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NEGOTIATING COMPETING CULTURES Jagbir Jhutti-Johal

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NEGOTIATING COMPETING CULTURES Jagbir Jhutti-Johal SIKHISM AND MENTAL ILLNESS: NEGOTIATING COMPETING CULTURES Jagbir Jhutti-Johal “Only God’s Name can Heal a Diseased Body and Mind” 1 A mental disorder or mental illness may be described as an affliction of the brain resulting in abnormal psychological or behavioral patterns. Examples are schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder and disorders due to drug abuse. The understanding of mental disorders has changed over time and its diagnosis and treatment still varies across different cul- tures and societies. While there is no single accepted cause of mental ill- ness in the medical world, studies of the significant causes and processes involved in the development of mental illness have found that there are physical (biologic in nature), social, environmental, and psychological causes for mental illness. This means that a number of treatments cur- rently exist for mental illness including medication, counseling, psycho- therapy and self help within the medical arena. The scientific view, which is based on observable evidence of the bio- logical processes in the brain, forms the platform on which all the major healthcare providers around the world build their treatments. From this perspective mental illness is a symptom of a chemical imbalance, brain disease or due to some psychological trauma. Science, at present, equates mental phenomena with neuronal activity and does not view the mind or consciousness as anything different from the other functions of the brain, like vision and memory. This scientific, and evidence-based, approach to medicine has posed many questions and challenges for religious people, and has forced them to re-address their own ‘religious’ explanations for mental illness and the type of help they require to treat the condition. Sikhs in general have not engaged in the science/religion debate, partic- ularly evident in the field of healthcare in which there has not been much 1 Guru Granth Sahib: 1146. Translations of quotes from the Guru Granth Sahib are arrived at through a consultation of Gopal Singh’s translation (Sri Guru Granth Sahib: English Version. 4 vols. Chandigarh, India: World Sikh University Press, 1978) and an autho- rised copy of the Guru Granth Sahib in Gurmukhi language. This was done to ensure that the translation was as accurate as possible. © Jagbir Jhutti-Johal, 2011 | doi:10.1163/9789004225343_013 This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC 4.0 license. Jagbir Jhutti-Johal - 9789004225343 Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 06:47:23AM via free access 236 jagbir jhutti-johal substantive engagement with the scientific orientation and understanding of mental illness. Explanations for mental illness have historically been the moral province of religion, which views it as a physical manifestation of a disease of the soul and spirit, rather than physical illness of the brain, to be cured by meditation and leading a God-centred life. In some instances, such illnesses were viewed has having value because the process of recov- ery, through prayer and meditation, is spiritually transforming. This is in contrast to the current Western biomedical perspective, where mental ill- ness is understood to be the result of a biological imbalance, and does not have value, but instead needs to be alleviated. Although considerable research has been conducted on mental ill- ness as a whole, the experiences of Sikhs in this area have been largely neglected. This chapter will fill a gap that is present in the literature on the Sikh religion and culture, which tends to ignore or treat as secondary scientific or medical issues by moving the debate about the role of religion and biomedicine in Sikh life from the periphery to the centre of contem- porary Sikh thought. This chapter will investigate firstly the core com- ponents of Sikh explanatory models of mental illness. Taking concepts from the Sikh holy text, the Guru Granth Sahib, this section will look at the concept of the human body and mind in Sikhism and then consider the apparent causes of mental illnesses. While the particular focus will be on theological perspectives around mental disorders, this chapter will put the traditional Sikh understanding of mental illness into a modern context. Additionally, it will examine the complexity of contemporary Sikh views on mental illness and the negotiation of competing cultures: secular western biomedicine and Sikh religious treatment. Up to now there has been a paucity of research done on attitudes about depression and mental illness amongst the Sikh community. This is because Sikhs are apprehen- sive and reluctant to talk about such issues with their doctor or commu- nity leaders due to the social taboo and stigma surrounding depression or mental illnesses, which has traditionally led to a self-denial status quo within the community. Using ethnographic research conducted as part of this study this chapter will discuss how Sikhs today negotiate the medi- cal/religious divide when they or a family member have a mental illness, and also how traditional Sikh views can be understood in relation to bio- medical perspectives and vice versa. What will become clear is that Sikhs suffering from mental illness in Britain resort to a number of treatments, religious, cultural, and pharmacological, and some may even use them concurrently, even if they do not always understand how they work. Jagbir Jhutti-Johal - 9789004225343 Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 06:47:23AM via free access sikhism and mental illness 237 Sikh Scripture: The Mind and Body The central message of Sikhism is contained within the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of the Sikhs. It is a voluminous body of work (1430 pages) containing the collected works of the Sikh Gurus and sacred writ- ings of other Indian (Muslim and Hindu) saints. It is regarded as the final and ‘eternal Guru’, a title conferred to it by the tenth and final living Guru of the Sikhs, Gobind Singh. Its authority is beyond question for Sikhs, who view it as the repository of God’s word transmitted through his messen- gers, the Gurus.2 It is with this scripture therefore that we begin our study of attitudes towards mental illness. The Sikh religious psychiatric theory is rooted in the Sikh concept of the body and the soul. For Sikhs, the human body is a vessel that contains the divine spark of God within it. This spark is referred to as the atma or soul. While it may appear to have an individual nature, the ultimate aim of the soul is to lose this individual identity and merge with its original source, God. To achieve this ‘loss of self ’ and union with God the soul experiences a journey through a cycle of birth, death and re-birth, as determined by its karma, of many life-forms. Sikh scriptures state that a soul may tra- verse 8.4 million life forms before union with God. The human body is the ultimate life-form and the only form from which a soul may obtain this release from the countless reincarnations it undergoes. In other words, the soul needs the human experience as part of the karmic process to achieve liberation and union with its source. Human beings therefore sit at the top of the ladder of creation and are believed to be blessed with a level of consciousness and self-awareness to enable them to realize God.3 It is the soul that is responsible for the mind and intellect and through the body the soul experiences the trials, tribulations and pleasures of human existence.4 Throughout the Guru Granth Sahib there is a focus on the mind and the human body because the body houses the soul that leaves the body at death to unite with God. Thus, the body and soul are essential in the 2 McLeod, William Hew, Sikhism. London: Penguin, 1997; McLeod, William Hew, The Sikhs. History, Religion and Society. New York: Columbia University Press, 1989; Takhar, Opinderjit Kaur. 2005. Sikh Identity: An exploration of groups among Sikhs. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2005, 10. 3 Cole, W.O. The Guru in Sikhism. London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1982, 42; and McLeod, The Sikhs. History, Religion and Society. 4 Jhutti-Johal, Jagbir, Sikhism Today. London: Continuum Press, 2011. Jagbir Jhutti-Johal - 9789004225343 Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 06:47:23AM via free access 238 jagbir jhutti-johal process of transmigration. This ultimate goal of uniting with God means that the health of the mind and soul play an essential role in one’s over- all health. The body is the interface between the physical, materialistic dimension which is ephemeral in nature, and the spiritual, God-realised realm which is eternal and the ultimate truth. The body is endowed with nine outward facing physical ‘doors’ or openings, into the outer world, i.e. eyes, ears, nose, mouth etc., and a tenth inward-facing non-physical portal. The abode of God can be found within the body through this tenth portal, which is known as the gateway to enlightenment. Sikhs believe that the mind and soul are prevented from opening the tenth door and realizing God by the shackles of haumai, which can loosely be defined as ego or self-centredness.5 The Guru Granth Sahib refers to haumai as a deadly or chronic disease which pollutes and sullies the mind, and as we shall see later, for Sikhs, this is the ultimate cause of mental illness. Ego is the basis of the five ‘evils’ enumerated in the Sikh scriptures, namely, kam (lust or desire), krodh (anger), lobh (greed/covetousness), moh (attachment), and ahankar (pride) which lead the individual to maya, a state of self-delusion and worldly attachment.6 It is the challenge of all humans to conquer their haumai and subdue the five ‘evils’ to realize the ultimate truth.7 The process of choosing vir- tuous living against a life where individuals are attached to worldly pos- sessions is complex and played out within the mind: ‘The mind is action; mind is righteousness, mind is born of five elements’.8 Through haumai the mind can either become a constructive or a destructive force, and can either lead one into a blissful state where focus is on God, or it can cause despair through a focus on haumai and the five vices.
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