Week 3 Presentation
Giverny Yang
ASA 189B
WEEK 3: Mental Health Industrial Complex and Clash of Self
Presentation Outline
Westernized practices and indigenous practices differ on all sorts of levels, but especially on healing
spectrums. In Westernized society, being what appears to be “abnormal” is stigmatized as having a
mental illness. What is meant by that is how in indigenous societies, such as the Dagara people, what
they call “good news from the other world,” which are messages sent through mediums from their society,
would be considered mentally ill in the Westernized world (Marohn). In the West, being a medium is not
a standard or normalized affair. The typical approach to someone discussing matters of mediums is
“they are not real” or “they are crazy people.” Westernized society takes pharmaceutical approaches in
these matters, whereas indigenous societies take spiritual approaches, such as Shamanistic healings.
In “What a Shaman Sees in A Mental Hospital,” Marohn stated, “...mental disorders are spiritual
emergencies, spiritual crises, and need to be regarded as such to aid the healer in being born.”
Those who are given the “gift” to be a medium or “healer” are cursed with the lack of help needed
to become that healer in the West. They are institutionalized in the western world and plagued with
diagnoses and pharmaceutical drugs to “cure” their symptoms. Dr. Somé was shocked to discover that
these practices were trying to stop the conditions instead of embracing them as his village did. His
culture views these conditions of the spirit world and the human world attempting to merge and deliver
messages to the human world; whereas the West would categorize these into delusions or hallucinations.
Western society is uneducated when it comes to dealing with or acknowledging psychic phenomena.
Indigenous society has generations and generations of knowledge of the spiritual world, whereas the
West turns to “practical” medicine to cure the symptoms of everything they diagnose. According to
Marohn, “Heavy dosing with antipsychotic drugs compounds the problem and prevents the integration
that could lead to soul development and growth in the individual who has received these energies.”
This means the prevention of integration between the spirit and living world is due to heavy
pharmaceutical drugging of patients turned into mental wards.
Dr. Somé believes that ritual is needed and I cannot emphasize that enough. He believes the statement
that it is needed is an understatement and that people cannot live a sane life without it. As the example
with Alex, he was “mentally ill” until he was spiritually healed in Dr. Somé’s village. When he finally
was able to do this job and deliver his message, he was able to go back and live a normal life. He
graduated and even attended Harvard graduate school. This exemplifies how the issue was not that he
was “crazy” but he was not being able to become the healer he was quested to be in America. Dr. Somé
knows that it is not easy for rituals to be transferred from his village to Western society. The cultures are
different and the cultural needs for the rituals would differ. However, this is not a reason to say the
West does not need rituals. Bringing rituals into Westernized society will be nonetheless difficult because
of societal constructs and social norms, but it could help many people who are being wrongfully
diagnosed with mental illnesses. It needs to be recognized they could be called upon to deliver messages
from the spirit world to the living world; however, they are not being properly informed or taught to
deal with these messages. Instead, they are institutionalized and drugged to numb their hearings/visions.
West turns to “practical” medicine to cure the symptoms of everything they diagnose. According to
Marohn, “Heavy dosing with antipsychotic drugs compounds the problem and prevents the integration
that could lead to soul development and growth in the individual who has received these energies.”
This means the prevention of integration between the spirit and living world is due to heavy
pharmaceutical drugging of patients turned into mental wards.
Dr. Somé believes that ritual is needed and I cannot emphasize that enough. He believes the statement
that it is needed is an understatement and that people cannot live a sane life without it. As the example
with Alex, he was “mentally ill” until he was spiritually healed in Dr. Somé’s village. When he finally
was able to do this job and deliver his message, he was able to go back and live a normal life. He
graduated and even attended Harvard graduate school. This exemplifies how the issue was not that he
was “crazy” but he was not being able to become the healer he was quested to be in America. Dr. Somé
knows that it is not easy for rituals to be transferred from his village to Western society. The cultures are
different and the cultural needs for the rituals would differ. However, this is not a reason to say the
West does not need rituals. Bringing rituals into Westernized society will be nonetheless difficult because
of societal constructs and social norms, but it could help many people who are being wrongfully
diagnosed with mental illnesses. It needs to be recognized they could be called upon to deliver messages
from the spirit world to the living world; however, they are not being properly informed or taught to
deal with these messages. Instead, they are institutionalized and drugged to numb their hearings/visions.
In “Combining Indian and Western Spiritual Psychology: Applications to Health and Social Renewal,”
Doug Oman and Nirbhay N. Singh suggest the collaboration of Indian and Western practices for religion
and spirituality in hopes to benefit the world. Hoping to integrate medicine and spirituality,
Oman and Singh suggests “processes of learning from spiritual exemplars and teachers; health effects
from engagement in Hindu or other Indian religious practice; psychological and health effects of specific
spiritual practices…” for the West. Western psychology focuses on factual data/work, while Indian
psychology differs by focusing on experiences. The strengths of both psychology approaches could
combine and create a much broader field of healing for global society as a whole. Indian society
believes integrating both spiritual Indian psychology with empirical Western psychology, there would
be more of a precise understanding of symptoms and diagnoses and healing would be overall better for
the world. I think these two approaches are far from each other on the spectrum of healing and would
not have considered merging them without having read this piece; however, the effects could be
alarmingly helpful. If western practitioners would be willing to consider integrating with indigenous
practices like Hinduism, Buddhism, or even Shamanism, the world could significantly be a more
resourceful place. However, it may be hard to convince Western society of indigenous work because
they are heavily based on factual evidence, which indigenous practices do not appear to offer.
Doug Oman and Nirbhay N. Singh suggest the collaboration of Indian and Western practices for religion
and spirituality in hopes to benefit the world. Hoping to integrate medicine and spirituality,
Oman and Singh suggests “processes of learning from spiritual exemplars and teachers; health effects
from engagement in Hindu or other Indian religious practice; psychological and health effects of specific
spiritual practices…” for the West. Western psychology focuses on factual data/work, while Indian
psychology differs by focusing on experiences. The strengths of both psychology approaches could
combine and create a much broader field of healing for global society as a whole. Indian society
believes integrating both spiritual Indian psychology with empirical Western psychology, there would
be more of a precise understanding of symptoms and diagnoses and healing would be overall better for
the world. I think these two approaches are far from each other on the spectrum of healing and would
not have considered merging them without having read this piece; however, the effects could be
alarmingly helpful. If western practitioners would be willing to consider integrating with indigenous
practices like Hinduism, Buddhism, or even Shamanism, the world could significantly be a more
resourceful place. However, it may be hard to convince Western society of indigenous work because
they are heavily based on factual evidence, which indigenous practices do not appear to offer.
Tarot Cards
The Patient is the tarot card typically associated with Death. The picture on the card is an outlined “patient”
sitting criss-crossed with the ocean filling in the outline, but with words overlayed. Behind the patient, there is
fire, behind that there is a moon and above it are leaves. The Patient is not a victim and is not just a patient.
She represents more than her illness. Her message is that life is journey, there are ups and downs, highs and lows.
This card asks you to examine yourself, your life, your experiences. You must understand you are dying as you
are mortal; however you must also come to love and embrace your imperfect self. You must know the limits of
your body, yet not limit yourself to just being a patient or a victim.
sitting criss-crossed with the ocean filling in the outline, but with words overlayed. Behind the patient, there is
fire, behind that there is a moon and above it are leaves. The Patient is not a victim and is not just a patient.
She represents more than her illness. Her message is that life is journey, there are ups and downs, highs and lows.
This card asks you to examine yourself, your life, your experiences. You must understand you are dying as you
are mortal; however you must also come to love and embrace your imperfect self. You must know the limits of
your body, yet not limit yourself to just being a patient or a victim.
The Survivor card represents a woman who is walking away from bonfire ashes. This card says that although what you may be experiencing might seem far from possible, you can turn it to your favor. Do not view yourself as a victim of your past. Walk away from it but do not forget it. Use it as an opportunity to learn from your past memories and lead you to your rebuilt future.
The Prisoner card embodies the power of courage and redemption. This card, the Asian American prisoner, “is one of the most powerful figures of Tarot- but can also foreshadow incarnations to come” (Rhee). Those who come to her must search both within themselves for answers, as well as outside for answers. They need to reevaluate themselves internally and externally for their own clarity. She signals the need for oppression to be dismantled and a social revolution.
Works Cited
Marohn, Stephanie. “What a Shaman Sees in A Mental Hospital.” The Mind Unleashed, 7 Sept. 2014, themindunleashed.com/2014/08/shaman-sees-mental-hospital.html.
Oman, D. & Singh, N.N. Psychol Stud (2018) 63: 172. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12646-016-0362-x
Tarot Cards - Emergency Box
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