Giancristofaro, Lia <br/><br/>
Suffering and alternative thought 

 -  2022.<br/>							 
<br/><br/> 13 
<br/><br/> This article explores the meaning of “transmutation” (known as mutanza in several local Italian dialects). It is a general category of malaise taking the form of loss of consciousness and convulsions documented in the Abruzzi, and also in a wider area of central Italy, from the second half of the 19th century, and generally referring to a momentary loss of consciousness and to a “change” or reversal of the personality. The malaise takes the form of epilepsy-related convulsions, sometimes with a catatonic state, sometimes accompanied by aggressive behaviors or an oppressed feeling in the chest. This variability in symptoms suggests the existence of a link with psychosomatic phenomena. The article draws on the historical distance (60 years) that this field of study affords to evidence evolution and change in these popular perceptions up to the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Popular representations and recovery from these symptoms today form a temporary, ritual cure process, distinguished by the magical-religious rites that accompany it. This particular symptom profile is a representation of the self, and its predominant attribution to the female gender today reflects a cultural need involving the body and the head which implies adaptation, emotions and reorganizations of the self.