Seeking Help from Faith Healers among Iraqi Patients with Obsessive – Compulsive Disorder
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32007/jfacmedbagdad.5141089Keywords:
faith healing, Iraq, Obsessive-compulsive disorder.Abstract
Background: Faith healing is common in Arab culture. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is linked to religious beliefs and this can affect its management as patients may seek help from faith healers rather than mental health professionals.
Patients and methods: Patients who received a diagnosis of OCD according to DSM-IV-TR completed a questionnaire containing questions about age, gender, marital state, residence, income, level of education, and occupation. Also, data was collected on help-seeking from a faith healer and on religiosity. The data was analyzed by using the statistical package of the social sciences (SPSS).
Results: 58.5% of OCD patients had sought help from faith healers and this was significantly associated with being religious (p value .003). There was no association with other variables.
Conclusion: Iraqi mental health professionals should be aware of patient’s experience of faith healing as this is common among OCD patients. The findings also raise interesting questions regarding the need for a dialogue between health professionals and faith healers in the interest of providing optimal care to OCD patients.
Downloads
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Permit others to copy and distribute the manuscript; to extract, revise, and create another derivative
works of or from the manuscript (e.g., a translation); to incorporate the manuscript into a
collective work; and to text or data mine the article, even for commercial purposes, provided that
the author(s) is/are credited; the article's modifications should not harm the author's honor or
reputation; and the article should not be altered in a way that would cause the author to lose them
reputation. The Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0) has more
information.