The prevalence of somatic symptom disorders among regular female patients of faith healers

Abstract

The study aimed to study the prevalence of Somatic symptom and related disorders among regular female patients of faith healers. The study was exploratory in nature and case studies of ten females were taken. The study aimed to investigate the prevalence of Somatic symptom and related disorders among those women who regularly visit Faith healers for the cure of all major to minor illnesses and do not trust doctors after nil diagnosis. The cases were taken from Rawalakot and Rawalpindi. Detailed histories and current condition of the patients were obtained. The patients were asked for their symptoms, incidence and onset of symptoms, severity and intensity of symptoms and recurrence. On the basis of which, the patients were diagnosed according to DSM-V (2013) criteria for Somatic symptom and related disorders cluster. The results showed that 7 out 10 women were suffering from some type of somatic symptom and related disorders. The patients needed to seek psychological help but they weren‟t aware of this fact. All of the patients turned to faith healers because doctors provided nil diagnosis as their bodily symptoms were purely psychological.