Social Network’s Healing Power Is Borne Out in Poorer Nations

A three-decade-long study by the World Health Organization has shown that patients diagnosed with the mental illness schizophrenia consistently tend to recover better in poorer nations than in developed nations. Researchers attribute these surprising results to the cultural differences in treatment. Seen by most Western psychiatrists as an organic, incurable brain disease, schizophrenia is often treated by drugs and biomedical interventions in the United States. With symptoms ranging from hallucinations, disorganized thinking, and social withdrawal, patients in the US are secluded from normal jobs or schools and are placed in special accommodations. In India, however, a greater emphasis is placed on social ties. Not only do patients live with their families and perform low-stress jobs, but they also receive spiritual advice from their close associates. These close social connections, according to one researcher, tend to cure the negative factors that cause or aggravate the disorder. – YaleGlobal