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PubMed1989

The concept of neurasthenia and its treatment in Japan.

The term neurasthenia, which had been widely used in Japan before the Second World War, came to be replaced by the term neurosis thereafter. With this change in terminology, there seems to have been a shift in the popular ideas of minor psychiatric disorders towards a more psychological view. Unlike in the West where psychoanalysis was a major contributing factor, in Japan it was Shoma Morita who contributed to this change by questioning the somatic basis of conditions then diagnosed as neurasthenia and by developing the concept shinkeishitsu in the early 1920's, rejecting the concept of neurasthenia. In his theory, the development of shinkeishitsu symptoms is explained in terms of certain psychic dispositions and as a vicious cycle of sensation and attention; he formulated a psychological treatment, Morita therapy, which has been very effective for that condition. With the advent of modernization in this country, doubts have been raised whether this form of psychotherapy will continue to be acceptable to modern Japanese. However, in reality many neurotic patients are still being treated with Morita therapy, although analytically oriented psychotherapy is coming to be practiced more and more in recent years. The indigenous psychotherapies represented by Morita therapy and Naikan therapy have deep-seated roots in Buddhist tradition: its values and ideas have been redefined and reformulated into forms of therapy acceptable to modern Japanese.

Buddhism↗
PubMed2005

Beliefs in karma and reincarnation among survivors of violent trauma--a community survey.

BACKGROUND: This survey was designed to examine beliefs in karma and reincarnation among survivors of violent trauma in the general US population. METHODS: Two community surveys were conducted in 2001. From a sample of 1,969 respondents, two groups were created based on level of agreement with karmic belief. This sample forms the basis of this report. Information was obtained as to mental and physical health, resilience, exposure to violent trauma, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity, and the cohorts were compared on these variables. RESULTS: Five percent of the sample admitted strong agreement to a belief in karma and reincarnation (n=99), while 77% strongly disagreed with these beliefs (n=1,511). Characteristics associated with agreement included being non-white, unmarried, and in poor physical and mental health. Moreover, agreement was associated with more extensive traumatization, including abuse, rape, and loss of a family member through violent death, as well as more severe posttraumatic stress symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Few people subscribe strongly to a belief in karma and reincarnation in the US population, but personal experience of trauma may be associated with greater acceptance, as well as certain demographic and health-associated variables. The importance of holding such beliefs, which may represent an important way of coping following violent trauma, deserves further study.

Adult↗
PubMed2007

Reduced hypoxic ventilatory response with preserved blood oxygenation in yoga trainees and Himalayan Buddhist monks at altitude: evidence of a different adaptive strategy?

Yoga induces long-term changes in respiratory function and control. We tested whether it represents a successful strategy for high-altitude adaptation. We compared ventilatory, cardiovascular and hematological parameters in: 12 Caucasian yoga trainees and 12 control sea-level residents, at baseline and after 2-week exposure to high altitude (Pyramid Laboratory, Nepal, 5,050 m), 38 active lifestyle high-altitude natives (Sherpas) and 13 contemplative lifestyle high-altitude natives with practice of yoga-like respiratory exercises (Buddhist monks) studied at 5,050 m. At baseline, hypoxic ventilatory response (HVR), red blood cell count and hematocrit were lower in Caucasian yoga trainees than in controls. After 14 days at altitude, yoga trainees showed similar oxygen saturation, blood pressure, RR interval compared to controls, but lower HVR (-0.44 +/- 0.08 vs. -0.98 +/- 0.21 l/min/m/%SaO(2), P < 0.05), minute ventilation (8.3 +/- 0.9 vs. 10.8 +/- 1.6 l/min, P < 0.05), breathing rate (indicating higher ventilatory efficiency), and lower red blood cell count, hemoglobin, hematocrit, albumin, erythropoietin and soluble transferrin receptors. Hypoxic ventilatory response in monks was lower than in Sherpas (-0.23 +/- 0.05 vs. -0.63 +/- 0.09 l/min/m/%SaO(2), P < 0.05); values were similar to baseline data of yoga trainees and Caucasian controls, respectively. Red blood cell count and hematocrit were lower in monks as compared to Sherpas. In conclusion, Caucasian subjects practicing yoga maintain a satisfactory oxygen transport at high altitude, with minimal increase in ventilation and with reduced hematological changes, resembling Himalayan natives. Respiratory adaptations induced by the practice of yoga may represent an efficient strategy to cope with altitude-induced hypoxia.

Acclimatization↗
PubMed2006

Prevalence, patterns, and risk factors of knee osteoarthritis in Thai monks.

BACKGROUND: Patterns and risk factors of knee osteoarthritis in Asian countries where most people have habitual knee bending activities remain unclear. The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence, patterns, and risk factors of knee osteoarthritis in Thai monks. METHODS: The study was a cross-sectional survey of monks who lived in temples in southern Thailand. Investigations included history, physical examination, and radiographic evaluation including weight-bearing antero-posterior, lateral, and skyline views. RESULTS: There were 261 monks from 85 temples included in this study. The overall prevalence of radiographic knee osteoarthritis was 59.4%, with 29.6% having symptomatic radiographic knee osteoarthritis. The patterns of involvement were isolated tibiofemoral compartment (7.7%), isolated patellofemoral compartment (18.8%), and combined (32.9%). Obesity (OR 5.6, 95% CI; 1.6-19.8), age equal to or more than 60 years (OR 3.0, 95% CI; 1.5-6.0), and age at ordainment equal to or more than 46 years (OR 2.2, 95% CI; 1.1-4.6) were associated with risk of developing radiographic knee osteoarthritis. Obesity (OR 17.9, 95% CI; 2.4-132.1) and current smoking (OR 7.7, 95% CI; 2.4-24.3) were associated with symptomatic radiographic knee osteoarthritis. Severity of involvement was associated with obesity (OR 12.0, 95% CI; 2.3-60.9), older age (OR 3.8, 95% CI; 1.3-5.1), and older age at ordainment (OR 2.8, 95% CI; 1.3-6.1). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of radiographic knee osteoarthritis with patellofemoral involvement in Thai monks is high and is more common among the elderly, those who were older at ordainment, and obese subgroups. Each pattern of knee osteoarthritis might have a different pathomechanism in the development of osteoarthritis.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Buddhist monks as community health workers in Thailand.

In Thailand, Buddhist monks and temples are scattered throughout the country even in the rural poor. There are approximately one temple and four monks for every two villages of about 1000 people. If Buddhist monks are able to expand their roles to health care and education, Buddhist temples will automatically become community health posts and 'Health for All by The Year 2000' will be achieved within 5-10 years in Thailand. Therefore, a volunteer monk-training program has been carried out and about 2000 graduates have returned to their community to disseminate primary health care. However, a systematic and 'industrialized' approach is necessary to get some visible impact on the health of the rural Thai population.

Buddhism↗
PubMed1985

Curing and sociocultural separatism in South Thailand.

In much of Thailand animistic curing practices have lost ground to great tradition herbal medicine and modern scientific medicine as more people achieve literacy. Especially in urbanizing areas, Buddhist and Muslim Thais hold in the highest esteem traditional curers whose knowledge derives from patient experimentation and the study of ancient texts. However, among Malay-speaking Muslims in south Thailand, the most respected therapeutic knowledge is revelatory in nature. Southern Muslim curers are generally mystics or spirit-mediums whose direct channels of communication with the supernatural convey remedies for afflictions but also provide guidelines for maintaining sociocultural separatism.

Buddhism↗
PubMed1986

Rivalry and diversity among Thai curer-magicians.

In central and southern Thailand neighboring practitioners of the same folk-medical specialties were found to be remarkably inconsistent in their diagnostic interpretations of similar afflictions. There appears to be little or no direct communication between local competitors among Thailand's traditional curers. Those in search of tutelage from an established practitioner must often travel long distances to find a willing tutor. What results from this pattern is a system of master-disciple networks through which curative knowledge and patient referrals flow across provincial boundaries. Rivalry among neighboring curer-magicians is so pervasive that diagnostic decisions sometimes depend in part on the relative status of previous healers on a case. The paper concludes with a discussion of the competition found among a specific group of curer-magicians, namely, Thai-Buddhist monk-practitioners. The latter rivalry may play an important role in social relations within and among Buddhist monasteries.

Buddhism↗
PubMed1987

Clinical relevance of grief and mourning among Cambodian refugees.

From 1975 to 1979, one to two million Cambodians were executed or died of disease and starvation during the rule of the Pol Pot government. In the aftermath of that catastrophe, many survivors have developed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. There is some evidence that the intrusive symptoms of this disorder, such as nightmares, sleep disorders, and startle reactions, can be treated with medication. But other psychosocial problems that are similar to those found in chronic grief, such as avoidance behavior, shame, and decreased involvement with other individuals, are more resistive to treatment. On a cross-cultural level, the interpretations of, or meanings given to, specific symptoms by the patient may be influenced by culturally-specific religious beliefs, rituals, and social traditions. For the clinician, these cultural factors have relevance not only for engaging the patient in treatment, but also in the planning of specific therapeutic interventions.

Antidepressive Agents↗
PubMed1990

Cultural consultation for cancer: astrocytoma in a Cambodian adolescent.

Although Western medicine helps people understand disease and death in scientific terms, patients often explain their illnesses very differently. The explanations held by patients and their families from 'foreign' cultures can be bewildering to the clinician. In treating immigrant patients, particularly those with terminal illness, it is essential to understand their own explanations. Clinically applied medical anthropology considers how the patient's culture shapes his understanding of disease. In an effort to apply an anthropological approach to the pediatric setting, a cultural consultation service was developed at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne. This service involved a team which included a psychiatrist (with anthropological training), an anthropologist, and several Southeast Asian community members. One patient for whom the service consulted was an adolescent Cambodian boy with glioblastoma multiforme, stage IV. This case is analyzed in the light of the culturally determined problems in management and the culturally embedded meaning of the illness. The patient's belief in ancestral and house spirits as well as his belief in the Theravada Buddhist doctrine of karma is examined. The case demonstrates how belief in such religious phenomena does not necessarily preclude compliance with Western health care.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

From post-traumatic stress disorder to cultural bereavement: diagnosis of Southeast Asian refugees.

There are pitfalls in the singular application of western categories in diagnosing psychiatric disorders and distress among refugees. Based on my research with Cambodian refugees I argue that cultural bereavement, by mapping the subjective experience of refugees, gives meaning to the refugee's distress, clarifies the 'structure' of the person's reactions to loss, frames psychiatric disorder in some refugees, and complements the psychiatric diagnostic categories. Cultural bereavement includes the refugees' picture--what the trauma meant to them; their cultural recipes for signalling their distress; and their cultural strategies for overcoming it--and the cultural interpretation of symptoms commonly found among refugees that resemble post-traumatic stress disorder. Cultural bereavement may identify those people who have post-traumatic stress disorder on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) criteria but whose 'condition' is a sign of normal, even constructive, rehabilitation from devastatingly traumatic experiences. Cultural bereavement should be given appropriate status in the nosology.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Ritual burns--the Buddhist tradition.

The mystical significance of fire is common to many cultures and religions. For the Buddhist community acts of self-mutilation by burning reflect a tradition for which the direct precedent is set in the ancient scriptures of the Lotus Sutra. Burns are produced by contact with incense and treated with oil and vegetable dressings. Two cases are presented and discussed with reference to early Buddhist beliefs.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Soma siddhas and alchemical enlightenment: psychedelic mushrooms in Buddhist tradition.

In the legendary biographies of some Buddhist adepts from the 2nd- and 9th-centuries there are some clues which can be interpreted to reveal that the adepts were consuming psychedelic Amanita muscaria, 'fly agaric', mushrooms to achieve enlightenment. This secret ingredient in the alchemical elixir they used to attain 'realization' was, of course, unnamed, in keeping with their vows to maintain the secrecy of their practices. Its identity was concealed behind a set of symbols, some of which appeared in the Soma symbol system of the Rg Veda, some other symbols possibly passed down from a time of earlier shamanic use of the mushroom in the forests of Northern Eurasia, and some symbols that may be unique to these Buddhist legends. The congruity of these sets of symbols from Northern and Southern Asian traditions will be shown to be reflected in the Germanic tradition in some characteristics of the Oldest God, Odin.

Amanita↗
PubMed2005

Caring for the seriously mentally ill in Thailand: Buddhist family caregiving.

The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences from Thai Buddhist family caregivers of seriously mentally ill relatives to understand their perspectives about Buddhist caregiving. A phenomenological study of 15 Thai Buddhist family caregivers was conducted following Cohen et al.'s process for analysis. Analysis of the interviews revealed five major themes: caregiving is Buddhist belief, caregiving is compassion, caregiving is management, caregiving is acceptance, and caregiving is suffering. Although suffering from the problems posed by mental illness permeated their lives, Thai Buddhist caregivers were able to continue to maintain compassion, management, and acceptance in caregiving to their seriously mentally ill relatives. A model of Thai Buddhist caregiving, constructed from the five major themes, is presented.

Adaptation, Psychological↗