Behind the Folklore - Yellow Fever

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VENGEFUL SPIRITS
Please see folklore from Season 2 episode Roadkill and the Bloody Mary legend in Season 1.

GHOST SICKNESS
Ghost sickness is a culture-bound syndrome which some American Indian tribes believe to be caused by association with the dead or dying and is sometimes associated with witchcraft. It is considered to be a psychotic disorder of Navajo origin. Its symptoms include general weakness, loss of appetite, a feeling of suffocation, recurring nightmares, and a pervasive feeling of terror. The sickness is attributed to ghosts (chindi) or, occasionally, to witches.

The sufferer may be mildly obsessed with death or a deceased person whom they believe to be the source of their affliction. Physical symptoms can include weakness and fatigue, diminished appetite, or other digestion problems. There may be dizziness or fainting and sometimes even loss of consciousness. At times the sufferer might experience a sense of suffocation or inability to breath. Psychological symptoms may include nightmares or other sleep disturbances, anxiety, or a sense of being in danger. He or she may experience hallucinations or confusion. At some point there can be feelings of pointlessness or depression

Ghost sickness may be brought about from the belief that the dead may try to take someone with them. "Spirits or “ghosts” may be viewed as being directly or indirectly linked to the cause of an event, accident, or illness." Both Erikson (1963) and Macgregor (1946/1975; 1970) report substantiating evidence of trauma response features including: withdrawal and psychic numbing, anxiety and hypervigilance, guilt, identification with ancestral pain and death, and chronic sadness and depression.


OTHER REFERENCES
Hutchinson: You're scared of Donny? Don't be, he's a sweetheart. It's Marie you got to look out for. She smells fear.
Donny and Marie Osmond are a brother-sister duo of singers, actors, and television hosts.


Sources: Wikipedia