CC BY
17
Soliev I.M.
Kamalova N.L.
Andijan State Medical Institute
Uzbekistan
FOLK HEALING
Annotation:. The article is devoted to folk healing as an integral part of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). It discusses the main types of healing magic. An important section of the article is analysis of the results of semi-standardized interviews with Uzbekistan healers (N=4). Their sociodemographic characteristics are given, the list of services they provide is indicated, the main channel for attracting new patients to them is determined, the content of their cultural capital is disclosed and their participation in a professional association is noted. This article presents data from the materials of standardized interviews with residents of Uzbekistan (N=25) about their ambiguous attitude to folk healing.
Keywords: folk medicine, folk healing, magic, curative magic, types of curative magic, social practices, complementary (complementary) medicine, alternative medicine, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).
In (post)In modern society, there is a return to the practices of traditional medicine, which challenges researchers to explain this phenomenon and determine its consequences, and state health systems encourage to establish control over the activities of traditional healers, taking into account the interests of patients and ensuring their safety. In the paternal law, folk healing is identified with folk medicine and is interpreted as follows: "... these are methods of healing, prevention, diagnosis and treatment based on the experience of many generations of people who have established themselves in folk traditions and are not registered in accordance with the procedure established by the legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan."
In fact, the concept of "folk healing" correlates with the terms "healing magic", "alternative medicine", "complementary medicine" and "complementary medicine", which do not have unambiguous interpretations, differ in semantic dualism, some of them are sometimes used interchangeably.
Historically, magic acts as one of the first methods of healing, its viability and stability is due to the effect of psychotherapeutic influence on an individual suffering from an illness. From the point of view of the sociology of religion, magic combines ideas and rituals, which are based on the belief in the possibility of influencing people, animals, objects and phenomena of the objective world in special ways different from everyday practical activities.
Healing magic can be represented as a combination of symbolic actions and interactions of individuals or groups, the result of which is the recovery of the patient in a supernatural (irrational) way.
Complementary (complementary) medicine can be considered as established in cultural traditions, widespread, with experience in practical application, therapeutic and preventive systems and methods, and modern medical technologies developed on their basis, used in addition to conventional, evidence-based medicine, and alternative medicine is a kind of non-traditional medicine used instead of standard generally accepted medical procedures and providing patients with more compassionate, personalized and comprehensive medical care.
In modern science and the health management system, the phrase "complementary and alternative medicine" (hereinafter referred to as KAM) is most often used, which reflects the trend towards the integration of medical practices.
Four healers were interviewed using a semi-standardized interview. Among them: 2 men and 2 women; average age is 45 years; higher education only one person has an education, and all healers do not have a special medical education, but half of the informants have permission to use folk medicine for medicinal purposes. The medical practice of healers is focused on the treatment of "child fright", stuttering, obesity, enuresis, osteochondrosis, impotence, infertility. All respondents stated that they remove damage and the evil eye, treat "karmic diseases" and help in solving psychological problems. The attitude of Yekaterinburg residents to folk healing was revealed through standardized interviews with residents of the city (N=25) aged 35 to 50 years with higher education. The shares of men and women are represented in equal proportions. During interviews with healers, it turned out that the main channel for attracting new patients are acquaintances and relatives who recommend the services of medical magicians to their friends. This is confirmed by the citizens interviewed by us: sources of receipt information about the activities of folk healers is provided, firstly, by the immediate social environment, i.e. friends, acquaintances, relatives (18 respondents); secondly, by brochures and advertisements (5 respondents); thirdly, by mass media, in which publications describing the practice of healing magic are published (2 respondents).
One of the central issues of the modern development of folk healing as a KAM practice is the issue of trust on the part of the population. According to the data obtained, some patients turn to healing magic in critical situations, their choice is conditioned, for example, by the presence of a serious illness. In this way, the issue of trust in the healer is transformed into the problem of faith as a source and driving force for the inclusion of individuals and groups in the KAM system. This is indicated by the specifics of the process and context of communication healers and patients. For example, Yekaterinburg healers-informants usually begin their activities with prayer. All healers work with right-
glorious attributes (candles, icons, etc.), however, from the Christian point of view, treatment with methods of non-traditional medicine is misleading people, temptation.
The study showed that the cultural capital of healers includes, as mandatory/desirable elements, firstly, a loyal attitude to religion; secondly, declarations of appeal to them for the help of "supporters" of official medicine; thirdly, ignoring the opinions of skeptics and critics of CAM methods.
Conclusion: The results of the survey of citizens indicate that their attitude to the practices of KAM is ambiguous. Thus, 4/5 of respondents do not trust alternative treatment practices and believe that turning to healers entails certain risks, among which the leading position is occupied by the loss (undermining) of health (16 respondents). We point out that, from the point of view of doctors, healing can cause direct and indirect harm to patients, since this practice is also practiced by scammers seeking to earn easy money from people's diseases.
At the same time, 5 Uzbeks expressed a trusting attitude to folk medicine, believing that it has already proved its healing powers throughout centuries. In addition, two healers interviewed by us reported that they themselves strongly advised some patients to turn to evidence -based medicine and undergo an examination. It should be noted that they had a large number of people who wanted to get advice and treatment at the time of the interview.
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