Beliefs can be incorporated into the health system

Beliefs about jinns and the protective powers of the Quran deserve to be taken seriously, says Justin Thomas.

A recent attempted suicide in Dubai raises important questions about the role of religious and cultural beliefs in mental health problems. The suicide attempt in question involved a young man who claimed that his extreme act of self-harm was motivated by demonic (jinn) possession. The 20-year-old had recently arrived from Pakistan to work as a plumber, and had forgotten to bring an amulet containing verses of the Quran that he believed protected him from the jinn. He was discovered unconscious, hanging from a rope.

Belief in the jinn as a possible cause of mental distress is widespread across the Muslim world.

The word jinn is derived from the Arabic verb jann, which refers to something inaccessible to the senses; something unseen. This is reflected in other related nouns and phrases such as jannah (paradise) and jinn al layl (the darkness of night). The jinn are extensively mentioned in the Quran. In short, the jinn are an integral aspect of the Muslim world view, and there is widespread belief that the jinn can, and occasionally do, affect mental health.

This belief translates into relatively large numbers of people seeking the services of traditional Quranic healers for what might be considered psychiatric conditions. In a recent study in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, of more than 1,400 residents, 42 per cent reported having consulted a Quranic healer at some point, while 24 per cent had done so within the past 12 months. Similar rates are reported in other Gulf nations.

In the Riyadh study, respondents reported seeking help for both physical and mental health problems, with depression and sadness listed among the most common.

Are these individuals really experiencing interference or possession at the hands of malevolent metaphysical beings? Or is there a more scientific explanation? Acute stress reaction perhaps, or a neurochemical imbalance.

Perhaps these differing explanations need not be viewed as mutually incompatible. Perhaps the jinn are capable of causing neurochemical imbalances. Philosophical and metaphysical speculation aside, what really matters is that those people experiencing distressing psychological states receive effective help.

Even a clinician who categorically dismisses the idea of meta­physical beings will accept the idea of the placebo effect. In medicine, the placebo – a sugar pill made to look like real medicine – can often have a huge beneficial impact based on the patient’s health-promoting belief that help has been received.

In the context of major depression, placebos do incredibly well. There are lots of studies suggesting that patients with mild to moderate depression who are given a placebo do just as well as those given antidepressant medications. The placebo effect – the belief that one is being helped – is real and often very helpful.

The jinn are an integral aspect of the Islamic belief system, as is the curative and protective power of the Quran. I don’t suggest for one second that these observed benefits or harms are due to a placebo effect. However, even the most religiously sceptical clinician must at the very least acknowledge that beliefs can exert a powerful and at times beneficial therapeutic effect.

It makes perfect sense to integrate traditional healing approaches for those patients requesting them. There are no adverse side effects or drug interactions with such approaches and many recipients report beneficial effects – which perhaps explains their longevity and continued popularity.

If these faith-based interventions are excluded from the health care system, then they remain largely unregulated – which would mean that patients seeking such services are at the mercy of potentially unscrupulous practitioners who might do some harm.

Justin Thomas is an associate professor of psychology at Zayed University and author of Psychological Well-Being in the Gulf States

On Twitter: @DrJustinThomas