User:MelanieJ09/Susto

Susto

Susto is a folk illness known as “fright,” “soul loss,” or “magical fright.” It may also be referred to as espanto, pasmo, tripa ida, perdida del alma, or chibih, depending on the culture of the people. When a person has susto, it is believed that the soul physically leaves the body and is unable to find its way back.

Susto is common in Hispanic-American cultures, among Latinos in the United States, people in Mexico, South America and Central America. In some cultures, susto is believed to be an illness which is caused by a terrifying experience.

Some things that are frightening to one person may not be frightening to another. Some believe that when such a frightening experience happens, the soul leaves the body and the body becomes very weak, sometimes resulting in death

In other parts of the world, susto is believed to be an experience associated with grief or loss. The loss can be material, personal, moral, or physical. The symptoms may include unhappiness, poor eating habits, sleep loss or excessive sleep, lack of motivation, feelings of unworthiness, irritability, heart palpitations, inability to move on, anxiety, fear the frightening experience will occur again, unexplained sadness, crying, nervousness, involuntary muscle tics, stomach aches, body pains, and diarrhea. These symptoms do not occur in all patients because everyone is different.

Susto has been documented in many parts of the world. It is suggested that susto can be related to psychological experiences associated with a loss or grief connection. Men, women and children can all have the illness. Men typically develop susto because of an incident that occurred at their workplace caused by a social situation. Men are also diagnosed more often with susto than women. Because of their great concern as caregivers, certain cultures believe women suffer from susto due to illnesses of loved ones, a sudden disease, or an accident. Children rarely develop susto. If a child becomes sick with the illness, it is typically from a frightening experience with an animal. Parents of a child with susto normally diagnose the child giving the illness another name.

In order to restore the soul back to the body, rituals are held. Some cultures use 'curanderismo' to cleanse the body. This ritual is a mind-body-spirit approach derived from traditional ceremonies. A 'curandera or curandero' (an herbal doctor) performs rituals using herbal teas. The curandera or curandero is able to determine the ritual needed to heal patients with susto. The curandero will take into account the person, the symptoms, their mode of thinking, and the event that lead up to the fright. With such symptoms noted, the curandero will perform a ritual suitable for the patient. If the patient has a mild form of susto a simple spiritual ceremony will bring the soul back to the body. If the patient is diagnosed with a severe form of susto, the curandero will have an assistant to help with prayers. With severe susto, a curandero will cleanse an area on the floor with Holy Water. Then, he has the patient lay on the floor forming a cross shape with their body. Four white candles are blessed, lit and placed around the person. The curandero then makes a fresh herbal broom using twigs of rosemary, basil and rue which are tied together with a red string. The curandero asks the patient to quietly say prayers asking their soul to return to their body while making large sweeping motions with the herbal broom. An assistant lights some copal incenses and walks around the person making large crosses in the smoke. The ceremony usually lasts for an hour and is repeated for three days in a row. The curandero calls to the spirit each day in a loud, forceful voice, trying to coax it back into the person's body. By the third day, the soul is usually reunited in the person's body.

The varying forms of susto may be related to Major Depressive Disorder, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, and Somatoform Disorders. To a western medical doctor, the symptoms of susto would most likely be diagnosed as depression or anxiety.

Resources

Laurance Johnston, Ph.D., CURANDERISMO: SOUL MEDICINE FOR DISABILITY (PART 1) http://www.healingtherapies.info/Curanderismo1.htm

Posted by Curious Curandera, Jan. 09, Spiritual Illness: Susto http://curiouscurandera.blogspot.com/2009/01/spiritual-illness-susto.html

O'Nell, Carl W.; An investigation of reported 'fright' as a factor in the etiology of susto, 'magical fright.', Ethos, Vol 3(1), Spr 1975. pp. 41-63. [Journal Article]

Uzzell,Douglas; Susto revisited: Illness as strategic role. American Ethnologist, Vol 1(2), May 1974. pp. 369-378. [Journal Article]

Castro, Roberto; Eroza, Enrique; Research notes on social order and subjectivity: Individuals' experience of susto and fallen fontanelle in a rural community in central Mexico., Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, Vol 22(2), Jun 1998. pp. 203-230. [Journal Article]

Baer, Roberta D.; Weller, Susan C.; De Alba Garcia, Javier Garcia; Glazer, Mark; Trotter, Robert; Pachter, Lee; Klein, Robert E., A cross-cultural approach to the study of the folk illness nervios. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, Vol 27(3), Sep 2003. pp. 315-337. [Journal Article]

Glazer, Mark; Baer, Roberta D.; Weller, Susan C.; de Alba, Javier Eduardo Garcia; Liebowitz, Stephen W., Susto and soul loss in Mexicans and Mexican Americans. Cross-Cultural Research: The Journal of Comparative Social Science, Vol 38(3), Aug 2004. pp. 270-288. [Journal Article]

Comments

SR151597 - HERE IS AN ARTICLE YOU MAY WANT TO LOOK AT. http://altmed.creighton.edu/MexicanFolk/Susto.htm

MISSY071407- WOW YOUR ARTICLE IS VERY INTERESTING! HOW DID YOU SEPARATE YOUR SECTIONS?

KAT163059 - A VERY INTERESTING ARTICLE AND WELL ORGANIZED. THIS ARTICLE CAPTURES THE ATTENTION OF THE READER. GREAT JOB!

CLG1124 THIS IS INTERESTING. I DIDNT NOTICE ANY CHANGES NEEDED.

RB155983- Is there other results besides death? MELANIEJ09 - DEATH DOES NOT OCCUR ON ALL SUSTO VICTIMS. DEATH IS ONLY A PART OF WHAT THEY BELIEVE WILL HAPPEN TO THEM. THEY BELIEVE WHEN SUCH AN EXPERIENCE HAPPENS THEIR SOUL LEAVES THEM, THIS WEAKENS THEIR BODY. AS WITH ANY SICKNESS, IF THE BODY IS WEAK, DEATH COULD OCCUR. THIS COULD BE FROM THE LACK OF NOT EATING AND DRINKING, POSSIBLE STRAVATION. http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=102&sid=56859031-097f-4926-a846-74b89e9d27a0%40sessionmgr103&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=psyh&AN=2007-12043-010