Traditional
Perspectives on Schizophrenia and Voice
Hearing
Indigenous
populations developed a variety of medicinal practices over
millenia. These are often referred to as shamanic
practices. While there are many variations within these
traditions, it seems clear that some at least developed an
understanding of the phenomenon we know as hearing voices.
In the terminology, what is referred to as "soul stealing",
"soul loss", and "soul pieces", can be seen as analogous to
aspects of schizophrenia and mental illness. While shamans
were probably unaware of the role of prenatal trauma, they
did develop an array of empirical methods to address the
problem. Although some anthropologists argue that
schizophrenia was venerated in shamanic tradition this is
probably a confusion between shamanic experiences of
altered mental states, which were valued, and the voice
hearing problem itself. It is outside the purposes of this
site to explore the links to this further. However, it's
fascinating to note that shamanic traditions managed to
develop non-drug treatments for voice hearing centuries
before the developed world managed to do so. Indeed many of
the clues which lead ISPS to discover the successful
treatment for voice hearing came out of an in depth study
of shamanic teachings. We are therefore indebted to those
indigenous peoples who managed to explore the frontiers of
consciousness and health well before the current scientific
model was formulated.
.
"Shaman Supernova" by artist
Ceder Hope
http://www.sonoran-sunsets.com