Surrendering to Diabetes: An Embodied Response to Perceptions of Diabetes and Death in the Gila River Indian Community

Abstract

The Pima Indians of southern Arizona have the highest reported incidence and prevalence of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) in the world. Age-adjusted mortality rates are 40 to 50 percent higher in diabetic than in non-diabetic members of the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC). This study examines the health attitudes and perceptions of NIDDM among forty-four non-diabetic members of the GRIC. It was found that many of these Pima view NIDDM as an inevitable, uncontrollable, inherited, and fatal disease. It is argued that this disease's impact has fostered an embodied-physiological-emotional-cultural response that I call “surrender.” The consequences and health implications of this response are discussed.