Ghost sickness

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Ghost sickness is a

witches or witchcraft.[1]

Cultural background

In the

Muscogee (Creek) culture, it is believed that everyone is a part of an energy called Ibofanga. This energy supposedly results from the flow between mind, body, and spirit. Illness can result from this flow being disrupted. Therefore, their "medicine is used to prevent or treat an obstruction and restore the peaceful flow of energy within a person".[2] Purification rituals for mourning "focus on preventing unnatural or prolonged emotional and physical drain."[2]

The traditional Native American grief resolution process is qualitatively different from those usually seen in mainstream Western cultures. In 1881, there was a federal ban on some of the traditional mourning rituals practised by the Lakota and other tribes. Lakota expert Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart proposes that the loss of these rituals may have caused the Lakota to be "further predisposed to the development of pathological grief". Some manifestations of unresolved grief include seeking visions of the spirits of deceased relatives, obsessive reminiscing about the deceased, longing for and believing in a reunion with the deceased, fantasies of reappearance of the deceased, and belief in one's ability to project oneself to the past or to the future.[3]

Cause

There are a variety of mainstream psychological theories about Ghost Sickness. Putsch states that "Spirits or 'ghosts' may be viewed as being directly or indirectly linked to the cause of an event, accident, or illness".

withdrawal and psychic numbing, anxiety and hypervigilance, guilt, identification with ancestral pain and death, and chronic sadness and depression.[5][6][7]

Treatment

Religious leaders within the Navajo tribe repeatedly perform ceremonies to eliminate the all-consuming thoughts of the dead.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ Hall, Lena. "Conceptions of Mental Illness: Cultural Perspectives and Treatment Implications". Nova Southeastern University. Archived from the original on August 16, 2013. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
  2. ^
    S2CID 41156151
    .
  3. .
  4. ^ Putsch, R.W. (2006-2007) Drumlummon Views Archived 2009-09-20 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved on May 22, 2008
  5. ^ Erikson, E. (1959). Identity and the life cycle. Psychological Issues, 7(1). New York: International Universities Press.
  6. ^ Macgregor, G. (1975). Warriors without weapons. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (Original work published 1946)[page needed]
  7. ^ Macgregor, G.(1970). Changing Society: The Teton Dakotas. InE. Nurge (Ed.),The modern Sioux: Social systems and reservation culture 92-106. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
  8. S2CID 164093581
    .