Background: In our country with its diversity of languages and religions one thing common to its people is their faith in traditional healing practices. Non medical causes are attributed to a variety of illnesses and seeking professional medical help is often delayed. This is more so with psychiatric illnesses as they are stigmatized. Aims: To find the percentage of psychiatric patients seeking help from faith healers and various associated variables. Methods: Three hundred patients were interviewed using a proforma especially designed for this study. The data collected was tabulated and analysed. Results: More than half (52.7%) of the patients had visited faith healers before coming to a psychiatrist. Patients with psychotic disorders like schizophrenia were more likely to visit faith healers than other patients. Lag period before seeking psychiatric treatment was 6 months to a year. Performing rituals and giving taviz were most common methods used and almost 60% perceived improvement but it lasted for less than a week. 30% of patients wanted to continue faith healing along with psychiatric treatment. Conclusions: Seeking help from faith healers is often the first step towards seeking professional help. However it results in considerable delay in management of patients often with serious consequences for the patients