Humoral concepts of mental illness in India

Mitchell G. Weiss, Amit Desai, Sushrut Jadhav, Lalit Gupta, S.M. Channabasavanna, D.R. Doongaji and Prakash B. Behere

Social Science & Medicine, 1988, vol. 27, issue 5, 471-477

Abstract: Based on interviews with patients at three allopathic psychiatric clinics in Bombay, Bangalore and Varanasi, employing a preliminary version of the Explanatory Model Interview for Classification (EMIC) to elicit indigenous explanations of illness and patterns of prior help seeking, we discuss popular humoral theories of mental disorder. Even though most laypersons are unfamiliar with the content of the classical treatises of Ayurveda, the humoral traditions which they represent influence current perceptions. Case vignettes clarify the nature of the relationship between cultural, familial and personal factors that influence the experience of illness.

Keywords: humoral; medicine; Ayurveda; India; ethnopsychiatry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1988
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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