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A comparative study of the psychiatric practice of a tantrik healer and a hospital out-patient clinic in the Kathmandu Valley

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Vieda Skultans*
Affiliation:
Department of Mental Health, University of Bristol
*
* Address for correspondence: Dr V. Skultans. Department of Mental Health, University of Bristol, 41 St Michael's Hill, Bristol, BS2 8DZ.

Synopsis

This paper summarizes the information gathered from healer and hospital patients consulting for mental illness in the Kathmandu Valley. While the tantrik healer appeared to be emulating the hospital in the speed and impersonality with which patients were processed, healer patients appeared to enjoy a greater degree of family support than did hospital patients.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

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