Devereux] MOHAVE ETHNOPSYCHIATRY AND SUICIDE 181 



be caused by witchcraft, which ties in with Fathauer's finding that 

 the nyevedhi: taha:na illness is sometimes due to witchcraft.^® 



The next point to be discussed is the fact that instances in which 

 the ghost illness occurs in combination with other illnesses, such as 

 ah we: hahnok or hiwey lak, are more common than unadulterated 

 cases of nyevedhi : taha :na. This is presumably due to the tendency 

 of all psychologically "primitive" persons to "somatize;" i. e., a de- 

 piession such as nyevedlii : taha :na is very likely to trigger off also 

 pliysical symptoms, or at least hypochondrial complaints, while physi- 

 cal illness, in turn, often elicits in psychologically primitive persons 

 considerable anxiety and a depression.®^ 



The last point to be considered concerns the classical symptoms of 

 the ghost illness, and the extent to which our case history fits the 

 characteristic symptomatology of this psychosis, which does not seem 

 to include any organic pathology. 



According to Fathauer (1951) : 



People afflicted with the ghost sickness were afraid of darkness, experienced 

 nightmares, were unable to sleep at night, and cried for long periods of time. 

 The shaman could also produce these symptoms by witchcraft, causing the 

 victim to see whirlwinds in which ghosts traveled, and to have bad dreams, 

 which produced the sickness. (It is necessary to stress in this connection that 

 when a Mohave notices that one of the small whirlwinds, which occasionally 

 arise in the desert, heads toward him, he immediately dodges it, lest it carry 

 his soul to the land of the dead, causing him to die.) 



Fathauer's description suggests that the ghost illness is a psycho- 

 genic depression of considerable severity, uncomplicated by organic 

 symptoms. The case liistory given below (Case 47) confirms this 

 impression. The only part of Fathauer's description which calls for 

 clarification is his statement that the patient has "nightmares." In 

 psychiatry the term "nightmare" is applied almost exclusively to 

 suffocation dreams, and especially to those in wliich an unbearably 

 heavy mass seems to press down upon the dreamer's chest (Jones, 

 1931).^ Since our data make no mention of suffocation dreams, we 

 must presume that Fathauer used the term "nightmare" in the col- 

 loquial sense of "severe anxiety dream." This being said, Fathauer's 

 characterization of the ghost illness perfectly fits Case 47, which is 

 a typical example of the nyevedhi : taha :na. In her dream, the pa- 

 tient cannibalizes her dead mother, who first appears disguised as a 

 fish, presumably because, even in a dream, the patient could not have 



■* Lack of space makes it Impossible to show that the witch operates in many ways as 

 though he were a ghost. 



»i There are certain Indications that each type of physical Illness has distinctive emo- 

 tional-psychiatric sequelae, or at least a distinctive psychic climate (Menninger and 

 Devereux, 1948). 



' Compare the German term "Alpdruck" (pressure of a spirit called Alp) and the 

 Hungarian term "lldfercnyomas" (pressure of a spirit called lidfirc). 



