Skip to main content Skip to search
rLung, Mind, and Mental Health: The Notion of "Wind" in Tibetan Conceptions of Mind and Mental Illness
Journal of Religion and Health
Short Title: J Relig HealthrLung, Mind, and Mental Health
Format: Journal Article
Publication Date: 2019/06//
Pages: 708 - 724
Sources ID: 96191
Visibility: Public (group default)
Abstract: (Show)
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.