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Biomedical subjects

M Dobkin de Rios

Publications and source records attributed to M Dobkin de Rios.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1981

Saladerra - a culture-bound misfortune syndrome in the Peruvian Amazon.

As the result of a field study of an urban, Mestizo spiritualist healer in the Peruvian Amazon, the author presents data on a new, culture-bound disorder, called saladerra. Characterized by an acute anxiety reaction with little or no somatization, the syndrome is perceived by patients to take the form of constant and continuing misfortune and bad luck. The paper presents a clinical description of saladerra, examines folkloric references to the origin of the complex, discusses the epidemiological significance of the syndrome, and sets it occurrence within the context of changing urbanization. Case histories of ten patients treated by one folk healer are presented in detail. Aspects of the spiritualist belief system, Septrionismo, used by the healer to treat the disorder are described, as well as his specific therapeutic modalities.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Plant hallucinogens, shamanism and Nazca ceramics.

The ceramics of the ancient Nazca, an extinct people that lived on the south coast of Peru from 100 to 800 AD, are examined. It is suggested that plant hallucinogens and stimulants including Trichocereus pachanoi, Erythroxylon coca, Datura spp., and Anadenanthera peregrina were utilized in religious ritualism connected with shamanism, stressing personal ecstasy as a means of contact with the supernatural on the part of regional religious-political leaders. Shamanic themes linked to world-wide plant hallucinogenic ingestion are identified and summarized, and their representation in Nazca ceramic art delineated.

Ceramics↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Shamanism and altered states of consciousness: an introduction.

In this article, the issue of shamanism and altered states of consciousness (ASC) is reviewed from a cross-cultural and multidisciplinary perspective. It is suggested that in spite of considerable differences in the uses of these terms, there are conceptual and empirical grounds for distinction among different types of trance practitioners. The authors argue that shamanism is a cultural adaptation of hunting and gathering societies to the biological potential for ASC, and that the specific nature of that manifestation changes as societies become more complex. The role of ASC in understanding shamanic phenomena, the roots of religious experience, and the modern manifestations of the potential for trance are examined. Western cultural avoidance of ASC has inhibited understanding of these phenomena, and has prevented an integration of shamanistic and trance perspectives into the understanding human of psychology, consciousness, and knowledge of the world.

Culture↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Psychoactive properties of !Kung Bushmen medicine plants.

This article addresses some of the recent controversy over the role of psychoactive substances in the !Kung Bushmen healing ceremonies and trance induction. Although some contemporary works on the !Kung and their healing ceremonies give no evidence of the use of psychoactive plants, an examination of the available biochemical and pharmacological literature on the properties of these plants indicates that most contain psychoactive or toxic substances that are likely to have trance-inducing properties. Almost half of the !Kung medicine plants contain psychoactive substances or have toxic properties, and a similarly large group of these plants has psychoactive or toxic properties in related species. Although recent reports have shown little concern with the use of psychoactive substances, the earlier literature illustrated a major concern with their use in !Kung Bushmen trance and healing. This contrast with more recent research suggests a decline in the use of psychoactive plants in the recent past. This decline is examined with respect to changes in the !Kung Bushmen society and how attitudes in the United States regarding drug use may have influenced investigators and their research reports.

Africa↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A modern-day shamanistic healer in the Peruvian Amazon: pharmacopoeia and trance.

The functions and successes of shamanistic healers are addressed in the context of psychoneuroimmunology, which allows a description of how therapeutic success is achieved via the symbolic manipulation of biological processes. These perspectives reinforce the continued importance of traditional shamanistic healers in the contemporary world. This is illustrated by the activities of a Peruvian healer who utilizes both psychoactive plant substances and a syncretic combination of modern and traditional symbolic therapies. The reliance on a wide range of psychoactive plants, including both psychoactive substances and nonhallucinogenic plants, is shown to be empirically effective in the treatment of disease. This demonstrates the pragmatic and adaptive approaches of these traditional healers and their positive functions in treating a variety of illnesses in today's world.

Hallucinogens↗
PubMedDate not supplied

LSD and creativity.

The effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) on creativity were examined in a unique experiment in the late 1950's. In this project, artists were asked to draw and paint a Kachina doll both prior to and one hour after the ingestion of LSD. Evaluations of these artistic productions were analyzed by a professor of art history in order to investigate the impact of LSD on artistic creativity. Certain representative changes were found in the artists' predominant style. The most significant change was noted in those artists whose styles were intrinsically representational or abstract to more expressionistic or nonobjective. Other changes noted included the following: relative size expansion; involution; movement; alteration of figure/ground and boundaries; greater intensity of color and light; oversimplification; symbolic and abstract depiction of objects; and fragmentation, disorganization, and distortion. Many artists judged their LSD productions to be more interesting and aesthetically superior to their usual mode of expression. The above-mentioned changes contributed to the artists' convictions that they were fashioning new meanings to an emergent world.

Art↗