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Paper short abstract

This study explores how individuals in Istanbul navigate mental distress through informal and relational processes within the pluralistic healthcare system of contemporary Turkey.

Paper long abstract

This study explores how individuals in Istanbul navigate mental distress through informal and relational processes within a pluralistic therapeutic landscape. Rather than making autonomous decisions between biomedical psychiatry and spiritual healing, individuals are often guided toward particular forms of care by people around them such as family members, neighbors, or acquaintances, through a process I describe as referral through proximity. Based on qualitative research in Istanbul, the article explores how therapeutic pathways are shaped by social closeness, gendered spaces, and moments of shared uncertainty. Rather than treating healing as a matter of individual preference or systemic integration, the article shows how therapeutic pathways often begin through informal suggestions. By focusing on proximity, trust, and everyday interactions, the article offers a relational perspective on how people navigate overlapping forms of care in contemporary Turkey.