Spiritual Psychiatries: Mental Health Practices in India and UK

In an increasingly global public health arena, migrant populations feel they receive poor access to mental health services due to cultural misunderstandings, and this may lead to provider and patient frustration. Through extensive fieldwork, British medical anthropologist Dr. Natalie Tobert explores Indian spirituality and traditional medical and religious practices. The result of her meticulous research, Spiritual Psychiatries, provides a fresh blueprint for improving western understanding of mental health and the human condition.

Tobert's comprehensive research spans the Indian subcontinent, from Pondicherry to Calcutta. Using evidence from forty in-depth personal interviews, she introduces philosophies of medical practitioners, Hindu, Muslim and Christian clergy, mental health patients, and clairvoyants. She discovers profound beliefs at the crossroads between spirituality and mental health, and realizes treatments deemed superstitious or out-of-date by western standards are current and can have surprisingly positive results.

Tobert's analysis of Indian spirituality and traditional practices will support medical practitioners, educators, policymakers, and patients to open the door to a more holistic view of psychiatric treatment. In a style reminiscent of noted scholars like Anne Fadiman or Cecil Helman, Spiritual Psychiatries brings previously ignored beliefs about human existential realities and practices into the mainstream global public health dialogue. In order to improve patient care in an increasingly interconnected global community, effective treatment must address deeply held cultural and spiritual beliefs.