Reading Tee Yod through Buddhist psychology of trauma
Nathani Lüneburg
Image & Text 2026 DOI: 10.17159/2617-3255/2026/n40a1 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Buddhism |
| Keywords | Foregrounding Articulation sociology Metaphor Distress Contemplation Reading process Psychotherapist Psychoanalysis Embodied cognition |
| Key points | Argues that Tee Yod offers a cinematic articulation of Buddhist trauma theory, foregrounding healing as a process of awareness and compassion, and challenging Western paradigms of trauma and PTSD. |
Abstract
This article examines Tee Yod (Death Whisperer, 2023), a Thai horror film directed by Taweewat Watanawat, through the lens of Buddhist psychology of trauma. Departing from the conventions of the Nang Phi genre, Tee Yod reinterprets the ghost as a metaphor for intergenerational suffering and psychological distress within a Buddhist cosmological and moral framework. Drawing on Theravāda Buddhist principles of suffering, ignorance, impermanence, purification, mindfulness, and insight, this study argues that Tee Yod challenges western paradigms of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by proposing an alternative framework for recovery and transformation grounded in Buddhist ethics and contemplative practice. A comparative analysis of western trauma treatments - such as trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy, exposure therapy, and pharmacotherapy - and Buddhist-inspired approaches demonstrates the latter's potential for moral repair, emotional regulation, and integrative healing. The article situates the film within broader discourses on Buddhist psychology, highlighting how mindfulness, ethical cultivation, and insight function as means of transcending suffering. Ultimately, it suggests that Tee Yod offers a cinematic articulation of Buddhist trauma theory, foregrounding healing as a process of awareness and compassion. Keywords: Post-traumatic stress disorder, trauma, Buddhist, Theravāda, suffering, ignorance, impermanence, purification, mindfulness, insight, western psychology.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on buddhism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mental balance and well-being: Building bridges between Buddhism and Western psychology. | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience | 1995 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist and Psychological Perspectives on Emotions and Well-Being | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Too Early to Tell: The Potential Impact and Challenges—Ethical and Otherwise—Inherent in the Mainstreaming of Dharma in an Increasingly Dystopian World | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From self to nonself: The Nonself Theory | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |