Folk medicine in the Southwest

Abstract

Culture-bound syndromes began capturing the imagination of Western scientists when 19th-century explorers, missionaries, and scholars discovered illnesses that did not exist within the boundaries of Western medicine. These folk illnesses—and their often spectacular cures—have been a constant theme in the literature on culture and medicine since the turn of the century. Recently, folk illnesses have become an important focus for determining the links between mind, culture, physiology, and health.