Illustrations; Acknowledgements; List of Key Informants; Introduction; Chapter 1 -- Sylhet and Social Change; Chapter 2 -- An Outline Ethnopsychiatry of Sylhet; Chapter 3 -- The Relationship Between Madness and Religiosity; Chapter 4 -- Sorcery: 'What else do we Bengalis do?'; Chapter 5 -- Marriage, Madness and Resistance; Chapter 6 -- Spirit Possession, Personal Autonomy and the Law of Allah; Chapter 7 -- Muslim Patients, Hindu Healers; Chapter 8 -- Female Saints; Conclusion; Glossary; Bibliography; Index
Summary
Sylhet, the area of Bangladesh most closely associated with overseas migration, has seen an increase in remittances sent home from abroad, introducing new inequalities. Social change has also been mediated by the global forces of Western biomedicine and orthodox Islam. This book examines the effects of these modernizing trends on mental health and on local, traditional healing as the new inequalities have exacerbated existing social tensions and led to increased vulnerability to mental illness. It is the young women of Sylhet who are most affected. The global economy has increased competition
