Therapeutic cultural resilience perspectives during the COVID-19 pandemic: An ethnographic qualitative study of Faisalabad, Pakistan

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Collective trauma is instigated on a wide scale by warfare, poverty, natural disasters, or global health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. For instance, natural disasters have a significant impact on the social fabrics of communities. This fallout can cause long-term social support networks to disintegrate, especially when combined with a high level of risk. In Faisalabad, Pakistan, COVID-19-induced collective trauma resulted in social and cultural upheavals, particularly in the initial phase of uncertainty when no effective medical interventions were indicated. At the community level, such difficulties were overcome through traditional cultural resilience. In this regard, cultural folk practices are generated and modified to comprehend and navigate challenging circumstances. Thus, this study investigates how community awareness and treatment alternatives during the COVID-19 pandemic were rooted in traditional and folk knowledge. Specifically, we conducted an ethnographic investigation to determine how individuals endured the pandemic during the first wave in 2020. The primary qualitative investigation revealed various aspects, including how religion influenced societal attitudes and provided individuals with the resilience to cope with the crisis. In addition, a number of cultural perspectives that emerged during the initial COVID-19 breakout and subsequent lockdown phase were investigated. Meanwhile, our empirical investigation considered therapeutic stances, such as herbal remedies, natural therapy methods, and traditional beliefs, on the socially constructed nature of illness. Overall, such therapeutic cultural resilience enhanced the emotional well-being, sense of personal power, and self-awareness of individuals in this community.