Gypsies's beliefs about the evil eye in relation to mental illness

Abstract

Introduction

The focus of Medical Anthropology is, among other things, the study of medicine as an expression of culture and involves the analysis of healing traditions, both “traditional” and biomedical.

Objectives

Greek Gypsies who have their own habitus, language, and culture.

Aims The discussion of treatment options that gypsies have or seek in order to address critical life situations outside a biomedical context.

Methods

Field research with interviews and observation.

Results

Using Geertz's analytic approach of symbolic interpretation, this paper focuses on the mobilization and transformation of religious symbols in the clinical setting: how these “converse” with biomedicine and how they participate in the process of healing. Painful life experiences drive subjects to seek recourse in remedies outside the biomedical system. At the center of these experiences are thought to be attacks from the “evil eye.” According to the subjects’ worldview, all people are potential victims of the evil eye. A person's glance can provoke the injury, illness, mental illness or even death of another. Consequently, there is a hierarchy of therapeutic choices in which first preference is given to their own means for addressing a situation—only in the case of failure do they turn to specialists.

Conclusions

The beliefs of the subjects are strongly influenced by their worldview, a historically inherited model of health and healing that, unlike the biomedical model, expresses a belief that ailments are successfully cured “wıth God”.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.