Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Majnūn or Mental Disorders: Between Cultural Traditions and Western Psychology in Jordan

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Mental disorders or altered psychological states are prevalent in all populations, regardless of race or ethnic origin, while at the same time, culture also shapes the conceptions of mental disorders. Religion is deeply rooted in the daily life of the Muslim-majority countries, while Arab countries are affected by an ongoing modernization. Thus, how does the traditional religious conception of mental disorders interact with Western psychological conceptions in contemporary Arab-Muslim society? This study explores the conceptions of mental disorders and their causes among Muslims in contemporary Jordan. By employing cognitive anthropological method (free listing), forty participants were asked to provide three lists of (a) typical names of mental disorders, (b) causes of mental disorders and (c) determining features of mental disorders. Collected qualitative data have been quantitatively analysed and interpreted in the context of relevant ethnographic and interview data. While Western terms of mental disorders are well known among young and educated Jordanians, the study demonstrates that Jordanians employ cultural and religious notions alongside. This co-existence of different conceptions confirms an importance of Islamic notion in the modern rendering of mental health. As a result, despite rapid modernization, mental health is still highly stigmatized.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Note, associational analyses such as these do not show us a causal relation. However, on theoretical grounds there is a good reason to think that when the notion of depression (disorder) associates with family problems (cause) within individuals, it is the latter is considered to be the cause of the former (depression). That is, by virtue of questions themselves, we can infer a plausible conceptual structure of causes and disorders. The same goes with other instances as well. Also, it should be noted that such associations uncover conceptual networks that operate unconsciously—i.e. it could be argued that those who, say, mention depression have activated adjacent conceptual nodes of typical depression causes (e.g. family problems), that are later mentioned in the second list as well. Some sort of self-priming is in action.

  2. Sheykh—the term describes faith healer or religiuos leader in Jordan, who practice praying or other rituals in spiritual and physical healing. In different Arabic countries native healers named in different way, for example, the taleb, the marabout, dervish etc., depending on the geographical location.

References

  • Abu-Rabia, Aref 2005 The Evil Eye and Cultural Beliefs Among the Bedouin Tribes of the Negev. Middle East Folklore 116: 241–254. https://doi.org/10.1080/00155870500282677.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Al-Adawi, Samir, Atsu S.S. Dorvlo, Suad S. Al-Ismaily, Dala A. Al-Ghafry, Balquis Z. Al-Noobi, Ahmed Al-Salmi, David T. Burke, Mrugeshkumar K. Shah, Harith Ghassany, and Suma P. Chand 2002 Perception of and Attitude Towards Mental Illness in Oman. International Journal of Social Psychiatry 48: 305–317. https://doi.org/10.1177/002076402128783334.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Al-Badayneh, Diab, M. 2012 Violence Against Women in Jordan. Journal of Family Violence 27(5): 369–379.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Al-Issa, Ihsan, ed. 2000 Al-Junūn: Mental Illness in the Islamic World. Madison CT: International Universities Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Al-Krenawi, Alean, and John R. Graham 1997 Spirit Possession and Exorcism in the Treatment of a Bedouin Psychiatric Patient. Journal of Clinic Social Work 25: 211–222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Al-Subaie, Abdulla S. 1994 Traditional Healing Experiences in Patients Attending a University Outpatient Clinic. Arab Journal Psychiatry 5: 245–262.

    Google Scholar 

  • Al-Subaie, Abdulla S., and Abdulrazzak Alhamad 2000 Psychiatry in Saudi Arabia. In Al-Junūn: Mental Illness in the Islamic World. Ihsan Al-Issa, ed. Madison, CT: International Universities Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Azhar, M. Zain, and S.L. Varma 2000 Mental Illness and Its Treatment in Malaysia. In Al-Junūn: Mental Illness in the Islamic World. Ihsan Al-Issa, ed. Madison, CT: International Universities Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berry, John W., Ype H. Poortinga, Marshall H. Segall, and Pierre R. Dasen 2002 Cross-Cultural Psychology. 2nd Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhugra, Dinesh, and Kamaldeep Bhui 2007 Cultural Psychiatry. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bloom, Paul, and Frank C. Keil 2001 Thinking Through Language. Mind and Language 16(4): 351–367. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0017.00175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borgatti, Stephen Peter 1996 Anthropac. Natick, MA: Analytic Technologies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boroditsky, Lera 2009 How Does Our Language Shape the Way We Think? http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/boroditsky09/boroditsky09_index.html.

  • Brohan, Elaine, Mike Slade, Sarah Clement, and Graham Thornicroft 2010 Experiences of Mental Illness Stigma, Prejudice and Discrimination: A Review of Measures. BMC Health Services Research 10: 80. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-10-80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bryman, Alan 2004 Social Research Methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carroll, John B. 1956 Introduction. In Language, Thought and Reality. Benjamin Lee Whorf, ed. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cole, Michael 1996 Cultural Psychology. Cambridge, MA, London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crisp, Arthur H., Michael G. Gelder, Eileen Goddard, and Howard Meltze 2005 Stigmatization of People With Mental Illnesses: A Follow-Up Study Within the Changing Minds Campaign of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. World Psychiatry 4: 106–113.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Munck, Victor 2009 Research Design and Methods for Studying Cultures. Lanham: AltaMira Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Department of Population and Social Statistics 2018 Estimated Population of the Kingdom by Municipality and Sex, at End Year 2018. Family and Population Surveys Directorate. http://dosweb.dos.gov.jo/DataBank/Population_Estimares/Municipalities.pdf.

  • Department of Statistics 2016 Marriage and Divorce in Jordan. Department of Statistics. http://dosweb.dos.gov.jo/product-category/marriage_divorce/.

  • Encyclopedia Britannica 2020. Jordan. Encyclopedia Britanica Online. https://www.britannica.com/place/Jordan.

  • Fedele, Valentina 2013 The Diasporic Islamic Masculinity and the Reformulation of European Islam: Theoretical Approaches and Interpretative Perspectives. Nómadas 40(4). https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/181/18153270008.pdf.

  • Fiks, Alexander G., Angela Gafen, Cayce C. Hughes, Kenya F. Hunter, and Frances K. Barg 2011 Using Freelisting to Understand Shared Decision Making in ADHD: Parents’ and Pediatricians’ Perspectives. Patientient Education and Counseling 84(2): 236–244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2010.07.035.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ghiasi, Ashraf, and Afsaneh Keramat 2018 The Effect of Listening to Holy Quran Recitation on Anxiety: A Systematic Review. Iranian Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Research 23(6): 411–420. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijnmr.ijnmr_173_17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gleitman, Lila, and Anna Papafragou 2005 Language and Thought. In The Cambridge Handbook of Thinking and Reasoning. Keith J. Holyoak, and Robert G. Morrison, eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hasan, Abd Al-Hadi, and Mahmoud Musleh 2017 Public Stigma Toward Mental Illness in Jordan: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Family Members of Individuals with Schizophrenia, Depression, and Anxiety. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services 55(6): 36–43. https://doi.org/10.3928/02793695-20170519-05.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hedayat-Diba, Zari 2000 Psychotherapy with Muslims. In Handbook of Psychotherapy and Religious Diversity. Scott P. Richards, and Allen E. Bergin, eds. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Heine, Steven J. 2008 Cultural Psychology. 1st Edition. New York/London: University of British Columbia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Husain, Akbar 2006 Islamic Psychology: Emergence of a New Field. New Delhi: Global Vision Publishing House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hussein, Faraj M. 1991 A Study of the Role of Unorthodox Treatments of Psychiatric Illnesses. Arab Journal of Psychiatry 2: 170–184.

    Google Scholar 

  • Imai, Mutsumi, Junko Kanero, and Takahiko Masuda 2016 The Relation Between Language, Culture, and Thought. Current Opinion in Psychology 8: 70–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Institute for Muslim Mental Health. Islam and Mental Health. https://muslimmentalhealth.com/islam-mental-health/.

  • Karnouk, Carine, Kerem Böge, Eric Hahn, Judith Strasser, Stephanie Schweininger, and Malek Bajbouj 2019 Psychotherapy in Jordan: An Investigation of the Host and Syrian Refugee Community’s Perspectives. Frontiers in Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00556.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khan, Muhammad Salim 1986 Islamic Medicine. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitayama, Shinobu, and Dov Cohen 2007 Handbook of Cultural Psychology. New York, London: The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kleinman, Arthur, and Byron Good 1985 Culture and Depression. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Luhrmann, T.M., Ramachandran Padmavati, Hema Tharoor, and A. Osei 2015 Differences in Voice-Hearing Experiences of People with Psychosis in the USA, India and Ghana: Interview-Based Study. The British Journal of Psychiatry 206: 41–44. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.113.139048.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marranci, Gabriele 2008 The Anthropology of Islam. New York: Berg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matsumoto, David, and Linda Juang 2012 The Handbook of Culture and Psychology. Mason: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mohammad, K.I., J. Gamble, and Deba Creedy 2011 Prevalence and Factors Associated with the Development of Antenatal and Postnatal Depression Among Jordanian Women. Midwifery 2: 238–245.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Okasha, Ahmed, K. Ragheb, A.H. Attia, A. Seif El Dawla, T. Okasha, and R. Ismail 2001 Prevalence of Obsessive Compulsive Symptoms (OCS) in a Sample of Egyptian Adolescents. Encephale 27: 8–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pennec, F., J. Wencelius, E. Garine, C. Raimond, and H. Bohbot 2012 FLAME 1.1. Paris: CNRS.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quinlan, Marsha B. 2019 The Freelisting Method. In Handbook of Research Methods in Health Social Science. Pranee Liamputtong, ed. Singapore: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Sabry, Walaa M., and Adarsh Vohra 2013 Role of Islam in the Management of Psychiatric Disorders. Indian Journal of Psychiatry 55(2): 205–214. https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5545.105534.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Safadi, Reema R., Lubna A. Abushaikha, and Muayyad M. Ahmad 2016 Demographic, Maternal, and Infant Health Correlates of Post-partum Depression in Jordan. Nursing and Health Sciences 18: 306–313.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sartorius, Norman, Assen Jablensky, and Robert Shapiro 1978 Crosscultural Differences in the Short-Term Prognosis of Schizophrenic Psychoses. Schizophrenia Bulletin 4: 102–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, Jerome J., and Stephen P. Borgatti 1997 Salience Counts—and so Does Accuracy: Correcting and Updating a Measure for Free-List-Item Salience. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 7: 208–209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Statista 2018 Jordan: Literacy Rate from 2007 to 2017, Total and by Gender. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/572748/literacy-rate-in-jordan/.

  • Taylor, Steven J., and Robert Bogdan 1984 In Depth Interviewing. In Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods. Steven J. Taylor, and Robert Bogdan, eds. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • The World Bank 2018 Jordan. The World Bank Group. https://data.worldbank.org/country/jordan.

  • Thurgood, Sara, Daniel M. Avery, and Lloyda Williamson 2009 Postpartum Depression (PPD). American Journal of Clinical Medicine 6: 17–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tseng, Wen-Shing 2001 Handbook of Cultural Psychiatry. Honolulu: University of Hawaii.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations 2017 Understanding the Mental Health and Psychosocial Needs and Service Utilization of Syrian Refugees and Jordanian Nationals: A Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis in the Kingdom of Jordon. United Nations. https://data2.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/62036.

  • United Nations Relief and Works Agency 2018 Irbid Camp. United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. https://www.unrwa.org/where-we-work/jordan/irbid-camp.

  • Vardar, Azra, Ulrike Kluge, and Simone Penka 2012 How to Express Mental Health Problems: Turkish Immigrants in Berlin Compared to Native Germans in Berlin and Turks in Istanbul. European Psychiatry 27(2): 50–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0924-9338(12)75708-5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weaver, Lesley Jo, and Craig Hardley 2011 Social Pathways in the Comorbidity Between Type 2 Diabetes and Mental Health Concerns in a Pilot Study of Urban Middle- and Upper-Class Indian Women. ETHOS Journal of the Society for Psychological Anthropology 39(2): 211–225.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weller, Susan C., and A. Kimball Romney 1988 Systematic Data Collection. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization 2011 Report of the Mental Health System in Jordan. World Health Organization, Jordan office. https://www.who.int/mental_health/evidence/mh_aims_report_jordan_jan_2011_en.pdf?ua=1.

  • World Health Organization 2013 Profiles on Mental Health in Development: Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/92504.

  • World Health Organization 2017a Depression and Other Common Mental Disorders. Geneva: World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/254610/WHO-MSD-MER-2017a.2-eng.pdf.

  • World Health Organization 2017b Violence against women. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-women.

  • World Health Organization 2018 Mental Health in Jordan. Regional office for the Eastern Mediterranean. http://www.emro.who.int/jor/jordan-news/mental-health-in-jordan.html.

  • World Statistical Data 2019 Irbid, Jordan Population. Population Statistic. https://populationstat.com/jordan/irbid.

Download references

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Henry Philip Naser Diab, Ph.D. for the contacts in Jordan and Fawwaz Ayoub Momani, Ph.D. for coordination of the field work in Jordan and in assistance with needed contacts. In addition, thanks to Anas Majed Amin Al-Nasser, Lana AlZari, Fares Alshamali and Shimaa Al Nueimi for assistance in assembling data.

Funding

Partial financial support for the field work was received from Vilnius University.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Asian and Transcultural Studies, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania

    Dovilė Valaitė

  2. Institute of Psychology, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania

    Renatas Berniūnas

Authors
  1. Dovilė Valaitė
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Renatas Berniūnas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dovilė Valaitė.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

Ethical Approval

Study involving human participants was in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Verbal informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Consent to Participate

Verbal informed consent was obtained prior to the interview.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (DOCX 31 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Valaitė, D., Berniūnas, R. Majnūn or Mental Disorders: Between Cultural Traditions and Western Psychology in Jordan. Cult Med Psychiatry 48, 136–157 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-022-09787-0

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-022-09787-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation