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VOODOO! What's that? Voodoo - Zombie & Psychiatric Disorders I read with interest an article by Prof. Richard Littlewood, from the Department of Anthropology and Psychiatry, University College of London, and Dr. Chavannes Douyon, from the Polyclinic Medica, Haiti. The article was recently published in the prestigious British journal The Lancet. The authors described their findings in three cases of zombification in southern Haiti. They examined the 3 alleged zombies, using interviews, neurological exams, EEG, CAT-scan, and DNA analyses in two cases. They also interviewed family members, houngans (voodoo priests), catholic priests and neighbors of the supposedly "zombies" mort-vivant. They commented on the possible role of tetrodoxin in inducing catalepsy or motor paralysis (apparent death?) and the use of datura stramonium to revive the dead person. They concluded that " it is unlikely that there is a single explanation for all zombies." They indicated that mistaken identification of a wandering, mentally ill, stranger by bereaved relatives is the most likely explanation in cases 2 and 3. They cautiously mentioned that the history of case 1 might be consistent with zombification, although they did assign her a presumptive diagnosis of catatonic schizophrenia. Well, we applaud the effort of Prof. Littlewood and Dr. Douyon., but it did not advance our knowledge of the mystery surrounding zombification, if this phenomenon really exists. The authors were accurate in reporting the local interpretation of zombification: a young person suddenly becomes ill, is subsequently recognized by their family as dead, placed in a tomb, stolen by a bokor (sorcerer) in the next few days after death, and secretely returned to life and activity but not to full awareness. We know of countless anecdotal reports of zombies and loup-garous in Haiti, but we still don’t have any evidence of their existence. Perhaps in case no.1, the authors were simply dealing with a case of dissociative fugue or depersonalization disorder, given the lack of response to neuroleptic medications. Thus, all 3 cases could have been explained as untreated psychiatric illnesses. As the authors suggested, further study is needed. The full article by Littlewood and Douyon "Clinical findings in three cases of zombification" can be read in The Lancet 1997; 350:1094-96 Pierre Jean-Noel |
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