As with any religious practice, faith is one of the core principles, and sometimes faith doesn’t cut off when dealing with a mental health problem. That doesn’t mean that faith-based doctors are always completely reliable. I once heard mention of a man who as a last resort to remove the demon in his head visited a temple with his healer to get his hair pulled! While many believe that faith healing can relieve stress, most also believe that any positive results end up being nothing more than a placebo effect.
Depression is a common mental disorder and, along with anxiety, is the leading cause of all non-fatal disease burdens worldwide. Currently, the treatment of depression is supported by antidepressants and various psychotherapeutic interventions. However, many patients experience side effects from antidepressants, while at the same time, access to psychotherapeutic interventions is limited. This is especially true for patients with moderate depression.
As a result many patients who suffer from depression turn to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), and often spiritual healing among these therapies. There is evidence that consulting a spiritual healer can be beneficial for patients with depression and that spiritual healing is associated with a low risk. The aim of some studies carried out is therefore to employ spiritual healing as a supplement to usual treatment versus providing usual care alone. This then prepares the way for a larger study in adults with moderate depression to examine the individual’s feasibility and experience of spiritual healing. These studies determined the role of Faith Healers in managing psychiatric conditions by looking at what percentage of patients who visit these healers for help and looking at some relevant factors.
Trice and Bjork note in their study of Pentecostal perspectives on depression that belief in divine healing was a central tenet of faith and practice. At the same time, faith healers have built a trust in families and individuals that city organizations may not inherently have. Kar notes that two-thirds of people with mental illness and their families firmly believe in the supernatural etiology of mental illness and consult with traditional healers before seeking formal biomedical psychiatric treatment.
Faith healing is prevalent in Iraq to the extent that faith healers may overtake the role of psychiatrists in treating mental illness.
But faith-based practices are still the main source of healing for many communities internationally today. Spiritual healing consists mainly of a treatment in which healers hold their hands for some time at different parts of the patient’s body, known as power points, outside the patient’s clothing. Those who believe in it argue that scientific thinking is too linear and too limited to explain what is going on with faith healing..
Research also shows that people with strong faith in faith healers are less likely to take prescribed medications and are more likely to express dissatisfaction with their family doctor.
With regard to Ghana, it has been observed that over the past 30 years, there has been a perception that Christian healers and prayer camps have grown exponentially. Instead of treating specific diagnostic groups, these healers divided patients according to symptoms and cause.
The healers are trained as healers and are members of the Norwegian healers’ association (Norges Healerforbund). However, there is evidence that seeking help from traditional healers in Africa can result in significant delays in accessing formal mental health services. About a quarter of patients were treated with harmful exorcism methods, such as frequent bumping with the healer’s baton, hard poking or cruel banging all over, hitting with a stick, or hitting or hitting the patient’s head against the wall to get the “djinn” out.
I am happy to report far more subtle and less physically harmful methods exist for the clearing of toxic energies than can oppress an individual and lead to physical/mental ailments. Get in touch if you feel you need help in this area.
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Eamon Mc Grenaghan has been helping people heal from all forms of emotional and physical ailments since late 2015. His unique gift of Spiritual Insight and understanding of ancient healing techniques allows Eamon to heal from a distance through the quantum field.
Formerly an IT freelancer, Eamon now assists the spiritually aware awaken and tap into their own Divine essence. Your innate spiritual gifts and psychic abilities will be reignited for the purpose of lifting humanity to a higher level of consciousness.