In Curanderismo, the healing practices found in Mexico, “susto” is an illness that refers to soul loss and occurs after a trauma when the soul leaves the body. Some disease may be caused by mental imbalance. Accordingly, healers often counteract spells or appease the ancestors ( 5). African traditions often see sickness as caused by ancestral spirits, witchcraft, or sorcerers. In Traditional Navajo Medicine, contact with animals, ceremonies, ghosts of the deceased, or living or dead enemies may lead to illness ( 4). The meridians are used in diagnosis and treatment.ĭisease may also originate from the spirit realm and affect the mind and the body. Not only is disease caused by physical factors, but also by exogenous atmospheric factors (wind, cold, heat, dampness, dryness, fire), endogenous emotional factors, trauma, bad diet, exhaustion and excessive sex ( 3). The 12 principal meridians are symmetrical and correspond to visceral organs. There are 36 meridians connecting sites on the body. The idea of blockages in the physical realm also is found in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), which utilizes meridians or paths through which the blood and “qi” or life force circulates. However, if the system is off balance, disease causing factors can block the channels and disease will result ( 2). If the body is at equilibrium, then the disease cannot take root. In Ayurveda the body is divided into the doshas or humors that consist of seven body tissues: lymph, blood, muscle, adipose tissue, bone, bone marrow, semen, and waste products. As an example, Ayurveda, A Traditional Medicine of India, is based on the idea that illness is a deficiency or block in physical, emotional, and spiritual harmony that may leave an opening for disease. Disease may be caused and manifested in the physical, the psychological or spiritual realms, or a combination as one area affects the others. In most traditional healing systems, disease is thought to occur if there is a disturbance in the body, mind, or spirit. We will discuss general perspectives on healing within Traditional Medicine, emphasizing commonalities and highlighting cultural-specific practices through examples from different healing traditions. In this paper, we aim to provide a starting point for culturally-sensitive conversation and the possibility of integrating mind-body-spiritual concepts of healing into conventional care. For example, most take a holistic view of healing, recognizing and oftentimes emphasizing the mind-body-spiritual connection, and also believing that community and the environment are key elements in individual healing.Īs healthcare practitioners caring for patients in an increasingly globalized age, we are likely to encounter patients who find relief through Traditional Medicine while simultaneously seeking conventional Western scientific medical care. However, despite culture-specific elements, comparative studies on healing across cultures also identified common threads ( 1).
Other healing traditions are primarily oral customs interpreted by individual healers, strongly influenced by local customs and milieu. In some cases these customs are believed to originate from luminaries or the divine, are passed down through the generations, and are well-developed and documented.
Traditional Medicine is comprised of different practices, and can vary greatly across cultures and regions. Often these healing traditions under the umbrella of “Traditional Medicine” are interwoven with cultural, social, psychological, and spiritual elements, which utilize preexisting deep-seated connections between the infirm and the healing practices. In their attempts to understand and intervene in the nature of suffering, cultures, through time, developed fundamental principles and paradigms to explain and describe health and illness creating frameworks to help the afflicted achieve healing. Since the beginning of human communities, illness, diseases, and death have been an intimate and integral part of life. Keywords: Traditional healing spirituality holistic medicine psychosocial spiritual Policy of Dealing with Allegations of Research Misconduct.Policy of Screening for Plagiarism Process.
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