Bertrand D
Centre d'anthropologie Chine du Sud et péninsule Indochinoise, CNRS, Paris, France.
Sante. 1997 Sep-Oct;7(5):330-4.
There are many kinds of traditional healers in Cambodia, mostly in the rural areas. People often seek advice from monks at the pagoda, traditional doctors (kru khmer) or mediums when they are ill, and consult medical practitioners only as a last resort. Each of these healers provides a different solution and form of care. Traditional healers are difficult to find in France and they often work in secret. Monks teach meditation rather than magic, brahmanism and superstition. There are now Khmer in Cambodia who have returned after long and complex treatments in general and psychiatric hospitals in France, seeking a release from suffering in their motherland. They seek an alternative understanding of their problems and a different kind of care, based largely on witchcraft and spiritual possession, which is not available in France. Returning to Cambodia is important because they are allowed to live according to their beliefs without being seen as insane. However, this return also involves confrontation with the lost country and the past, with war and the Killing Fields, in the same place as the trauma itself occurred. Several cases illustrate the healing nature of the return and emphasize the importance of a culturally sensitive interpretation of the patient's symptoms, which may express cultural bereavement and do not fit easily into international psychiatric categories. This requires much careful attention and listening to the patient.
柬埔寨有多种传统治疗师，大多分布在农村地区。人们生病时常常会向寺庙里的僧侣、传统医生（高棉医生）或灵媒寻求建议，只有在万不得已时才会咨询医生。这些治疗师中的每一位都提供不同的解决方案和护理形式。在法国很难找到传统治疗师，而且他们通常秘密行医。僧侣传授的是冥想而非魔法、婆罗门教和迷信。现在有一些柬埔寨人在法国的综合医院和精神病院接受了漫长而复杂的治疗后回国，他们希望在祖国摆脱痛苦。他们寻求对自身问题的另一种理解以及一种不同类型的护理，这种护理很大程度上基于巫术和灵魂附身，而这在法国是没有的。回到柬埔寨很重要，因为他们可以按照自己的信仰生活，而不会被视为疯子。然而，这种回归也意味着要面对失去的国家和过去，面对战争和杀戮场，就在创伤发生的同一个地方。几个案例说明了回归的治愈作用，并强调了对患者症状进行文化敏感解读的重要性，这些症状可能表达了文化丧亲之痛，并不容易归入国际精神病学范畴。这需要非常仔细地关注并倾听患者。
