“Scare or fear”, the sudden loss of the soul

Suddenly, without knowing how, there are people who feel like they are losing their soul. The origin is usually in a “fright or fright” of variable origin that generates an unpleasant sensation that ranges between fear and surprise. Something sudden that discourages and causes the person to feel their heart skip a beat.

We all know the feeling we get when a specific circumstance makes us feel that our lives may be in danger or threatened. That perception is usually real; However, at other times it can be determined by suggestion and, in reality, life is not in danger.

However, there are people who, in response to certain situations, They feel that after the “fright or fear” the soul leaves their body, generating great unhappiness and causing diverse symptoms that we will analyze below.

The definition of “fright or fear” of diagnostic systems

The DSM-5 defines the scare as ‘a cultural explanation of the malaise and misfortune prevalent among some Latinos in the United States and in people from Mexico, Central America, and South America. It is not recognized as a disease among Caribbean Latinos. Susto is an illness attributed to an event that frightens and causes the soul to leave the body.resulting in unhappiness and illness, as well as difficulties in playing key social roles.

Thus, although there are no specific symptoms that define this misfortune called “scare or terror,” The symptoms that these people usually refer to are:

Appetite alterations.Inadequate or excessive sleep, disturbed sleep or dreams. Feelings of sadness.Low self-esteem.Interpersonal sensitivity.Lack of motivation to do nothing.As for somatic symptoms, the symptoms that accompany scare can be muscle aches and pains, coldness in the extremities, paleness, headache, abdominal pain and diarrhea.

The origin and typology of “fright or fear”

The origin or, in other words, the events that precipitate this condition are diverse. They generally include natural phenomena, animals, interpersonal situations and supernatural entities, among others.

Likewise, the DSM-5 has identified three syndromic types of “scare or fear” (called cibih in the local Zapotec language), and each of them has different relationships with psychiatric diagnoses.

An interpersonal scarecharacterized by feelings of loss, abandonment, and not being loved by the family, with accompanying symptoms of sadness, poor self-image, and suicidal ideation, seems closely related to major depressive disorder.When the scare is the result of an event traumatic event that played a fundamental role in shaping the symptoms and in the emotional processing of the experience, the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder seems more appropriate. The scare characterized by several recurrent somatic symptoms – for which the person has sought assistance by several doctors – is considered similar to a somatic symptom disorder.

This condition represents truly intense suffering for the affected people. The different cultures that have documented it attribute magical components to its appearance. Thus, it is curious how the Tzotzils make three differentiations when faced with an event of this type (Castaldo, 2004):

Xi-el: the soul is not lost.Komel: it is the fear of a fall; the soul is lost and the earth is captured.Ch’ulelal: the soul is lost and its whereabouts are not known; It can be in heaven, in the world, in another town or sold.

This phenomenon is not homogeneous and, of course, requires further research and consideration by the scientific community. Of course, fright or terror needs to be studied taking into account its context, since we cannot forget the strong cultural component that defines it.

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