Title |
Dissociative Symptoms and Reported Trauma Among Patients with Spirit Possession and Matched Healthy Controls in Uganda
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Published in |
Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry, April 2010
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DOI | 10.1007/s11013-010-9171-1 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Marjolein van Duijl, Ellert Nijenhuis, Ivan H. Komproe, Hajo B. P. E. Gernaat, Joop T. de Jong |
Abstract |
Spirit possession is a common, worldwide phenomenon with dissociative features. Studies in Europe and the United States have revealed associations among psychoform and somatoform dissociation and (reported) potential traumatic events. The aim of this study was to explore the relationships among spirit possession, dissociative symptoms and reported potentially traumatizing events in Uganda. One hundred nineteen persons with spirit possession, diagnosed by traditional healers, were compared to a matched control group of 71 nonpossessed persons. Assessments included demographic items and measures of dissociation and potentially traumatizing events. Compared to the nonpossessed group, the possessed group reported more severe psychoform dissociation and somatoform dissociation and more potentially traumatizing events. The associations between these events and both types of dissociation were significant. Yet, consistent with the cultural perception of dissociative symptoms, the participants subjectively did not associate dissociative symptoms with potentially traumatizing events. In conclusion, spirit possession deserves more interest as a possible idiom of distress and a culture-specific expression of dissociation related to potential traumatizing events. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
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Japan | 3 | 27% |
Spain | 1 | 9% |
United Kingdom | 1 | 9% |
United States | 1 | 9% |
Unknown | 5 | 45% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
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Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 9% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
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Australia | 1 | <1% |
Brazil | 1 | <1% |
United Kingdom | 1 | <1% |
Canada | 1 | <1% |
United States | 1 | <1% |
Unknown | 148 | 97% |
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Researcher | 27 | 18% |
Student > Master | 22 | 14% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 20 | 13% |
Student > Bachelor | 16 | 10% |
Student > Postgraduate | 10 | 7% |
Other | 36 | 24% |
Unknown | 22 | 14% |
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Psychology | 61 | 40% |
Medicine and Dentistry | 24 | 16% |
Social Sciences | 16 | 10% |
Nursing and Health Professions | 7 | 5% |
Neuroscience | 5 | 3% |
Other | 12 | 8% |
Unknown | 28 | 18% |