Calming the mind: Healing after mass atrocity in Cambodia.
Inger Agger
Transcultural Psychiatry February 4, 2015 DOI: 10.1177/1363461514568336 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Qualitative study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Cambodians, including survivors of the Khmer Rouge regime |
| Topics | Anxiety Buddhism Depression Meditation |
| Keywords | Humans Adaptation, psychological Stress disorders, post-traumatic Human rights abuses History, 20th century Refugees Cambodia Healing Cultural adaptation Theravada buddhism |
| Key findings | Argues that Cambodians draw on Buddhism to calm their minds after trauma and that Western psychology may learn from these local, contextualized approaches. Contends that assessment and treatment methods require considerable cultural adaptation rather than wholesale transposition, and that such interchange may yield innovative hybrid discourses and methods to support victims of organized violence. |
Abstract
After catastrophic events in which people's survival has been threatened, as happened during the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia 1975-1979, some continue to suffer from painful mental symptoms. Surveys carried out in Cambodia based on Western diagnostic categories have found a high prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety symptoms in the population. This study explored Cambodian approaches to healing trauma, examining the ways in which Cambodians appeal to elements of Buddhism in their efforts to calm their minds, situating this mode of coping in the context of broader Khmer Buddhist practice and understandings. Western psychology may have much to learn from local, contextualised methods of dealing with the aftermath of trauma, including Khmer understandings of distress and approaches to relief. Methods of assessment and treatment of distress cannot be transposed wholesale from one cultural setting to another but require considerable cultural adaptation. This kind of cultural interchange may give rise to innovative, hybrid discourses and methods that may have much to offer in the support of victims of organised violence.
Comparable studies
Other qualitative studies on buddhism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists Western Buddhist meditation practitioners and experts in Theravāda, Zen, and Tibetan... | 2017 | Qualitative study with mixed-methods | |
| A phenomenology of meditation-induced light experiences: traditional buddhist and neurobiological perspectives American Buddhist practitioners | 2014 | Qualitative study | |
| Common Core Thesis and Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Mysticism in Chinese Buddhist Monks and Nuns Chinese Pure Land and Chan Buddhist monks and nuns | 2011 | Mixed-methods study | n = 139 |
| Anger regulation in traumatized Cambodian refugees: the perspectives of Buddhist monks. Buddhist Cambodian monks in Massachusetts | 2011 | Qualitative study | n = 6 |
| The Lived Experiences of Experienced Vipassana Mahasi Meditators: an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Experienced Vipassana Mahasi meditators | 2018 | Qualitative study |
Citations in the library
Cites 3
- Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression: A New Approach to Preventing Relapse Psychotherapy Research March 1, 2003
- Mindfulness in cultural context Transcultural Psychiatry August 1, 2015
- Anger regulation in traumatized Cambodian refugees: the perspectives of Buddhist monks. Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry September 1, 2011