ABSTRACT
The main issue to be considered before discussing the pathology of psychiatric abnormalities in Indo-Asian communities is the limits of normality. Social and cultural influences are the important factors in shaping an individual's personality. Primarily based upon their experiences on the Indian subcontinent, most Indo-Asians have a very low opinion of psychiatry and psychiatric illnesses. Most Indo-Asians would try and give an alternative supernatural explanation for mental illness. People go to religious healers (pirs) or faith healers, who do not regurgitate scientific jargon but talk to people in their own language, with ideas they are familiar with. The taveez is a protective charm which is worn suspended usually by a black cord around the neck, encased in either a leather or miniature silver alloy box. Somatisation may represent a culturally acceptable way of expressing personal suffering, anxiety and despondency. Depression is common all over the world and particularly so in old age, mainly in those who have concurrent physical illness.
