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rLung, Mind, and Mental Health: The Notion of “Wind” in Tibetan Conceptions of Mind and Mental Illness

  • Susannah Deane*
  • *Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)
471 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This article presents an analysis of the way in which rlung ("wind, breath") functions as a mode of explanation for what Western medicine regards as "psychiatric" illness, based on field research on the topic of mental health, illness, and healing conducted within a Tibetan population in Darjeeling, northeast India. The article explores this notion of rlung and its relationship to body and mind, in order to examine its role in the causation and treatment of various forms of "mental illness", before analysing some similarities and differences between rlung-related categories and biomedical classifications of mental illness.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)708-724
Number of pages17
JournalJournal of Religion and Health
Volume58
Issue number3
Early online date23 Feb 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Jun 2019

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

  1. SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
    SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Keywords

  • Medicine
  • Tibet
  • Sowa Rigpa
  • psychiatric
  • mind
  • Mental illness
  • Mental health
  • rlung

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