These women have been brought up on a diet where mental illness is not recognised. It is a day to day challenge to mental health services to educate people. It even spills into physical care at times, delays diagnosis and complicates effective treatment...19 October 2014
HEALTHCARE professionals in Scotland are likely to face an increase in cases of ethnic minority patients claiming to be spiritually possessed.
Staff at Amina Muslim Women's Resource Centre (Amina MWRC) in Glasgow and Dundee say they are experiencing a rise in clients attributing mental health difficulties to supernatural spirits.
Smina Akhtar, director of Amina MWRC, revealed that 70% of her counsellor's workload since 2012 involves dealing with issues related to the paranormal
Speaking to the Sunday Herald, she said: "Many of the women who initially contact us want relationship counselling but after a few sessions they highlight the issue of possession by Jinn (in the Islamic faith, supernatural creatures made from fire) or that someone is practising black magic on their. "They do not feel confident in confiding in their local GP, fearing they will be ridiculed.family.We would like the NHS to work with mainstream Islamic scholars and Muslim groups in helping such individuals. Faith-based support should be offered as long as it does not contradict or oppose conventional medicine or treatment."
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/heal ... d.25627646
Now a way out?
17 October 2014
A court in Dubai has granted a divorce to a man who says his wife is possessed by spirits and refuses to have sex with him, reports suggest.
After persistently denying him sex, the woman finally told her husband to discuss the issue with her parents, the Gulf News daily reports, without naming the couple.
They told the man that his wife was, in fact, possessed by a jinn, and that several religious scholars had unsuccessfully tried to exorcise the spirit, he paper says.
Upon hearing this, the husband lodged a divorce case with the Dubai Sharia Court. His lawyer told a hearing: "The woman and her family cheated my client. They should have been honest and clear about the fact that the wife was possessed by a jinn. He was only told about the jinn after the problem escalated. The woman does not deserve any allowance."
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from ... e-29659199