Amafufunyana

Amafufunyana is an unspecified "culture-bound" syndrome named by the traditional healers of the Xhosa people that relates to claims of demonic possession due to members of the Xhosa people exhibiting aberrant behavior and psychological concerns.^[1] After study, it was discovered that this term is directed toward people with varying types of schizophrenia.^[1] A similar term, ukuthwasa, is used to refer to positive types of claimed possession, though this event also involves those with schizophrenia.^[2] It has also found cultural usage among some groups of Zulu peoples.^[3]

The direct translation of the term amafufunyana is nerves and is a part of a much more complex cultural ideology connecting varying types of psychosis with religious, social, and recently psychiatric beliefs and activities. In a 1998 interview with Xhosa people with schizophrenia by Lund et al., it was determined that through interaction with scientists and psychological services, the preferred treatment for the cultural condition had shifted from relation to traditional healers to active psychiatric assessment.^[4]