title: Relationship of supernatural beliefs and first treatment contact in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder: an exploratory study from India.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The etiology of mental illness has been attributed to many different causes by people of various cultural backgrounds, including supernatural beliefs. This in turn affects the help-seeking behavior. Aim of this study was to explore the supernatural belief and pathways of care in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) attending a tertiary care hospital located in north India.
  
  
  METHODS
  In all, 89 consecutive patients diagnosed with OCD (according to the International Classification of Diseases-10th Revision (ICD-10)) and ≥ 15 years of age were evaluated for their supernatural belief and help seeking.
  
  
  RESULTS
  More than half of the patients (54%) believed in supernatural causes and 57.3% attributed their illness to supernatural causes. In addition to supernatural causes, many patients also attributed their illness to stress (household/work-related stress) or chemical imbalance in the body and or mind. About two-thirds of the patients (n = 58; 65.2%) first contacted a psychiatrist for their symptoms of OCD. Those who first contacted faith healers believed in one of the supernatural causations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with OCD hold multiple beliefs regarding the etiology and treatment of mental illness which can affect their pathways to care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, India drsandeepg2002@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Sandeep
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Grover
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, India.
authors.forename: Bichitra N
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Patra
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, India.
authors.forename: Munish
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aggarwal
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, India.
authors.forename: Ajit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Avasthi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, India.
authors.forename: Subho
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chakrabarti
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, India.
authors.forename: Savita
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Malhotra
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003469:Culture; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D029221:Faith Healing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D013483:Superstitions / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Culture; obsessive compulsive disorder; pathways to care; supernatural belief