Mental Health or Black Magic?

Is it a chemical imbalance, trauma, or did your aunt back home curse you?

In many cultures around the world, mental health has historically been explained through spiritual or supernatural frameworks. Long before psychology and psychiatry became formal disciplines, communities made sense of emotional distress or unusual behaviors as signs of spiritual imbalance, ancestral unrest, evil eye (nazar), or even black magic (kala jadoo).

In parts of South Asia, for instance, anxiety, depression, or psychosis may be understood not as a mental health diagnosis but as the result of a curse, jinn possession, karma, or the consequences of not fulfilling spiritual duties. In some African and Caribbean cultures, symptoms are attributed to curses or ancestral disconnection. Healing rituals, religious ceremonies, and traditional healers (like shamans, imams, pandits, or spiritual elders) were often turned to as the first line of treatment—not therapists or psychiatrists.

The Cultural Conflict for Western Minds

For those born in Canada or educated in Western systems, this worldview can be deeply confusing. We also sometimes don’t know what to believe, can both be real and possible causes of mental health issues?

You might hear your doctor say you're experiencing panic attacks, while your parents insist someone gave you nazar. Your therapist suggests cognitive restructuring; your parent insist on calling “babay” or healers back home to start prayers or tell you what to do to ward off the evil.

Both might be trying to help—but the frameworks are completely different.

Example: Meena (Registered Clinical Counsellor) grew up with extended family who had limited knowledge of what mental health was, and though they are aware now that mental health issues are real, there is still a question of what else it could be…is it nazar, a curse or is it bad energy needs prayers as well? Letting go of those beliefs is hard for some family members and they do truly believe that black magic (kala jadoo) and other spiritual influences are real. Either way, when it comes to supporting someone with their mental health, if they believe in spirituality, nazar, or curses, those beliefs are given space to be discussed and addressed in the counselling room at Bumblebee Counselling!

When it Can Become a Struggle

One of the hardest parts of navigating mental health struggles as a child of immigrants—or someone raised in a culture that sees mental illness through a spiritual lens—is this:

Your pain isn’t always seen as real.

Instead of depression, they might call it laziness.

Instead of anxiety, they say you “think too much.”

Instead of trauma, they say someone must have cursed you or you’re being dramatic.

If you tell them you’re going to therapy, they ask, “Why do you need to talk to a stranger about our family?” 

If you talk about medication, they fear it’ll “mess with your brain.” 

If you try to explain panic attacks, they wonder if you’re being too dramatic—or worse, they believe it’s Obeah, Jadoo, or jinn.

It can be very frustrating especially when you know certain mental health struggles are genetic! But it can also hurt.

Not just because you’re struggling—but because the people you love most can’t meet you in it. They don’t understand the language of mental health. And sometimes, they’re scared of it. They carry their own shame, stigma, and silence—passed down for generations. In many of their home countries, counselling wasn’t accessible, or it was only for the “mad” or the “weak.”

So now, you’re left trying to heal from something they don’t even believe in. You’re translating your feelings into a language they don’t speak—while trying not to feel guilty for getting help in ways they never could.

It’s okay to feel the pain of not being understood.

It’s okay to wish your parents got it.

It’s okay to seek counselling anyway.

You’re not betraying your culture by getting help.

You’re doing the emotional labor not just for yourself—but for future generations. You’re breaking cycles in silence while honoring your roots with compassion. And maybe one day, your healing will be the reason someone in your family starts to believe too.

What Modern Counselling is Missing

While the Western model is built on science, research, and individual responsibility, many cultural approaches to emotional distress emphasize collective care. You're not expected to suffer alone or solve your problems in private.

Healing often takes place within community.

Prayers are offered with family.

Rituals are conducted with support.

Meditation, chanting, and spiritual practices are shared experiences—not solo tasks on a to-do list.

Whether someone believes their suffering is due to black magic or depression, what’s often consistent is this: the healing is done together. There’s a village mentality. A recognition that the soul or mind in pain needs presence, not just a prescription.

And maybe, that's what we're missing in the West. Whether we explain suffering through spiritual or psychological language, we’ve lost much of the community-based care that cultures around the world have preserved. Isolation has become the default response to distress. “Go see someone,” we say—rather than, “Come sit with us.”

Can We Hold Both Views?

The popular evil eye symbol can be found on amulets, jewelry, clothing, and more. It originates from Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cultures. Believed to protect against negative energy and ill will.

Instead of debating which view is “correct,” what if we asked what is helpful? What if we allowed space for both spiritual meaning and scientific understanding? What if our families were open to incorporating both and respecting modern medicine and cultural views? What if our mental health support systems included elders and therapists, rituals and routines, faith and facts.

A culturally sensitive approach to mental health allows people to bring their full selves into healing. That includes their spiritual beliefs, cultural values, family systems, and personal experiences. It also means challenging the assumption that therapy and medication are the only “real” treatments—or that spiritual practices are inherently unscientific.

Let’s not forget: whether through science or spirit, healing is most powerful when it is shared.