Negotiating languages of suffering in northern Uganda

Abstract

Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in northern Uganda, I argue that psychiatric notions of suffering brought into the region by humanitarian intervention programs interact with local concepts of suffering (based in spirit-idioms) in two ways: In some cases, the diagnostic notion of PTSD and its vernacular counterpart “trauma” psychologize the local cosmology, transforming local spirit concepts from social or moral categories, to psychological ones. In other cases, psychiatric discourses hinged around “trauma” become spiritualized or enchanted, where the concept of trauma becomes usurped by and part of local cosmology. In an attempt to understand these processes, I suggest understanding concepts of suffering through their use in social practice and based on pragmatist epistemology. If viewed as a pragmatist concepts, I argue, it becomes possible to understand the social life of concepts of suffering (such as “trauma”) when they become globalized and negotiated in new contexts and social practices.

Echoes of the past: prevalence and correlates of PTSD among formerly abducted youths in northern Uganda: findings from the WAYS study

“…In the aftermath of political and violent conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common and widely recognised mental health problem 1 2 that has even transformed the local discourse of suffering into a psychological one of ‘trauma’. 3 The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) criteria for PTSD include direct or indirect exposures to a traumatic event, followed by symptoms in four categories: intrusion, avoidance, negative changes in thoughts and mood, and changes in arousal and reactivity. 4 These symptoms often impact the lives of survivors and last for a month or longer.…”