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THE PREVALENCE OF SOMATIC SYMPTOM DISORDERS AMONG REGULAR  
FEMALE PATIENTS OF FAITH HEALERS 
 

               Zaufishan Qureshi 
1
 Anum Shahzad 2 & Sehrish Naeem 

3 
1. Department of Psychology, Foundation University Islamabad 

2. Department of Psychology, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi 
3. Department of Psychology, University of Poonch, Rawalakot 

Corresponding author: zaofishan.qureshi@gmail.com 

 

ABSTARCT: The study aimed to study the prevalence of Somatic symptom and related disorders among regular female patients of faith healers. 

The study was exploratory in nature and case studies of ten females were taken. The study aimed to investigate the prevalence of Somatic 

symptom and related disorders among those women who regularly visit Faith healers for the cure of all major to minor illnesses and do not trust 

doctors after nil diagnosis. The cases were taken from Rawalakot and Rawalpindi. Detailed histories and current condition of the patients were 

obtained. The patients were asked for their symptoms, incidence and onset of symptoms, severity and intensity of symptoms and recurrence. On 

the basis of which, the patients were diagnosed according to DSM-V (2013) criteria for Somatic symptom and related disorders cluster. The 

results showed that 7 out 10 women were suffering from some type of somatic symptom and related disorders. The patients needed to seek 

psychological help but they weren‟t aware of this fact. All of the patients turned to faith healers because doctors provided nil diagnosis as their 

bodily symptoms were purely psychological. 

KEYWORDS: Somatic Symptoms Disorder, faith healers, DSM-V 

 

INTRODUCTION: 

 Psycho-somatic disorders are those which involve bodily 

complaints due to psychological reasons. Medical checkup mostly 

result in nil diagnosis because no evidence of the bodily symptom 

can be found. The history of such bodily complaints with no 

medical evidence has been a subject of interest for both 

Psychiatrists and Psychologists. It is important that both 

communities work on the study and investigation of this disorder 

as it concerns both communities. Somatoform disorders are 

referred as somatic symptom and related disorders in the recent 

edition of the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders 

(DSM, V, 2013).  Such a disorder tends to be long lasting and 

chronic. It includes physical complaints that can last up to a couple 

of years causing substantial impairment in social life as well as 

daily routines of the individual. There might or might not be 

medical explanations for the symptoms such individuals 

experience. DSM-IV excluded organically explainable 

comorbidities for instance cancer and cardiovascular diseases in 

the patients. However, such conditions can be a part of SSD 

diagnosis now, increasing the chances of suitable and correct 

treatment. As per DSM- V, somatic symptoms include factitious 

disorder, conversion disorder, psychological factors effecting other 

medical conditions, illness anxiety disorders, other specified 

somatic symptom and related disorder, and unspecified somatic 

symptom and related disorder. The term somatization is defined in 

ICD-10 as numerous, physical symptoms which are regularly 

varying as well as recurring and are present for a minimum of two 

years before the individual can be referred to a psychiatrist. For 

patients who had physical symptoms and visited medical help 

recurrently regardless of negative investigations, the term of 

unexplained somatic complaints was presented. It is very much 

likely for such patients to be the victims of stigmatization and 

disregarded by their general physicians or medical doctors; they 

can be labeled as having problems which are not real or are all in 

their heads. Nevertheless, with the increase in research in this area 

and the link between brain, immunity and other biological systems, 

it is becoming clear that SSD is not merely a condition that patients 

make up and have control over, thereby the symptoms should be 

considered unfeigned instead of malingering. 

Healing may be physical or psychological and not without the 

mutual reception of these two dimensions of human health. In 

psychiatry and psychology, healing is the process by which 

neuroses and psychoses are resolved to the degree that the client is 

able to lead a normal and healthy life and a fulfilling existence in 

the world. Religious and spiritual beliefs and practices are 

important in the lives of many patients, yet medical students, 

residents and physicians are often uncertain about whether, when, 

or how, to address spiritual or religious issues. Faith based healing 

is an umbrella term for a family of treatment methods which are 

based upon mysticism or claimed revelations, rather than the 

empirical evidence which is the foundation of scientific medicine. 

Many, though not all, faith healing methods implicitly assume 

some form of substance dualism, based upon the hypothesis that 

physical symptoms of illness are a manifestation of disturbances in 

some nonphysical component of the person. The language used to 

describe this spiritual substance varies, but common examples are 

spirit, soul, chakra, or human energy field. Despite this, faith 

healing traditions are also known to occur in cultures in which 

some form of monism is dominant, such as certain schools of 

Hinduism. Some faith based healing methods invoke the 

intervention of a nonhuman supernatural being or beings, 

supposedly to heal the patient on behalf of the practitioner. These 

methods remain controversial, both as a result of innate conceptual 

difficulties (for instance, many philosophers question how a 

nonphysical agent could interact with a physical body), as well as 

the lack of reproducible, scientifically documented evidence for 

the efficacy of any of these healing methods (Vyse, 2000; Egnew, 

2005). People from non-western and non- Christian context may 

also have a belief that there mental distress, anxious mood and 

other forms of psychological pathology can be better cope through 

religious and spirituality practices including (offering prayers, 

meditation, wearing taweez & talismans etc. (Watson-Franke ,1977 

; Helming, 2011). A research conducted in India depicts that 

Indians were more likely to prefer different strategies of spiritual 

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE 
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practices in order to alleviate distress, including „indigenous forms 

of medicine and healing, homeopathic medicines, yoga, and the 

exorcism of evil spirits (Laungani, 1994). PEW Research Centre 

conducted survey on world Muslims namely Nine countries were 

included, after the results it was conclude that: peoples have 

different views related to supernatural forces like, amulet, magic or 

sorcery, witchcraft, demons & devil and the evil eye (PEW, 2012). 

Objectives of the Study:  

To investigate the prevalence of Somatic symptom and related 

disorders among regular female patients of faith healers 

Research Question:  

What is the prevalence of Somatic symptom and related disorders 

in regular female patients of faith healers?  

 

METHOD:  

The proposed study intended to find out the prevalence of Somatic 

symptom disorders among regular female patients of faith healers. 

The study followed a “survey” research design. Both “faith 

healing” and “possible somatic symptom and related disorders” are 

perceived as dependent variables. 

Participants: 

Convenient sampling technique and snowball sampling technique 

was used to select the respondents of the study. The researcher 

included 10 female cases from Rawalpindi and Rawalakot. 

Instruments: 

A specific interview schedule was developed for the proposed 

study which would address the research questions in detail. 

DSM-V (2013) was used as a valid and reliable measure and 

diagnostic tool for Somatic symptom disorder. 

Procedure: 

The researcher organized meetings with the prospective 

respondents. They visited easily approachable cities and villages of 

Punjab and Kashmir. The researcher gathered the data after 

building a satisfactory level of rapport with the respondents. The 

issues of confidentiality and compliance to the ethical standards 

were given proper consideration. 

Data Analysis: 

The analysis of the interview schedules was carried by using DSM-

V (diagnostic & Statistical manual for mental disorders). 

Percentages were computed. 

 

RESULT: 

7 out of 10 females had proneness to somatic symptom and related 

disorders. The prevalence of somatic symptom and related 

disorders was 70%. Conversion disorder proneness was most 

prevalent (4 out of 10). 

 

 

 

DISCUSSION:  

The current study involved 10 case studies of those women who 

regularly visit faith healers for their bodily complaints. The 

findings are discussed as follows: 

Commonly prevalent symptoms 

The symptoms for which the subjects sorted faith based healing 

included Sleeplessness, Anxiousness about one‟s illness, 

Nightmares, Irritability, Restlessness, Depressed mood, No sexual 

arousal, Lack of interest in occupational and pleasurable activities, 

Suspicious attitude towards others, Headache, Anxious feelings, 

Dissatisfaction, Over eating, Poor appetite, Auditory 

hallucinations, Aggressive behavior, Delusions (including 

persecutory and somatic), Body pain , Loneliness, Hearing 

disturbance, Weeping and Insomnia . 

The prevalent disorders were Conversion disorder, somatic 

symptom disorder, and illness anxiety disorders, which were 

diagnosed in the respondents (by applying the criteria of DSM V) 

after interviews and analyzing their symptoms. 

Patients diagnosed with conversion disorder experienced sensory 

and motor problems along with somatic complaints. These cases 

also involved many psycho-social and economic stressors such as, 

marital problems, poverty, migration to another city, and 

loneliness. The complaints included a non-stop shaky arm, 

sensation and throbbing in ears, twitching of foot finger, and 

sensation of termites crawling over body. The symptoms were 

experienced for more than 6 months. Medical diagnosis was nil. 

Patients with somatic symptom disorder involved severe pain in 

variety of body parts that lasted for more than 6 months. They also 

experienced psycho-social, psycho-sexual and financial issues. 

One of the cases was going through a pending divorce case. 

Another was dissatisfied sexually from husband since the first day 

of marriage and also faced domestic violence and marital rape. 

Pain was severe and genuine but no medical evidence was there 

and diagnosis was nil.  

Illness anxiety disorder was also prevalent. Patient was constantly 

worried about the bodily symptoms and constantly wept and feared 

her pain and condition. It impaired her married life, interpersonal 

relationships and daily functioning. The symptoms were 

experienced for more than six months.  

 

CONCLUSION: 

The study concludes that awareness about somatic symptom and 

related disorders should be given by general physicians so that 

people seek psychological help rather than faith based healing 

methods that have not only high rate of recurrence but also aren‟t 

genuine in most of the cases. The study investigated the prevalence  

 

 

 

 

 Somatic Case 1 Case 2 Case 3 Case 4 Case 5 Case 6 Case 7 Case 8 Case 9 Case 10 Percentages 
 symptom and            

 related Disorders            
             

 Conversion 1 1 1  1      40% 
 Disorder            

 Somatic    1   1    20% 
 Symptoms            

 Disorder            
             

 Illness anxiety      1     10% 
 Disorder            

             

Table 1: Shows percentages of somatic symptoms and related disorders among cases. 
 

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE 
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©Advance Education Institute & Research Centre-2014    

of only one cluster of disorders among so many mental disorders 

and yet it found that 7 out of 10 female cases (70%) were suffering 

from somatic symptom and related disorders. It is dreading to 

imagine how many others could be diagnosed with other sort of 

disorders that need psychological and medical help.  

 

REFERENCES:  

 American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and 

statistical manual of mental disorders (5th Ed.). Washington, 

DC. 

 Helming MB. (2011) healing though prayer: A qualitative 

study. Holistic Nursing Practice, 25(1):33-44. 

 Laungani, E. 1994. Cultural differences in stress: India and 

England. Counseling Psychology Review 9(4): 25-37. 

 Thomas R. Egnew (2005) the meaning of healing: 

transcending suffering. Annals of family medicine. 3(3): 

255–262. 

 Vyse, Stuart A (2000). Believing in Magic: The Psychology 

of Superstition. Oxford,       England: Oxford University 

Press. pp. 19–22.  

 Watson, L. C. and Watson-Franke, M.-b. (1977), Spirits, 

Dreams, and the Resolution of Conflict among Urban Guajiro 

Women. Ethos, 5: 388–408. 

 World Health Organization. (1992). ICD-10 Classifications 

of Mental and Behavioral Disorder: Clinical Descriptions and 

Diagnostic Guidelines. Geneva. World Health Organization. 

 

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