Indigenous communities exist within most countries. These communities often have their own informal and invisible (to their mainstream neighbors) systems of health care. We wondered what happened to people who approached traditional community healers for help with mental health problems.

We interviewed 100 people who had received mental health diagnoses from conventional practitioners and then sought traditional community healers for help. We compared them to a matched population from a computer database who did not seek traditional healers. Patients who visited the healers did statistically significantly better than the comparison group. Panels of naïve graduate students evaluated patient interviews and picked themes that consistently emerged. Scenarios were developed to rate patients along these dimensions from “1” to “5”. New panels did the ratings. Comparisons were made between these 2 groups of people, and those who improved with healers had more change from before to after treatment on the dimensions of Present-centeredness; Forgiveness of others; Release of blame, bitterness, and chronic anger; Orientation to process versus outcome; Sense of Humor; Sense of Meaning and Purpose; and Faith and Hope. The patients who worked with the healers had a new and plausible (to the patient, his or her family, and the healers) explanation for why he or she got well, including a story reflecting a belief about how he or she can stay well; supportive community who believes in the person's cure.

The treatment provided by conventional healers produces measurable changes in several parameters associated with improved mental health.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.