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Becoming a physician of the people in a rural mountain community in Mexico
Published in Paul M.W. Hackett, Christopher M. Hayre, Handbook of Ethnography in Healthcare Research, 2020
Community members have their own ways of describing physical and emotional pain. People spoke in terms of “hot” and “cold” illness, or symptoms ranging from fever, insomnia, to diarrhea caused by “susto,” a kind of spirit attack which may lead to “chronic somatic suffering stemming from emotional trauma or from witnessing traumatic experiences lived by others” (Razzouk, Nogueira, & de Jesus Mari, 2011). A pasante recalls how a woman who complained of lethargy placed her hands on her heart and explained, “I have too small of a heart. It does not have enough strength.” He realized she had depression. Other illnesses were believed to originate inside the navel. “Inside the umbilical cord there’s a tendon which goes from the belly button to the liver” explained one supervisor with Maya relatives. The Maya see this inner opening as a portal connecting a person with the universe and one’s mother.
Clinical Theory and Skills EMIs
Published in Michael Reilly, Bangaru Raju, Extended Matching Items for the MRCPsych Part 1, 2018
J.Susto is associated with conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression or somatoform disorder. The individual may have a number of anxiety or depressive symptoms as well as a variety of physical symptoms. Zar, on the other hand, refers to the belief of being possessed by a spirit held by some individuals from North-West Africa or the Middle East. [D. p1273]
The Pervasiveness of Incense
Published in Kerry Hughes, The Incense Bible, 2014
In her book, The Energy Prescription, Connie Grauds talks about susto and how it can be cured through ritual of singing sacred healing songs (called icaros) and blowing tobacco smoke or copal over the head of someone with susto. In the book Grauds gives an example of a baby who had susto, and how its healing involved healing of other members of its family who were unknowingly transmitting their susto to the baby (Grauds, personal communication, May 5, 2005).
Sleep paralysis in college students
Published in Journal of American College Health, 2022
Our study also allowed us to provide some additional data on the experiences and beliefs surrounding SP in a unique sample. Beyond the data on posture, timing, and duration of the episodes, our findings also suggest that folk-beliefs about the causes of SP still endure for some individuals. For example, 13% of those who had experienced it agreed or strongly-agreed that it was caused by the Devil. Within the Hispanic culture, there lingers a belief that strong shock or “susto” can lead to ill health, including diseases such as diabetes.22 In our college student sample, 37% of those who had experienced SP agreed that strong shock or susto could cause it and 11% believed that herbs could be used to treat it. Because our study did not measure level of acculturation, we cannot assess the extent to which this may have affected folk-beliefs surrounding SP. However, we are unaware of any literature showing an association between SP folk-beliefs and acculturation, nor are we aware of literature demonstrating an association between acculturation and Hispanic folk-beliefs more broadly.
“Something Born of the Heart”: Culturally Affiliated Illnesses of Older Adults in Oaxaca
Published in Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 2020
Oliva López Sánchez, Douglas C. Nance
These particular emotions were the most consistently identified and significant in the emotional and social lives of the participants. Tiricia is an individual illness related to the loss of a loved one or loss of family ties. Envidia is an illness related to the loss, or alienation, of relations of an individual with the community. Both are strongly related to the social and symbolic structure of these ethnic groups and are the result of imbalances among the entities that make up a person. These imbalances may include soul loss, as in susto (fright), in which the soul is trapped in the place where the susto occurred (Idoyaga Molina, 2002) and social imbalances originating in the harmful intentions and actions of others, such as witchcraft, envidia and mal de ojo (evil eye). The cultural epidemiology of illness examines representations and beliefs, which include folk concepts, religious beliefs, oral narratives and life experiences. This reformulates notions of humoral medicine, which does not involve a notion of psychological phenomenon or mental disorder in the sense of contemporary sciences.
An Examination of the Folk Healing Practice of Curanderismo in the Hispanic Community
Published in Journal of Community Health Nursing, 2018
Susto (fright) may also be described as soul loss, as it is thought to occur when a person experiences extreme fear which causes the soul to flee from the body (Cavender & Albán, 2009; Faver & Cavazos, 2009; Gonzales, 2012; Krajewski-Jaime, 1991; Mulcahy, 2010; Tafur et al., 2009). Susto can be caused by many forms of distress such as loss of social roles, the loss of a loved one, witnessing or experiencing violence (Gonzales, 2012), an unexpected encounter with a wild animal or aggressive spirit being, bad dreams, accidents such as car wrecks, falling down or mishaps with objects, or near accidents such as almost drowning or being hit by a car (Cavender & Albán, 2009). Symptoms of susto often look like symptoms of trauma (Gonzales, 2012). Some of the symptoms include anxiety, nervousness, listlessness, fatigue, loss of appetite, diarrhea, and apathy (Gonzales, 2012). Susto may be diagnosed by touching the patient’s nose, as it may feel very soft like cotton (Trotter & Chavira, 2011). Cures for susto include a limpia (cleansing) or barrida (sweeping) of the body of negative forces with an egg, lemon, sage, or other plants (Cavender & Albán, 2009; Gonzales, 2012; Krajewski-Jaime, 1991; Mulcahy, 2010; Trotter & Chavira, 2011). Susto is also treated through prayer (the ninety-first psalm), calling the soul back (Trotter & Chavira, 2011), the ingestion of hallucinogenic substances (Zacharias, 2006), digesting tea to calm the spirits, massage, medicinal baths, or by way of an Indian sweat bath in which people are heated with hot stones until they sweat out the mal (Gonzales, 2012). If left untreated, susto can develop into chronic illnesses such as diabetes and depression, and if lodged into certain parts of the body can cause breast cancer and heart disease (Don Aurelio Ramírez Cazarez, 2005; Doña Enriqueta Contreras, 2002 as cited in Gonzales, 2012). Additionally in extreme cases, susto is said to be fatal (Gonzales, 2012).