Ghost sickness
A culture-bound syndrome of pathological grief among indigenous peoples.
Ghost sickness is a culture-bound syndrome recognized among some indigenous peoples in North America and Polynesian peoples. It involves a preoccupation with the deceased or pathological grief, with symptoms including general weakness, loss of appetite, suffocation feelings, recurring nightmares, and a pervasive feeling of terror. The condition is attributed to ghosts or, occasionally, to witches or witchcraft.
- Field
- Culture-bound syndrome
- Known for
- Preoccupation with the deceased and pathological grief among indigenous peoples
- Associated cultures
- Navajo, Muscogee (Creek), Plains cultures, Polynesian peoples
Lore & Background
Ghost sickness is reported among North American peoples including the Navajo, some Muscogee, and Plains cultures. In Muscogee (Creek) culture, illness is understood as a disruption in the flow of spiritual energy, often referred to as 'po' or 'poyvfekcv' (spirit/soul), which flows between mind, body, and spirit. Medicine is used to prevent or treat obstruction and restore peaceful energy flow. Purification rituals for mourning focus on preventing unnatural or prolonged emotional and physical drain.
Reader's Guide
The traditional Native American grief resolution process differs qualitatively from mainstream Western approaches. A federal ban in 1881 on some traditional mourning rituals of the Lakota and other tribes may have predisposed the Lakota to pathological grief, according to Lakota expert Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart. Manifestations of unresolved grief include seeking visions of spirits of deceased relatives, obsessive reminiscing, longing for reunion, fantasies of reappearance, and belief in one's ability to project oneself to the past or future. Mainstream psychological theories view ghost sickness as a trauma response, with features including withdrawal, psychic numbing, anxiety, hypervigilance, guilt, identification with ancestral pain and death, and chronic sadness and depression. Treatment within the Navajo tribe involves religious leaders repeatedly performing ceremonies to eliminate all-consuming thoughts of the dead.
Did You Know?
- In Muscogee (Creek) culture, illness results from disruption in the flow of spiritual energy, often called 'po' or 'poyvfekcv' (spirit/soul).
- Treatment among the Navajo involves repeated ceremonies by religious leaders to eliminate thoughts of the dead.
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