medicine in the treatment of chronic illness: developing an integrated program and evaluating its effectiveness. Altern Ther Health Med 1999, 5:36-44.
52. Halliburton M Finding a fit: psychiatric pluralism in south India and its implications for WHO studies of mental disorder. Transcult Psychiatry 2004, 41:80-98.
53. Hurst GA, Williams MG, King JE, Viken R Faith-based intervention in depression, anxiety, and other mental disturbances. South Med J 2008, 101:388-392.
54. Kleinman A, Gale JL Patients treated by physicians and folk healers: a comparative outcome study in Taiwan. Cult Med Psychiatry 1982, 6:405-423.
55. Koss JD Expectations and outcomes for patients given mental health care or spiritist healing in Puerto Rico. Am J Psychiatry 1987, 144:56-61.
56. Schiff JW, Moore K The impact of the sweat lodge ceremony on dimensions of well-being. Am Indian Alsk Native Ment Health Res 2006, 13:48-69.
57. Zacharias S Mexican Curanderismo as ethnopsychotherapy: a qualitative study on treatment practices, effectiveness, and mechanisms of change. Int J Disabil Dev Educ 2006, 53:381-400.
58. Mainguy B, Valenti Pickren M, Mehl-Madrona L Relationships between level of spiritual transformation and medical outcome. Adv Mind Body Med 2013, 27:4-11.
59. Peltzer K, Machleidt W A traditional (African) approach towards the therapy of schizophrenia and its comparison with western models. Ther Communities 1992, 13:229-242.
60. Wirth DP The significance of belief and expectancy within the spiritual healing encounter. Soc Sci Med 1995, 41:249-260.
61. Kleinman A, Sung LH Why do indigenous practitioners successfully heal?. Soc Sci Med 1979, 13B:7-26.
62. Lee B-O, Kirmayer LJ, Groleau D Therapeutic processes and perceived helpfulness of dang-ki (Chinese shamanism) from the symbolic healing perspective. Cult Med Psychiatry 2010, 34:56-105.
63. Abbo C, Okello ES, Musisi S, Waako P, Ekblad S Naturalistic outcome of treatment of psychosis by traditional healers in Jinja and Iganga districts, Eastern Uganda - a 3- and 6 months follow up. Int J Ment Health Syst 2012, 6:13.
64. Sorketti EA, Zainal NZ, Habil MH The treatment outcome of psychotic disorders by traditional healers in central Sudan. Int J Soc Psychiatry 2013, 59:365-376.
65. Harding T Psychosis in a rural West African community. Soc Psychiatry 1973, 8:198-203.
66. Boelens PA, Reeves RR, Replogle WH, Koenig HG The effect of prayer on depression and anxiety: maintenance of positive influence one year after prayer intervention. Int J Psychiatry Med 2012, 43:85-98.
67. Lemelson RB Traditional healing and its discontents: efficacy and traditional therapies of neuropsychiatric disorders in Bali. Med Anthropol Q 2004, 18:48-76.
68. Salib E, Youakim S Spiritual healing in elderly psychiatric patients: a case-control study in an Egyptian psychiatric hospital. Aging Ment Health 2001, 5:366-370.
69. Mirza I, Mujtaba M, Chaudhry H, Jenkins R Primary mental health care in rural Punjab, Pakistan: providers, and user perspectives of the effectiveness of treatments. Soc Sci Med 2006, 63:593-597.
70. Ensink K, Robertson B Patient and family experiences of psychiatric services and African indigenous healers. Transcult Psychiatry 1999, 36:23-43.
71. Bhana K Indian indigenous healers. S Afr Med J 1986, 70:221-223.
72. MacLaren D, Asugeni J, Asugeni R, Kekeubata E Incorporating sociocultural beliefs in mental health services in Kwaio, Solomon Islands. Australas Psychiatry 2009, 17(suppl 1):S125-S127.
73. Campion J, Bhugra D Experiences of religious healing in psychiatric patients in south India. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 1997, 32:215-221.
74. Salem MO, Saleh B, Yousef S, Sabri S Help-seeking behaviour of patients attending the psychiatric service in a sample of United Arab Emirates population. Int J Soc Psychiatry 2009, 55:141-148.
75. Raguram R, Venkateswaran A, Ramakrishna J, Weiss MG Traditional community resources for mental health: a report of temple healing from India. BMJ 2002, 325:38-40.
76. Hewson P, Rowold J, Sichler C, Walter W Are healing ceremonies useful for enhancing quality of life?. J Altern Complement Med 2014, 20:713-717. 10.1089/acm.2013.0248.
77. Barry CA The role of evidence in alternative medicine: contrasting biomedical and anthropological approaches. Soc Sci Med 2006, 62:2646-2657.
78. Reeves S, Kuper A, Hodges BD Qualitative research methodologies: ethnography. BMJ 2008, 337:a1020.
79. NICE Guidelines National Institute for Clinical Excellence, (accessed Nov 16, 2014). http://www.nice.org.uk.
80. Johansson P, Høglend P, Hersoug AG Therapeutic alliance mediates the effect of patient expectancy in dynamic psychotherapy. Br J Clin Psychol 2011, 50:283-297.
81. Frank JD, Frank JB Persuasion and healing: a comparative study of psychotherapy 1993, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
82. Krippner S Shamans as healers, counselors, and psychotherapists. Int J Transpers Stud 2012, 31:72-79.
83. Csordas TJ Elements of charismatic persuasion and healing. Med Anthropol Q 1988, 2:121-142.
84. Mehl-Madrona L What traditional indigenous elders say about cross-cultural mental health training. Explore (NY) 2009, 5:20-29.
85. Tangwa GB How not to compare Western scientific medicine with African traditional medicine. Dev World Bioeth 2007, 7:41-44.
86. Omonzejele PF African concepts of health, disease, and treatment: an ethical inquiry. Explore (NY) 2008, 4:120-126.
87. Craig P, Dieppe P, Macintyre S, Michie S, Nazareth I, Petticrew M Developing and evaluating complex interventions: the new Medical Research Council guidance. BMJ 2008, 337:a1655.
88. Haynes B Can it work? Does it work? Is it worth it? The testing of healthcare interventions is evolving. BMJ 1999, 319:652-653.
89. Seligman ME The effectiveness of psychotherapy. The Consumer Reports study. Am Psychol 1995, 50:965-974.
90. Howard L, Thornicroft G Patient preference randomised controlled trials in mental health research. Br J Psychiatry 2006, 188:303-304.
91. Kowalski CJ, Mrdjenovich AJ Patient preference clinical trials: why and when they will sometimes be preferred. Perspect Biol Med 2013, 56:18-35.
92. McMahon FJ, Insel TR Pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine in neuropsychiatry. Neuron 2012, 74:773-776.
93. Westen D, Novotny CM, Thompson-Brenner H The empirical status of empirically supported psychotherapies: assumptions, findings, and reporting in controlled clinical trials. Psychol Bull 2004, 130:631-663.
94. Gureje O, Nortje G, Makanjuola V, Oladeji BD, Seedat S, Jenkins R The role of global traditional and complementary systems of medicine in the treatment of mental health disorders. Lancet Psychiatry 2015, 2:168-177.
95. Helsel DG, Mochel M, Bauer R Shamans in a Hmong American community. J Altern Complement Med 2004, 10:933-938.
96. Al-Krenawi A, Graham JR Spirit possession and exorcism in the treatment of a bedouin psychiatric patient. Clin Soc Work J 1997, 25:211-222.
97. Sexton R, Stabbursvik EAB Healing in the Sámi North. Cult Med Psychiatry 2010, 34:571-589.
98. Patel V, Simunyu E, Gwanzura F The pathways to primary mental health care in high-density suburbs in Harare, Zimbabwe. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 1997, 32:97-103.
99. Saeed K, Gater R, Hussain A, Mubbashar M The prevalence, classification and treatment of mental disorders among attenders of native faith healers in rural Pakistan. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2000, 35:480-485.
100. Clarke K, Saville N, Bhandari B, et al. Understanding psychological distress among mothers in rural Nepal: a qualitative grounded theory exploration. BMC Psychiatry 2014, 14:60.
101. Kleinman A Concepts and a model for the comparison of medical systems as cultural systems. Soc Sci Med 1978, 12:85-95.
102. Finkler K Non-medical treatments and their outcomes. Part two: focus on adherents of spiritualism. Cult Med Psychiatry 1981, 5:65-103.
103. Stock R Traditional healers in rural Hausaland. GeoJournal 1981, 5:363-368.
104. Waldram JB Transformative and restorative processes: revisiting the question of efficacy of indigenous healing. Med Anthropol 2013, 32:191-207.
105. Bishop FL, Barlow F, Walker J, McDermott C, Lewith GT The development and validation of an outcome measure for spiritual healing: a mixed methods study. Psychother Psychosom 2010, 79:350-362.
106. Kaptchuk TJ The placebo effect in alternative medicine: can the performance of a healing ritual have clinical significance?. Ann Intern Med 2002, 136:817-825.