Schizophrenia: jinn, magic or disease? Experiences of family caregivers of patients with schizophrenia in Baloch ethnicity

BACKGROUND: Cultural and religious beliefs are effective on people’s attitudes towards schizophrenia and their help-seeking behaviors. This study aimed to explain the experiences of family caregivers of patients with schizophrenia in Baloch ethnicity. METHODS: This is a qualitative study with conventional content analysis approach. Purposive sampling was used and 21 participants, including family caregiver for patients with schizophrenia, a psychologist, a prayer-writer, and a normal person were interviewed in Sistan and Balochistan province in the southeast of Iran. Qualitative data were analyzed by Granheim and Lundman method. RESULTS: One main theme, three categories, and 10 Sub-categories were extracted from analysis of interviews. “Immersion in the cultural beliefs” was the main theme of the study with categories of “Belief in the superstitious and supernatural nature of the psychological disease”, “Superstitious beliefs, an attempt to free the patient”, and “Conflict between cultural beliefs and science”. CONCLUSIONS: Help-seeking behaviors of family caregivers in Baloch ethnicity are influenced by their religious, superstitious, and cultural beliefs. Psycho-education should be part of all mental health education programs in these communities, as delays in treatment worsen the prognosis of people with schizophrenia. Training the medical staff to consider the culture, religion and therapeutic preferences of the Baloch people can be effective in advancing the goals. In addition, local influencers should stress the importance of health care alongside harmless local remedies.