Amaç: Psikiyatrik tedavilerle folklorik ve şarlatanca uygulamalar arasındaki farkın anlatılması amaçlanmıştır. Yöntem: Bilimde epistemolojinin önemi büyüktür. Üzerinde deney yapılamayan ve inanç konusu olan bilgiler sübjektif bilgi adını alır, değişmeye son derecede dirençlidirler ve genellikle bir din veya ideolojiden kaynaklanırlar. Objektif bilgi ise tam aksi özelliklere sahip olup, müspet ilmin kullandığı bilgidir. Sonuç ve Yorum: Psikiyatri müspet ilmin bir dalıdır ve objektif bilgiye dayanır. Psikiyatrların kişisel inançları veya ideolojileri ne olursa olsun, bunu bilimsel uygulamaya ve düşünceye bulaştırmamaları gerekir.

Purpose: To discuss the difference between psychiatric treatment modalities and folkloric therapies and so called cures of the charlatans, the role that psychiatrists should play in terms of medical ethics when they are faced with such a request or a fait accomplis. Method: Epistemology (theory of knowledge) has a very important place in science. Epistemology questions the source and validity/reliability of the knowledge. Beginning from the Ancient Greek Era, epistemology has been -and probably will go on being- a philosophical argument. On the other hand, positive science has to set some limits to the philosophers' never ending interpretations and has to be practical as well. Although there are many theories and controversies among philosophers about the subject, we can talk about two kinds of knowledge: Knowledge which can not be tested and which is a subject of belief is called subjective knowledge; it is obtained by intuition, inspiration or revelation and it is highly resistant to any change and generally forms the database of a religious or ideological system. Objective knowledge has just the opposite characteristics and it is the kind of knowledge that positive science relies on. It is testable, obtained by observation and experiments; it is open to revaluation, change and evolution so that new theories, observations and experiments always carry this kind of knowledge one step forward. Since psychiatry is a branch of positive science, its epistemological source is objective knowledge and its methodology is empiricism. Unfortunately, some charlatans or schizotypal or psychotic "healers" think and claim that they also cure people who have mental disorders. In Turkish, "ruh" means both soul or spirit and psyche. Because of this semantic ambiguity, they regard themselves as our colleagues. Since science is not -and will not be- able to cure every disorder, such hope merchants will always exist. So, it is very critical to identify the psychologists' and psychiatrists' role when facing with such people and situations. Conclusion and Remarks: Psychiatry is a branch of positive science and relies on objective knowledge. Psychiatrists may have ideologies or they may believe in a religion but psychiatry, on the contrary does not! Whatever their personal ideological or religious beliefs are, psychiatrists should not contaminate these with their scientific applications and thinking. History is full of disgusting examples of such contamination: The unbelievable medical experiments which were done on the Jews just because the fascist Nazi ideology considered them not to be human, "treatment" of thinkers with electroconvulsive therapy in Soviet Russia because they did not believe in Marxism and this was regarded as a mental illness! We don't have the right to send anybody to such charlatans or so called faith healers, even we should not advise any body in case of any kind of insistence from the patient, family etc... Of course, we also don't have the right to block some religious rituals like praying for the dying patient, but this must be arranged in proper circumstances not to disturb or demoralize other patients in the ward. After all, we are not moralists, we are therapists!