| Ethnomedicine and ethnobotany of fright, a Caribbean culture-bound psychiatric syndrome. | |
| | |
MedLine Citation:
|
PMID: 20163730 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
|
BACKGROUND: "Fright" is an English-speaking Caribbean idiom for an illness, or ethnomedical syndrome, of persistent distress. A parallel ethnopsychiatric idiom exists in the French Antilles as sésisma. Fright is distinct from susto among Hispanics, though both develop in the wake of traumatic events. West Indian ethnophysiology (ethnoanatomy) theorizes that an overload of stressful emotions (fear, panic, anguish or worry) causes a cold humoral state in which blood coagulates causing prolonged distress and increased risks of other humorally cold illnesses. METHODS: Qualitative data on local explanatory models and treatment of fright were collected using participant-observation, informal key informant interviews and a village health survey. Ethnobotanical and epidemiological data come from freelist (or "free-list") tasks, analyzed for salience, with nearly all adults (N = 112) of an eastern village in Dominica, and a village survey on medicinal plant recognition and use (N = 106). RESULTS: Along with prayer and exercise, three herbs are salient fright treatments: Gossypium barbadense L., Lippia micromera Schauer, and, Plectranthus [Coleus] amboinicus [Loureiro] Sprengel. The survey indicated that 27% of village adults had medicated themselves for fright. Logistic regression of fright suffering onto demographic variables of age, education, gender, parental status and wealth measured in consumer goods found age to be the only significant predictor of having had fright. The probability of having (and medicating for) fright thus increases with every year. CONCLUSIONS: While sufferers are often uncomfortable recalling personal fright experiences, reporting use of medicinal plants is less problematic. Inquiry on fright medical ethnobotany (or phytotherapies) serves as a proxy measurement for fright occurrence. Cross-cultural and ethnopharmacology literature on the medicinal plants suggests probable efficacy in accord with Dominican ethnomedical notions of fright. Further, the cultural salience and beliefs about these medicines may give these medications extra psychoneuroimmune (i.e. mind-body) benefits, or placebo-like effects, for this stress-related folk illness. |
| | |
Authors:
|
Marsha B Quinlan |
Publication Detail:
|
Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Date: 2010-02-17 |
Journal Detail:
|
Title: Journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine Volume: 6 ISSN: 1746-4269 ISO Abbreviation: J Ethnobiol Ethnomed Publication Date: 2010 |
Date Detail:
|
Created Date: 2010-03-18 Completed Date: 2010-07-27 Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
|
Nlm Unique ID: 101245794 Medline TA: J Ethnobiol Ethnomed Country: England |
Other Details:
|
Languages: eng Pagination: 9 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
|
Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99163, USA. mquinlan@wsu.edu |
Export Citation:
|
APA/MLA Format Download EndNote Download BibTex |
| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
|
Adult Age Factors Aged Angiosperms* Culture Dominica Ethnobotany Fear* Female Health Care Surveys Humans Interviews as Topic Logistic Models Male Medicine, Traditional* Mental Disorders / therapy* Middle Aged Phytotherapy* Plant Extracts / therapeutic use* Plants, Medicinal Psychoneuroimmunology Socioeconomic Factors Stress, Psychological / therapy* |
| Chemical | |
Reg. No./Substance:
|
0/Plant Extracts |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
Previous Document: A protocol for an individualised, facilitated and sustainable approach to implementing current evide...
Next Document: Micro-computed tomography-based phenotypic approaches in embryology: procedural artifacts in assessm...