The social meanings of nervios: A case study of a central American woman

Peter J. Guarnaccia and Pablo Farias

Social Science & Medicine, 1988, vol. 26, issue 12, 1223-1231

Abstract: This paper analyzes nervious among Central American refugees living in the United States. Nervious is analyzed as personal descriptions of distress, statements about family relations, and commentaries on the broader social forces affecting people's lives. A description of theclinical presentations of 28 Salvadorans who suffer from nervious and an indepth analysis of an extended interview with a nervous suffer are presented to examine the multiple meanings of nervious. Nervious is identified as a powerful idiom of distress used by Latinos to express concerns about physical symptoms, emotional states, and changes both in the family and in the broader society.

Keywords: nerves/nervious; Central; American; refugees; anthropology; of; sickness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1988
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