Straining Psychic and Social Sinew: Trauma among Adolescent Psychiatric Patients in New Mexico

Drawing on data from a longitudinal study of 47 adolescents of diverse ethnic backgrounds hospitalized for psychiatric disorder in New Mexico, the article critically examines the relevance of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to address anthropological questions of how to define the problem. Fac...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Medical anthropology quarterly 2015-03, Vol.29 (1), p.42-60
Main Author: Jenkins, Janis H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
21st century
Adolescent
adolescent mental health
Adolescents
Anthropology, Medical
Case studies
Child
Child Abuse - psychology
Disorders
Ethnicity
Female
Health problems
Health services
Hospitalization
Humans
lived experience
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Medical anthropology
Mental disorders
Mental Disorders - psychology
Mental health
Mental health care
Mental Health Services
Mental hospitals
Mental Illness
Mental Patients
New Mexico
Patients
Politics
Post traumatic stress disorder
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Psychiatry
Psychological Distress
PTSD
Socioeconomic factors
Stress
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - psychology
Suffering
Teenagers
Trauma
U.S.A
Youth
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Summary:Drawing on data from a longitudinal study of 47 adolescents of diverse ethnic backgrounds hospitalized for psychiatric disorder in New Mexico, the article critically examines the relevance of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to address anthropological questions of how to define the problem. Factors include the utility/limitation of psychiatric diagnostic categories, the lived experience of severe distress, the socioeconomic and political conditions of suffering, and reciprocal relations between immediate and remote social institutions. I discuss the mental health care system for adolescents and present two case studies of young inpatients, emphasizing the need for dual specification of the conditions of trauma and the structure of experience. I argue for understanding patterns of abandonment that shape the raw existence of young people at both the personal and collective levels to apprehend their depth and durability.
ISSN:0745-5194
1548-1387
DOI:10.1111/maq.12104