PMID- 11224981
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20010329
LR  - 20191104
IS  - 0745-5194 (Print)
IS  - 0745-5194 (Linking)
VI  - 14
IP  - 4
DP  - 2000 Dec
TI  - Depressive illness and Navajo healing.
PG  - 571-97
AB  - What is the experience of Navajo patients in Navajo religious healing who, by the 
      criteria and in the vernacular of contemporary psychiatry, would be diagnosed 
      with the disorder called depression? We ask this question in the context of a 
      double dialogue between psychiatry and anthropology and between these 
      disciplines' academic constructs of illness and those of contemporary Navajos. 
      The dialogue is conducted in the arena of patient narratives, providing a means 
      for observing and explicating processes of therapeutic change in individuals, for 
      illustrating variations in forms of Navajo religious healing sought out by 
      patients demonstrating similar symptoms of distress, and for considering the 
      heuristic utility of psychiatric diagnoses and nomenclature in the 
      conceptualization of illness, recovery, and religious healing. From among the 37 
      percent of patients participating in the Navajo Healing Project who had a 
      lifetime history of a major depressive illness, three are discussed herein, their 
      selection based on two criteria: (1) all met formal psychiatric diagnostic 
      criteria for a major depressive episode at the time of their healing ceremonies, 
      and (2) together, their experiences illustrate the range of contemporary Navajo 
      religious healing, including Traditional, Native American Church (NAC), and 
      Christian forms. We suggest that, despite the explicit role of the sacred in 
      religious healing interventions available to Navajo patients, differences between 
      biomedical and religious healing systems may be of less significance than their 
      shared existential engagement of problems such as those glossed as depression.
FAU - Storck, M
AU  - Storck M
AD  - Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School 
      of Medicine, USA.
FAU - Csordas, T J
AU  - Csordas TJ
FAU - Strauss, M
AU  - Strauss M
LA  - eng
PT  - Case Reports
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Review
PL  - United States
TA  - Med Anthropol Q
JT  - Medical anthropology quarterly
JID - 8405037
SB  - IM
CIN - Med Anthropol Q. 2000 Dec;14(4):598-602. PMID: 11224982
MH  - Anecdotes as Topic
MH  - Anthropology, Cultural
MH  - Attitude to Health
MH  - *Christianity
MH  - Depressive Disorder/classification/*ethnology/*therapy
MH  - Female
MH  - Health Services, Indigenous
MH  - Holistic Health
MH  - Humans
MH  - Indians, North American/*psychology
MH  - Male
MH  - Mental Healing/*psychology
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - *Religion and Psychology
MH  - *Shamanism
MH  - Southwestern United States
RF  - 58
EDAT- 2001/02/28 10:00
MHDA- 2001/04/03 10:01
CRDT- 2001/02/28 10:00
PHST- 2001/02/28 10:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2001/04/03 10:01 [medline]
PHST- 2001/02/28 10:00 [entrez]
AID - 10.1525/maq.2000.14.4.571 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Med Anthropol Q. 2000 Dec;14(4):571-97. doi: 10.1525/maq.2000.14.4.571.