The Attribution of Mental Health Problems to Jinn: An Explorative Study in a Transcultural Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic
BackgroundAmong Muslim patients, a common cultural concept of distress is the notion that jinn may be the cause of mental health problems, especially in the presence of hallucinations.ObjectiveThis study examines the frequency with which this attribution style is manifest in a specific psychiatric o...
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doaj-b727200036814084a9f61e9e1d6d89352020-11-24T21:40:27ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychiatry1664-06402018-03-01910.3389/fpsyt.2018.00089330547The Attribution of Mental Health Problems to Jinn: An Explorative Study in a Transcultural Psychiatric Outpatient ClinicAnastasia Lim0Anastasia Lim1Anastasia Lim2Anastasia Lim3Hans W. Hoek4Hans W. Hoek5Hans W. Hoek6Hans W. Hoek7Samrad Ghane8Samrad Ghane9Mathijs Deen10Mathijs Deen11Jan Dirk Blom12Jan Dirk Blom13Jan Dirk Blom14i-psy Intercultural Psychiatry, Parnassia Psychiatric Institute, Utrecht, NetherlandsParnassia Academy, Parnassia Psychiatric Institute, The Hague, NetherlandsFaculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, NetherlandsDutch Institute of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology, Utrecht, Netherlandsi-psy Intercultural Psychiatry, Parnassia Psychiatric Institute, Utrecht, NetherlandsParnassia Academy, Parnassia Psychiatric Institute, The Hague, NetherlandsDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Groningen, Groningen, NetherlandsDepartment of Psychiatric Epidemiology, Columbia University, New York, NY, United Statesi-psy Intercultural Psychiatry, Parnassia Psychiatric Institute, Utrecht, NetherlandsArq Psychotrauma Expert Group, Equator Foundation, Diemen, NetherlandsParnassia Academy, Parnassia Psychiatric Institute, The Hague, NetherlandsFaculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, NetherlandsParnassia Academy, Parnassia Psychiatric Institute, The Hague, NetherlandsFaculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, NetherlandsDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Groningen, Groningen, NetherlandsBackgroundAmong Muslim patients, a common cultural concept of distress is the notion that jinn may be the cause of mental health problems, especially in the presence of hallucinations.ObjectiveThis study examines the frequency with which this attribution style is manifest in a specific psychiatric outpatient population with a Muslim background.MethodsOf all patients registered at an outpatient clinic specialized in transcultural psychiatry, data were collected on folk belief, religion, hallucinations (if present), and medical diagnosis. Through a search in the electronic medical files, the notes made during the first contact and first psychiatric examination were screened for the keywords “evil eye,” “magic,” “voodoo,” and “jinn.” In addition, new eligible cases were accepted.ResultsFrom all 551 patients thus screened, 118 were eligible for participation. Of these, 49 (41.5%) were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Among them, 21 (43%) were positive that their psychiatric symptoms were caused by jinn, whereas 13 (27%) thought not, and 15 (31%) were in doubt. No less than 87.2% had experienced hallucinations during their lives. Among the relatively large proportion of eligible patients who did not participate (58.5%), many expressed a fear for stigmatization or metaphysical repercussions if they spoke about jinn.ConclusionThe phenomenon of attributing mental health symptoms to jinn was much more common in this population of Muslim patients than previously assumed. This underscores the need for proper knowledge of Muslim explanatory models of disease and for the use of culturally sensitive interviewing techniques in this population.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00089/fullcultural concept of distresshallucinationidiom of distressIslamMuslim |
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DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Anastasia Lim Anastasia Lim Anastasia Lim Anastasia Lim Hans W. Hoek Hans W. Hoek Hans W. Hoek Hans W. Hoek Samrad Ghane Samrad Ghane Mathijs Deen Mathijs Deen Jan Dirk Blom Jan Dirk Blom Jan Dirk Blom |
spellingShingle |
Anastasia Lim Anastasia Lim Anastasia Lim Anastasia Lim Hans W. Hoek Hans W. Hoek Hans W. Hoek Hans W. Hoek Samrad Ghane Samrad Ghane Mathijs Deen Mathijs Deen Jan Dirk Blom Jan Dirk Blom Jan Dirk Blom The Attribution of Mental Health Problems to Jinn: An Explorative Study in a Transcultural Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic Frontiers in Psychiatry cultural concept of distress hallucination idiom of distress Islam Muslim |
author_facet |
Anastasia Lim Anastasia Lim Anastasia Lim Anastasia Lim Hans W. Hoek Hans W. Hoek Hans W. Hoek Hans W. Hoek Samrad Ghane Samrad Ghane Mathijs Deen Mathijs Deen Jan Dirk Blom Jan Dirk Blom Jan Dirk Blom |
author_sort |
Anastasia Lim |
title |
The Attribution of Mental Health Problems to Jinn: An Explorative Study in a Transcultural Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic |
title_short |
The Attribution of Mental Health Problems to Jinn: An Explorative Study in a Transcultural Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic |
title_full |
The Attribution of Mental Health Problems to Jinn: An Explorative Study in a Transcultural Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic |
title_fullStr |
The Attribution of Mental Health Problems to Jinn: An Explorative Study in a Transcultural Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Attribution of Mental Health Problems to Jinn: An Explorative Study in a Transcultural Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic |
title_sort |
attribution of mental health problems to jinn: an explorative study in a transcultural psychiatric outpatient clinic |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Psychiatry |
issn |
1664-0640 |
publishDate |
2018-03-01 |
description |
BackgroundAmong Muslim patients, a common cultural concept of distress is the notion that jinn may be the cause of mental health problems, especially in the presence of hallucinations.ObjectiveThis study examines the frequency with which this attribution style is manifest in a specific psychiatric outpatient population with a Muslim background.MethodsOf all patients registered at an outpatient clinic specialized in transcultural psychiatry, data were collected on folk belief, religion, hallucinations (if present), and medical diagnosis. Through a search in the electronic medical files, the notes made during the first contact and first psychiatric examination were screened for the keywords “evil eye,” “magic,” “voodoo,” and “jinn.” In addition, new eligible cases were accepted.ResultsFrom all 551 patients thus screened, 118 were eligible for participation. Of these, 49 (41.5%) were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Among them, 21 (43%) were positive that their psychiatric symptoms were caused by jinn, whereas 13 (27%) thought not, and 15 (31%) were in doubt. No less than 87.2% had experienced hallucinations during their lives. Among the relatively large proportion of eligible patients who did not participate (58.5%), many expressed a fear for stigmatization or metaphysical repercussions if they spoke about jinn.ConclusionThe phenomenon of attributing mental health symptoms to jinn was much more common in this population of Muslim patients than previously assumed. This underscores the need for proper knowledge of Muslim explanatory models of disease and for the use of culturally sensitive interviewing techniques in this population. |
topic |
cultural concept of distress hallucination idiom of distress Islam Muslim |
url |
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00089/full |
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