Abstract
Psychosomatic Medicine has been an integral part of medicine in India since ancient times. India here refers to Indian sub-continent or South Asia, and includes modern countries of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and Maldives.
There are many systems that have evolved over time in India, and are well documented. There are more formal traditional medical systems like Ayurveda and Unani-Tibba, and there are less formal magico-religious systems. There is overlap between traditional systems and magico-religious systems. The magico-religious systems are not well documented, and in the last two centuries documented only to be derided. Both systems continue to have a strong presence in the lives of people even today. They are not only seen as systems of treatment, they are practiced as ways of life by people, and guide more than just medicine. In addition, people will pursue multiple methods of treatment at the same time. These are important facts for clinicians in the west to understand who treat patients from this part of the world. Hence, instead of only review of texts as it is typically pursued, an anthropological approach to the whole topic has also been pursued in this chapter. Multiple governments in South Asia have started various initiatives to revive the research and practice of traditional systems. This includes establishing government supported departments, and education institutions.
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Singh, H. (2019). Psychosomatic Medicine in Indian Subcontinent: A Historical Perspective. In: Leigh, H. (eds) Global Psychosomatic Medicine and Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12584-4_7
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