El diablo y la enfermedad: precisiones en cuanto al concepto de susto/espanto entre los indígenas de Michoacán, Mexico

Morán, Óscar Muñoz

doi:10.4000/nuevomundo.61215

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…The third enfermedad, Locura ("madness" or "insanity"), corresponds primarily to the domain of enduring or recurrent "psychotic" symptoms, and also, perhaps, some features of the Dissociative Disorders. All this, which we elaborate below, is broadly consistent with other ethnographic studies of mentaldisorder concepts in Latin America (see, e.g., Baer et al, 2003;Guarnaccia et al, 2010;Muñoz, 2011;Mata-Pinzón & Zolla, 1994;Salgado de Snyder et al, 1998, 2000Weller et al, 2002).…”

Section: Purépecha Folk Nosology: Classificatory Structuresupporting

confidence: 85%

Metaphor, magic, and mental disorder: Poetics and ontology in Mexican (Purépecha) curanderismo

Sass

Álvarez

2021

Transcult Psychiatry

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This article offers an epistemological, poetic, and ontological reading of the ways of knowing regarding mental disorders that are characteristic of the traditional healers ( curanderas and curanderos) of an Indigenous group in Mexico. The study is based on ethnographic interviews with traditional Purépecha (Tarascan) healers in rural Michoacan. Interviews focused on local conceptions of emotional and mental illness, especially Nervios, Susto, and Locura (nerves, fright, and madness). We discuss the conceptual structure of these Indigenous illness notions, the nature of the associated imagery and notions of the soul, as well as the general sense of meaningfulness and reality implicit in Purépecha curanderismo. The highly metaphorical modes of understanding characteristic of these healers defy analysis in purely structuralist terms. They do, however, have strong affinities with the Renaissance “episteme” or implicit framework of understanding described in The Order of Things, Michel Foucault's classic study of modes of knowing and experiences of reality in Western thought—a work profoundly influenced by Heidegger's interest in the historical and cultural constitution of what Heidegger termed “Being.” After examining the individual illness concepts, we explore both the poetic and the ontological dimension (the foundational sense of reality or of Being) that they involve, with special emphasis on supernatural concerns.

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Section: Purépecha Folk Nosology: Classificatory Structuresupporting

confidence: 85%

Metaphor, magic, and mental disorder: Poetics and ontology in Mexican (Purépecha) curanderismo

Sass

Álvarez

2021

Transcult Psychiatry

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“…Therefore, there is apparent agreement among researchers from different disciplines that susto is a syndrome that appears only in certain cultures, specifically in Latin America. Other authors (Armijos et al, 2014; Burman, 2010; Cepeda-Chamorro et al, 2018; Muñoz-Morán, 2011) build on this definition and characterize susto as a supernatural or spiritual disorder, referring to the fact that when a person is frightened, one of their souls is trapped or stolen by a spirit. Susto could therefore be considered a cultural syndrome related to supernatural actions or events.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Second, when comparing descriptions of susto from different fields, little cohesion is found in the terms used, forcing interpretations. Some articles used cultural expressions to define susto , such as “supernatural illness” (Muñoz-Morán, 2011) or “spiritual disorder” (Burman, 2010), whereas others used the more widespread term “culture-bound syndrome” (Brooks, 2016; Estrada-Reyes et al, 2014; Pagani et al, 2017; Remorini & Palermo, 2016; Roldán-Chicano et al, 2017; Rubel, 1964; Thomas et al, 2009; Urióstegui-Flores, 2015; Weller et al, 2008). Moreover, the aims of each article were different, with some focusing on a description of rituals to call the lost soul (Rösing, 1993), whereas others described in detail the symptoms (Weller et al, 2008) or the causes (Thomas et al, 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Susto as a cultural conceptualization of distress: Existing research and aspects to consider for future investigations

Martínez-Radl

Hinton

Stangier

2023

Transcult Psychiatry

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Among the cultural conceptualizations of distress, susto is defined in the DSM-5 as “a cultural explanation of distress and misfortune in Latin America that refers to an illness attributed to a terrifying event that causes the soul to leave the body and leads to unhappiness and illness, as well as difficulties in performing key social functions” (American Psychiatric Association (APA) (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition. Washington, DC: APA, p. 836). Thus, susto represents a cultural explanation that encompasses the symptoms of various mental disorders and physical diseases. We analyzed the descriptions of susto from different scientific fields and related them to definitions of DSM-5 syndromes. Three syndromic subtypes of susto show a symptomatic overlap with depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and somatic disorder. However, linguistic metaphors describing symptoms and perceived causes that are specific for Latin American culture support the concept of susto as a specific idiom of distress (e.g., loss of soul, shadow or ajayu; sunken, closed or white eyes; jumping and screaming in the night; being thrown to the ground). In addition, if diagnostic criteria are met for mental disorders, then susto describes a perceived cause of psychopathological states (e.g., depressive disorder, PTSD, somatic disorder, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder). Future research with people who have experienced susto is needed to clarify whether susto precedes the onset of other mental disorders (perceived cause) or whether it is a way of designating distress (idiom of distress).

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Savoirs croisés en contexte colonial, la gestation d’une nouvelle science. Le Florilegio medicinal (1713) du frère jésuite Juan de Esteyneffer

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2015

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El diablo y la enfermedad: precisiones en cuanto al concepto de susto/espanto entre los indígenas de Michoacán, Mexico

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

Metaphor, magic, and mental disorder: Poetics and ontology in Mexican (Purépecha) curanderismo

Metaphor, magic, and mental disorder: Poetics and ontology in Mexican (Purépecha) curanderismo

Susto as a cultural conceptualization of distress: Existing research and aspects to consider for future investigations

Savoirs croisés en contexte colonial, la gestation d’une nouvelle science. Le Florilegio medicinal (1713) du frère jésuite Juan de Esteyneffer

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