Acta Psiquiatr Psicol Am Lat. 1981 Jul; 27(3): 194-9.

[Emotions and psychopathology: an indigenous theory]

Tousignant M.

After reviewing the beliefs concerning folk illnesses such as susto, colico and pena, which are said to be caused by emotions in Latin America, we tried to understand the attitudes Indians have toward these emotions. The main states discussed are fright, anger and grief and they are related to a universe of spirits seen as the agents of these states or as being annoyed by them. Although there are obvious parallels between his mode of thinking and psychosomatic medicine, the underlying principles are quite different. The emotions involved in the causation of illnesses are regarded as a reflection of weaknesses in the individual. But if Indians consider emotions to be a sign of weakness, they do not see them as the opposite pole to reason as Western philosophy and psychoanalysis do (id. against the ego). The latter points to traumatic experiences as a very important factor in the genesis of neurosis, but during the cure these experiences must be talked about and thus integrated into rational discourse (Das soll ich Werden). Native healers, on the contrary, do most of the work of the cure and they oftenenter into altered states of consciousness, either through drugs or alcohol, in order to supersede the spirits overpowering the patient or to gain the complicity of superior gods, thus making only minimal use of verbal exchange.