Implications of the body and social ties in traditional therapies for pathological grief in Togo
Type de matériel :
8
Based on a transcultural perspective, this article analyzes the cultural representations of pathological grief disorders and describes the traditional therapeutic modalities implemented. The methods used in the analysis are three focus groups with fourteen traditional therapists , participant observations during a ritual, and individual interviews with a patient dealing with complications relating to grieving for their lost spouse. The results show that social mourning, imposed by “psychological grief,” pursues the ancestralization of the deceased through a kind of collective sublimation. And when social mourning is not carried out, the deceased can haunt the living spouse in various ways. Low mood, psychomotor agitation, anorexia, sleep disturbances, and persecutory delusions are some manifestations. Thus, traditional therapies will consist of a sort of psychodrama, mobilizing the media of the body through the techniques of immersion and desensitization. The implications of these findings open a perspective on both the heuristic and clinical level on the role of the imaginary, the body, and social ties in treating pathological grief disorders.
Réseaux sociaux