Non-affective psychosis in traditional Andean culture.
Marucela Uscamayta Ayvar, Rodolfo Sanchez Garrafa, Javier I Escobar, Carla Gallo, Abraham Vaisberg, Giovanni Poletti, Gabriel A De Erausquin
Transcultural psychiatry February 1, 2025 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1177/13634615221099795 via PubMed
Summary
A case of non-affective psychosis was treated by traditional Inka healers and later by Western-trained psychiatrists. The traditional Inka explanatory model of psychosis aligned with the Kraepelinian dichotomy, suggesting cross-cultural stability in distinguishing affective from non-affective psychoses. The case illustrates how Indigenous Kechwa healers characterize and treat psychotic symptoms within their own framework, which shows empirical overlap with Western psychiatric categories.
Study at a glance
| Design | case study |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 1 |
| Population | a person with non-affective psychosis treated by traditional Inka healers and Western psychiatrists |
| Key finding | Traditional Inka psychopathology provided empirical support for the transcultural stability of the Kraepelinian dichotomy. |
Abstract
We report a case of non-affective psychosis with a brief discussion of the phenomenology and its characterization and treatment by traditional Inka healers and eventually by Western-trained psychiatrists. Traditional Inka psychopathology provided empirical support for the transcultural stability of the Kraepelinian dichotomy.