Mudpacks and Prozac Experiencing Ayurvedic, Biomedical, and Religious Healing

96  chapter 

biomedical psychiatry due to the history of class struggle in Haiti, I wondered
to what degree Biju, Kavitha and Benny were “natural anthropologists,” having
grown up in a society with diverse forms of healing, aware of multiple perspec-
tives about illness, perhaps realizing that each is constructed and has its own
contingencies.

Sreedevi and Her Mother: The Melancholic Daughter

Who Wants to Marry

A 22-year-old woman I call Sreedevi was accompanied by her mother when
Biju and I fi rst interviewed her in the offi ce of the ayurvedic psychiatrist they
were consulting. Sreedevi’s problems included stomach pains, episodes of
bahalam (agitation or tumult), loss of energy and a decline in interest in her
studies.
We interviewed Sreedevi and her mother using prepared, semi-structured
interview questions, which focus on the history of the illness and therapy-
seeking, reactions to diff erent therapies, opinions about the cause of illness and
future plans to get relief from the illness, and we asked additional questions
that came to mind as the interview progressed. In our fi rst interview, in January
1997, Sreedevi was quiet, lethargic and unemotional, and her mother spoke for
her almost the entire time. In her initial attempt to describe Sreedevi’s prob-
lems, her mother explained:

She is not eating, and she has started crying. And when sleeping, she’ll suddenly

wake up complaining of stomach pain. She shows bahalam [agitation/tumult].

Th ere is a doctor near our home. We took her to see her. Th at doctor had done

“psychiatry training.” So the doctor said this is a problem. She prescribed some

pills and all for my daughter. Th at’s how it fi rst began. It was a year ago. I did it

that way because the doctor said to.

Biju: Is this problem your biggest worry, or do you have any other illness?

Mother: What’s most bothersome now is she’ll cry now and then. Th ere is dukham

[grief/sadness], and this studious girl is no longer interested in schoolwork.^2

In addition to her sadness and stomach pain, Sreedevi’s mother mentions
here her daughter’s bahalam, which refers to agitated behavior or outbursts—
for example, shouting and striking things, or “throwing a fi t.” Sreedevi has also
lost interest in her studies. She had fi nished her Secondary School Leaving
Certifi cate (SSLC), which one achieves after the tenth year of schooling, and