Ethiopian Jews Meet Israeli Family Physicians: A Study of Cultural Somatization

Abstract

Cultural somatization can be defined as the use of the body as a metaphor for personal distress, and is a common feature of illness behaviour in both Western and non-Western societies. This study explores the prevalence of somatization among Ethiopian Jewish immigrants in Israel, the relationship of these symptoms to their psychosocial environment, and approaches that Israeli doctors can pursue in order to better understand and communicate with somatizing patients. Lebi, a heart- centred symptom complex, and the illnesses of zar and kole, which are thought to be caused by spirits, are described in case studies as examples of traditional beliefs about illness which have persisted among Ethiopian Jews in Israel.