{{Short description|Form of panic attack in Latin American cultures}} {{About|the cultural illness|the band|Susto (band)|the album by Masabumi Kikuchi|Susto (album)}}
[[File:Conversatorio sobre el susto y la shuqma 01.jpg|thumb|Peruvian women demonstrating traditional herbal treatments for susto.]]
'''''Susto''''' ({{IPA|es|ˈsusto}}, {{IPA|pt|ˈsuʃtu}}) is a cultural illness primarily among Latin American cultures. It has been found in Mexico, Central America, and among Mexican American communities in the United States. Susto is often referred to as “fright sickness” and can occur when a person experiences a sudden scare that causes their soul to leave the body.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Martínez-Radl |first=Fanny Beatriz |last2=Hinton |first2=Devon Emerson |last3=Stangier |first3=Ulrich |date=2023-08-01 |title=Susto as a cultural conceptualization of distress: Existing research and aspects to consider for future investigations |url=https://doi.org/10.1177/13634615231163986 |journal=Transcultural Psychiatry |language=EN |volume=60 |issue=4 |pages=690–702 |doi=10.1177/13634615231163986 |issn=1363-4615 |pmc=10504816 |pmid=36991563}}</ref> It is described as a condition of "chronic somatic suffering stemming from emotional trauma or from witnessing traumatic experiences lived by others." Researchers also describe susto as a cultural concept of distress, which means that culture shapes the way people understand, express, and respond to illness.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Kohrt |first=B. A. |last2=Rasmussen |first2=A. |last3=Kaiser |first3=B. N. |last4=Haroz |first4=E. E. |last5=Maharjan |first5=S. M. |last6=Mutamba |first6=B. B. |last7=de Jong |first7=J. T. |last8=Hinton |first8=D. E. |date=2014-04-01 |title=Cultural concepts of distress and psychiatric disorders: literature review and research recommendations for global mental health epidemiology |url=https://academic.oup.com/ije/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/ije/dyt227 |journal=International Journal of Epidemiology |language=en |volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=365–406 |doi=10.1093/ije/dyt227 |issn=0300-5771 |pmc=3997373 |pmid=24366490}}</ref>
==Symptoms==
Susto has roots in Indigenous and colonial traditions that connect health to the soul and emotional balance. It is believed that when someone is suddenly frightened, their soul leaves their body, causing weakness, sadness, and illness.<ref name=":0" /> Among the Indigenous peoples of Latin America, in which this illness is most common, susto may be conceptualized as a case of spirit attack.<ref>Castillo, Richard (1997). Culture & Mental Illness: A Client-Centered Approach. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company</ref> Symptoms of susto are thought to include nervousness, anorexia, insomnia, listlessness, fever, depression, and diarrhea.<ref name=Razzouk>{{cite journal |vauthors=Razzouk D, Nogueira B, Mari Jde J |title=The contribution of Latin American and Caribbean countries on culture bound syndromes studies for the ICD-10 revision: key findings from a work in progress |journal=Rev Bras Psiquiatr |volume=33 Suppl 1 |pages=S5–20 |date=May 2011 |pmid=21845335 |doi=10.1590/S1516-44462011000500003 |doi-access=free }}</ref> People who have experienced susto have also reported feelings of sadness, tiredness, loss of appetite, anxiety, and sleeping difficulties.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Nogueira |first=Bruno Lima |last2=Mari |first2=Jair de Jesus |last3=Razzouk |first3=Denise |date=2015 |title=Culture-bound syndromes in Spanish speaking Latin America: the case of Nervios, Susto and Ataques de Nervios |url=https://www.scielo.br/j/rpc/a/GyhrL5QVcFJvNdV3yWhTJyC/?lang=en |journal=Archives of Clinical Psychiatry (São Paulo) |language=en |volume=42 |pages=171–178 |doi=10.1590/0101-60830000000070 |issn=0101-6083|doi-access=free }}</ref> Research shows that susto can appear more often in communities facing stress, poverty, or major life changes, suggesting that the condition reflects both cultural beliefs and emotional distress connected to difficult life experiences.<ref name=":2" />
==Treatment== Treatment for susto is often done by curanderos, or traditional healers, but remedies vary across cultures.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Tafur |first=Maritza Montiel |last2=Crowe |first2=Terry K. |last3=Torres |first3=Eliseo |date=2009 |title=A review of curanderismo and healing practices among Mexicans and Mexican Americans |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/oti.265 |journal=Occupational Therapy International |language=en |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=82–88 |doi=10.1002/oti.265 |issn=1557-0703|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=":0"/> In Bolivia, it is said that calling out to the soul at night will lead it back to its body. Leaving out meals, clothing, and other personal items belonging to the affected person is also believed to help with bringing the soul back. This practice has also been observed in Bolivian migrants to other Latin American countries.<ref name=":0"/> Other spiritual treatments for susto are rooted in Catholicism, as prayer is also said to be a remedy for the condition.<ref name=":0"/><ref name=":8">{{cite journal| last1 = Baer | first1 = Roberta D.| last2 = Bustillo | first2 = Marta| title = Susto and Mal de Ojo among Florida Farmworkers: Emic and Etic Perspectives| journal = Medical Anthropology Quarterly| volume = 7| issue = 1| pages = 90–100| publisher = American Anthropological Association| location = United States| date = March 1993| url = https://www.jstor.org/stable/649248?read-now=1&seq=3#page_scan_tab_contents| jstor = 492483}}</ref>
Various herbal treatments have also been documented, which include rubbing the affected person with an egg or medicinal herbs to cleanse them of the condition. Rubbing a guinea pig on the affected person in order to absorb the perceived illness has also been recorded.<ref name=":0"/><ref name=":8"/>
==Classification== Susto may be a culturally dependent variation of the symptoms of a panic attack, which is distinct from anxiety and depressive disorders.<ref name=Razzouk/> It has been described as a cultural way of expressing fear, worry, and trauma. The ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition'' (DSM-5) lists susto as a Cultural Concept of Distress, meaning that a person's emotional experiences are shaped by cultural beliefs and interpretations of illness.<ref name=":1" /> Some researchers describe susto as an "idiom of distress," which means people make sense of their symptoms using culturally specific beliefs, such as the idea of soul-loss, rather than clinical terms like panic or anxiety.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Teodoro |first=Tomás |last2=Afonso |first2=Pedro |date=2020-12-30 |title=Culture‑Bound Syndromes and Cultural Concepts of Distress in Psychiatry |url=https://www.revistapsiquiatria.pt/index.php/sppsm/article/view/139 |journal=Revista Portuguesa de Psiquiatria e Saúde Mental |language=en |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=118–126 |doi=10.51338/rppsm.2020.v6.i3.139 |issn=2184-5417|doi-access=free }}</ref> Because susto is seen as a cultural reaction to fear and stress, its symptoms can be difficult to fit into Western psychiatric categories.<ref name=":2" />
==See also== *Psychological trauma *Falling-out *Ataque de nervios
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== *{{cite journal| last= Rubel| first= Arthur J | title= The Epidemiology of a Folk Illness: Susto in Hispanic America| date= July 1964|journal= Ethnology | volume= 3| issue= 3| pages= 268–283| doi=10.2307/3772883| jstor= 3772883| doi-access= free}} Also published as Chapter 12 in {{cite book |editor-first= David|editor-last= Landy|year= 1977|title= Culture, Disease, and Healing: Studies in Medical Anthropology|location= New York|publisher= Macmillan Press|isbn= 0-02-367390-7|url-access= registration|url=https://archive.org/details/culturediseasehe00land}}
*{{cite web|title=Susto: The context of community morbidity patterns|last1 =Trotter II| first1= Robert T.|publisher= Pan American University|year= 1982|url=https://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~rtt/pdf%20format%20pubs/Trotter%201980s%20pdf%20Pubs/Susto%20-%20Ethnology%201982.pdf|ref={{sfnref|Anon.}}|access-date=14 February 2025}} *{{cite book| title= Susto A Folk Illness| last1= Rubel| first1= Arthur J| first2= Carl W| last2= O'Nell| first3= Rolando| last3= Collado-Ardon| year= 1991| isbn= 9780520076341| publisher= University of California Press| url= http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/1851.html}} *{{cite web|last=O'Neil|first=Dennis|title=Explanations of Illness|url=http://anthro.palomar.edu/medical/med_1.htm|work=Medical Anthropology|publisher=O'Neil|access-date=6 March 2013|archive-date=17 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120817130521/http://anthro.palomar.edu/medical/med_1.htm|url-status=dead}} *{{cite journal| last1 = Baer | first1 = Roberta D.| last2 = Bustillo | first2 = Marta| title = Susto and Mal de Ojo among Florida Farmworkers: Emic and Etic Perspectives| journal = Medical Anthropology Quarterly| volume = 7| issue = 1| pages = 90–100| publisher = American Anthropological Association| location = United States| date = March 1993| url = https://www.jstor.org/stable/649248?read-now=1&seq=3#page_scan_tab_contents| jstor = 492483}}
{{Superstitions}}
Category:Anthropology Category:Culture-bound syndromes Category:Culture of Latin America Category:Superstitions of the Americas