Swagman C F
Soc Sci Med. 1989;28(4):381-8. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(89)90039-7.
Sudden fright, 'fijac', has played an important role in the traditional explanatory models of illness experiences in highland Yemen. Fijac is quite similar to other examples of the fright illness taxon in that it is a folk-illness category that is attributed to a wide variety of underlying conditions. It is argued that given the extremely labile symptomatology, fijac, like other examples of the fright illness taxon, does not constitute a culture-bound psychiatric syndrome. Based on analysis of case studies and preliminary survey data, fijac appears to be much more common among folk etiologies offered by Yemeni women than men. It is suggested that this social profile might be explained by changes in the distribution of medical knowledge in Yemen. With the rapid rate of social change and the increased exposure to cosmopolitan medicine resulting from internal development of cosmopolitan health care and international labor migration, men have supplemented their traditional explanatory models with alternatives drawn from cosmopolitan medicine. Succumbing to illness as a result of fright is contradictory to the male ideal of the courageous tribesman; alternative explanatory models that do not challenge this ideal self predominate. By contrast, the Yemeni value system defines women and children as vulnerable and weak; therefore, being subject to the impact of fright is consistent with youth and the cultural definition of the female self.
突发惊吓，即“fijac”，在也门高地疾病经历的传统解释模型中发挥了重要作用。“fijac”与惊吓致病分类中的其他例子颇为相似，它是一种民间疾病类别，可归因于多种潜在状况。有人认为，鉴于其症状极其不稳定，“fijac”与惊吓致病分类中的其他例子一样，并不构成一种文化特异性精神综合征。基于对案例研究和初步调查数据的分析，“fijac”在也门女性提供的民间病因中似乎比男性更为常见。有人认为，这种社会特征可能是由也门医学知识分布的变化所解释的。随着社会变革的迅速发展以及因国际医疗保健内部发展和国际劳务移民而增加的对世界医学的接触，男性用从世界医学中借鉴的替代方法补充了他们传统的解释模型。因惊吓而患病与勇敢的部落男子的男性理想相矛盾；不挑战这种理想自我的替代解释模型占主导地位。相比之下，也门的价值体系将妇女和儿童定义为易受伤害和软弱的；因此，受到惊吓的影响与青年以及女性自我的文化定义是一致的。
