32 chapter
disorder or schizophrenia.^29 However, these conditions are comparable from a
more pragmatic perspective in that people go to diff erent healers for what they
see as essentially the same problem. Many people I interviewed had visited,
for example, both a psychiatric clinic and a temple known for healing posses-
sion in trying to fi nd relief from their illness. Th ere may have been diff erent
opinions about the nature of the affl iction, and patients may have experienced
their problems diff erently—they may have paid more attention to diff erent
manifestations or symptoms with diff erent healers. However, the patient and
his or her family would see the affl iction as basically a single problem, and
they can relate its history, all the ups and downs, through diff erent forms of
therapy. When we asked patients and their caretakers which healers or healing
systems they thought had the most accurate view of their problem—when we
asked, for instance, whether they agreed more with the view of the psychiatrist
or the temple priest regarding their affl iction—their response usually revealed
that they were not particularly interested in this issue. We often received what
sounded like gratuitous responses, that they agreed with all perspectives, but
in almost every case they emphasized that what they wanted most was to get
some relief from their problem. Th ey did not care what kind of healer they
visited. Th ey were willing to try anything until they found something that
helped.
Research in Kerala
Th is study is based on three periods of fi eldwork in Kerala. Preliminary research
was conducted for three months in 1994, followed by one year of fi eldwork,
from January 1997 to January 1998, during which patient interviews were
conducted. On subsequent trips in 1999, 2004 and 2005, I revisited research
sites and spoke with healers I knew about issues I encountered during earlier
fi eldwork.
My assistants Biju, Kavitha and Benny and I interviewed 100 patients of
ayurvedic, allopathic and religious therapies about their illness histories and
their experiences with various therapies. Th irty-two patient-informants (22
male and 10 female) were undergoing ayurvedic therapy at the time of inter-
view, 35 (21 male and 14 female) were using allopathy and 33 (18 male and
15 female) were undergoing therapy at a mosque, temple or church. Sixteen
healers were formally interviewed for this project, and I informally discussed
problems of illness and healing with several additional healers. Informal
conversations with healers became a routine, almost daily, practice while I
worked in Kerala. Whether speaking to students and physician-teachers at the