A Psychophysiological Interpretation of Voodoo Illness and Voodoo Death

Abstract

Voodoo illness is a form of psychosomatic illness. When sufficiently intense and prolonged, the extreme physiological arousal pattern to stimulation that comprises emotional behavior produces pathological changes in physiological functioning and anatomic structure, which are psychophysiological and psychosomatic disorders. New stimuli may become associated with established autonomic reaction patterns that are emotional behavior; also particular autonomic reactions may be strengthened through differential reinforcement. Thus, emotional stimuli and emotional response patterns may be learned. When the emotional reaction patterns are sufficiently frequent or prolonged and sufficiently intense in the person socially prepared to react and physically predisposed (i.e., vulnerable via genetically determined or later acquired biological weakness), changes of such magnitude may occur in physiological functioning or anatomical structure as to be incompatible with continued life. Voodoo death corresponds to that formulation of psychosomatic death.