Painless Therapy, Upstairs.

There was a dentist, many years ago, that had a sign visible from his dreaded dentist chair. It read, 'Painless Dentist, Upstairs.' Every patient that sat in his chair read that sign and smiled, as best they could with a mouthful of metal or dentist fist. Good therapy, like good dentistry, causes a bit of pain, no matter how gentle the practioner.

In the post called Quranic Psychiatrty, Dr Sanity highlights a post from the Baron, at Gates of Vienna (a terrific blog- be sure to link from Dr Sanity), which discusses the fantasyland that is 'Islamic psychiatry' and it's proponent, Sheikh Syed Mubarik Ali Shah Gilani (qualified practitioner of Quranic Psychiatry (QOU), a credential not held by Dr Sanity) who confidently states,

Only a qualified Qur'anic psychiatrist can treat and save mankind.

How, you might ask? With the right tests, of course.

In a Qur'anic Psychiatry clinic, a therapist carries out certain tests to determine the main cause of mental disorders. He or she is trained to use a thread of a particular length. This is given to the patient who holds it for some time. It is then measured very carefully. The Qur'anic therapist reads certain prayers, blows on the thread, and measures the thread again. The thread will either increase, decrease, or stay the same in length. If no change is registered, or course this means the disorder has a physical cause. If it has increased by a good length, this is due to the influence of a non-human agent. If it has decreased in length, this is due to sorcery. If it has increased length but not very much, this the effect of the evil eye. For each change, a special prescription is applied. One may also use the footprint test in the same manner as above.

There you have it, Quranic Psychiatry.

I can think of no one who might wish psychiatry be that simple an endeavor than professionals, like Dr Sanity herself.

Do you recall our 'On the Couch' with Dr Sanity? When asked if she recalled and was moved by a patients suffering, her candor and response moved us.

I actually cry frequently listening to patients’ stories. Many times I have been haunted by their pain and misery—it is quite a burden to the soul and each therapist must deal with it in their own way—or they will burn out. Patients are often amazed that I could cry for them or with them, but before I am a psychiatrist, I am a human being. I wrote a poem about it once during internship, which was one of the worse years of my life.

That poem, Dear Doctor, can be found here. Upon rereading that, it is evident that if there were anyone who wished blowing on thread would help ease the anguish, pain and suffering of those afflicted with mental disorders, it would be, as we said, Dr Sanity. There are many other members of her profession that would apply to. Neo-Neocon and Shrinkwrapped come immediately to mind, though no doubt there are a myriad of others.

Therapy and diagnosis, is a difficult business. With enough practise, even predicting behavior and outcomes sans therapy, can be exhausting, as the effects of that behavior on others, become real as the suffering grows exponentially.

Quranic psychiatry is a cruel joke- one that will be played over and over on unsuspecting believers determined to look backward, rather than forward. While adults may be free to choose and look to voodoo and witch doctors for treatment, there are children that will be relegated to lives of hopelessness, with no chance of a meaningful life or future.

That alone is reason enough to repudiate Islamism. No one- no one- has the right to deprive to deprive innocents of even the possibility of a future.

Read Dr Sanity's post here.