Mental Health and Illness in Contemporary Perspective: In Conversation with Dr Teinlay P. Trogawa

In this narrative, Tibetan medical practitioner Dr Teinlay P. Trogawa explores Sowa Rigpa perspectives on mental health, illness and healing. Describing both physical and psychological causes of illness, he examines the fundamental role of the wind “humour” in the mind and mental health, which may occur in addition to other factors such as diet, behaviour and local spirits. Alongside his descriptions of long-standing Sowa Rigpa concepts of causation and treatment – such as the importance of religious treatment for some cases of mental illness – Dr Trogawa also flags up some contemporary issues facing both practitioners and patients in Darjeeling and beyond. With his decades-long experience of practicing Tibetan medicine in diverse cultural communities in India and Europe, this transcript of an interview with Dr Trogawa brings a unique and very knowledgeable perspective to this subject, as Trogawa discusses contemporary and traditional Tibetan understandings of mental health and illness.