JUDY WOODRUFF: Next: bridging the gap between science and spirituality to treat mental illness in India. <\/p>\n
Fred de Sam Lazaro has this report, part of our Agents for Change series. It also aired on the PBS program Religion & Ethics Newsweekly. <\/p>\n
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: This tomb of an Islamic figure revered here in western India martyred 500 years ago has long been a pilgrimage destination. <\/p>\n
Thousands of faithful not just Muslims, but also Hindus, Christians, Sikhs and others from across India come here each day to pray for a blessing or a miracle: couples unable to conceive, people suffering from various maladies. Its also the closest thing for many Indians to a mental health facility. <\/p>\n
It is a taboo subject, the stigma especially hard on families of people with mental illness, treated as a curse, a demonic possession or karma for misdeeds in a past life. <\/p>\n
Sayyad Varis Ali is a trustee of this shrine. <\/p>\n
SAYYAD VARIS ALI, (through interpreter): The people who come here with mental illness, they have tried everything else and they have not gotten any relief. And finally this is the place that they come to, they come here to pray. <\/p>\n
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: At this shrine, dozens of faith healers called kadims (ph) recite prayers while patients perform rituals: breathing in smoke from incense burned at the tomb, walking around this dome seven times. <\/p>\n
The numbers in India are simply staggering. There are thought to be about 100 million people with common mental disorders and up to 20 million with severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia. For all of them, there are just 5,000 psychiatrists in this country. <\/p>\n
So faith healers from across Indias diverse religious mosaic have long filled the gap, says Milesh Hamlai, a well-known mental health advocate. <\/p>\n
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Treating mental illness with medicine and religion in India<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" JUDY WOODRUFF: Next: bridging the gap between science and spirituality to treat mental illness in India. Continue reading