Socio-Cultural Factors and Mental Illness in North-Eastern Region of India: A Review

North-East India is highly rich in socio-cultural aspects and it is also inhabited by the majority of the tribal people in India. Mental Illness is associated with the socio-cultural factors in every society. Therefore, the current review emphasizes socio-cultural factors of mental illness in North-East India. The review focuses on the latest scientific studies from different online search engines over the last decade. The major findings found that socio-cultural factors like traditional healing, faith healing, black magic, charms, rituals and religious methods have been predominantly influencing the mental health of the people. The review also found that poor knowledge, negative attitude, social stigma, lack of promotion of evidence-based treatment practice, and lack of accessibility and availability leads to the worst mental health condition among people. Therefore, the role of a professional social worker is to ensure and promote evidence-based treatment practice for people with mental illness. However, along with medical treatment, psychosocial intervention, positive cultural, traditional and folk methods are also important for the promotive, preventive and curative aspects of mental illness.