Mixing tīrttam and tablets. A healing proposal for mentally ill patients in Gunaseelam (South India).

Well known for its powerful deity who heals the mentally ill, the village of Gunaseelam illustrates an interesting example of mental healthcare combining rituals (tīrttam) and medication (tablets). After the Ervadi tragedy, the government forbade the confinement and chaining of the mentally ill in unlicensed places such as in religious institutions as contrary to human rights, so a clinic was established to treat patients. How is the intrusion of psychiatry into the temple and its association with the rituals perceived by priests and psychiatrists, and by patients and caregivers? What are the implications that this therapeutic combination has for the quality of life of patients and caregivers and for the life of the village and the temple? This article attempts to explore these questions through the particular case of Gunaseelam and offers some ways to develop mental healthcare practices that are more acceptable to the people, notably those people from lower social backgrounds.