The role of the Nightmare in Hmong Sudden Unexpected Nocturnal Death Syndrome: A folkloristic study of belief and health
Author(s):
Adler, Shelley R.
Format:
Thesis
Degree granted:
Ph.D.
Publisher:
Ann Arbor : University of California, Los Angeles, 1991.
Pages:
283
Language:
English
Abstract:
Scores of seemingly healthy Laotian Hmong refugees in the United States have died mysteriously and without warning from what has come to be known as Sudden Unexpected Nocturnal Death Syndrome (SUNDS). Despite numerous studies of SUNDS, medical research has provided no adequate explanation for the Hmong sudden nocturnal deaths. Rather than searching for an exclusively pathophysiological etiology for SUNDS, I explore the role of powerful traditional beliefs in illness causation. A study of the factors affecting Hmong refugees in America, such as rapid acculturation and changes in religious practice and gender roles, reveals that the disruption of traditional Hmong culture may be responsible for the sudden deaths. The following hypothesis forms the basis for the investigation: belief in the visitations of a nocturnal pressing spirit, traditionally known as the "Nightmare" (Old English nihtmara 'night witch') acts as a trigger for the fatal disorder of SUNDS. In testing this hypothesis, the veracity of four essential facts is established: (1) The Hmong supranormal experience (dab tsog) that I had isolated is in fact a culture-specific manifestation of the universal Nightmare phenomenon; (2) Hmong belief regarding the experience forms a collective tradition; (3) The Nightmare, in specific sociocultural contexts, causes cataclysmic psychological stress; (4) Intense psychological stress can cause sudden death. Fieldwork conducted over a fourteen-month period in California's Central Valley included survey research with a representative sample of 118 Hmong and in-depth interviews designed to elicit first-person accounts (memorates) of Nightmare experiences. Data compiled through quantitative and qualitative research methods is examined and conclusions are drawn through the use of both content and statistical analysis. The results of an exploration of the emic perspective on the sudden nocturnal deaths challenge the assumptions of previous SUNDS researchers that underestimate and discredit the traditional knowledge of the Hmong. The analysis of the data confirms that the power of traditional belief--compounded with factors such as the trauma of war, migration, rapid acculturation, and the inability to practice traditional healing and ritual--causes cataclysmic psychological stress that can result in the deaths of male Hmong refugees from SUNDS.