Supernatural ‘Jinn’ Seen as Cause of Mental Illness Among Muslims »
This could be a symptom of a culture widely believing in paranormal phenomenon.. Muslims, it’s reported in this study, believe that the supernatural Jinn are attributing to their mental illnesses when they have them. Scientists and astute psychologists obviously say that the Jinn, since they aren’t real, cannot be doing this and culturally Muslims have simply been conditioned by their religious backgrounds to perceive the Jinn as being the reason for their problems.
Of course, if the Jinn were real, that would throw off the findings..
Nonetheless, here’s a money quote and conclusion of why certain cultures are haunted by certain entities:
Across societies, beliefs in the supernatural as well as other aspects of culture may influence how mental disorders manifest, the study said. Previous research has found that people with schizophrenia may experience different delusions depending on their cultures. For example, fears about technology and surveillance play a large part in the delusions of people with schizophrenia in the United States. Meanwhile, in Japan, which has an honor-oriented culture, patients’ delusions more commonly involve fears about public humiliation.
In a recent study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, U.S. patients with schizophrenia reported hallucinations that involved hearing voices with a negative tone, whereas in Ghana and India, patients reported voices with a generally positive tone.
However, culture is not the only factor that influences psychiatric patients. Blom and his colleagues previously treated a young Muslim patient who had schizophrenia, and who, contrary to the doctors’ expectations, didn’t attribute his hallucinations to jinn. Instead, the patient had searched the Internet for cases similar to his experience, and had concluded that he was a werewolf.
“He could not be persuaded to accept any other explanation,” Blom wrote in an article describing the case that was published in March in the journal History of Psychiatry.
All in the mind..
The Jinn aren’t real. Just keep telling yourself that..