The sociosomatic course of depression and trauma: a cultural analysis of suffering and resilience in the life of a Puerto Rican woman [see comment].

OBJECTIVE

This study sets forth the premises of psychosomatic and sociosomatic approaches in medicine and psychiatry and considers how these approaches differentiate or complement one another. The course of persistent mental illness is examined in sociosomatic terms by considering a life defined by a cycle of expectation, violation, illness, and recovery.

METHOD

A case study of a Puerto Rican woman is drawn from a larger study of the course of depression and schizophrenia among 80 Latinos and Euro-Americans.

RESULTS

Analysis of the patient's narrative reveals a set of interrelated themes in terms of which this cycle is structured.

CONCLUSION

The study concludes by offering a structural model of the sociosomatic reticulum that define the interaction between bodily experience and social relationships or conditions.