Disease, Illness, and Birth in Guatemala

After reading “Something Is Making You Sick”, I was struck by the completely separate ways in which in which the people of Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan understand disease and illness, in contrast to our own interpretations of being sick. In my other Medical Anthropology class the year, we have been learning about the differences between disease and illness. Disease is the biochemical and scientific abnormalities that impairs a healthy body, while illness is a person’s personal experience of an ailment. Both the Mayan’s construction of disease and illness are very different from the ways we define, treat, and comprehend disease here in the U.S. For example, I found it very interesting that the Mayans “conceive symptoms as separate illnesses”(28). This differentiation is unusual to us, as we understand symptoms as evidence of a larger disease. However, in Guatemala, our symptoms are considered diseases. What implication does this have for learning about health in Guatemala in face of our own interpretations about symptoms?

While reading it also struck me that disease is just another part of culture, and that its interpretations differs in every society. Illness, like disease, is subjective as well. A large part of Mayan society is the idea of K’oqob’al diseases—or symptoms that originate through the work of another person and imply forms of punishment (32). This supernatural category hints a specific type of disease that is distinctive from other resulting just from natural causes. The disease is specifically linked with personal faults, moral factors, revenge, and jealousy. Thus, someone who believes they have a K’oqob’al disease will react differently to the implications of the disease, and will have a different experience all together. Some may assume personal responsibility for their disease and pledge to change their ways. Others may be fearful that someone wants to see them harmed. Either way, these disease symptoms create a unique illness experience that is specific to Guatemala culture. Once again, the challenge lies in reconciling our own notions with illness with those of the Mayan, who link social ramifications and the supernatural world into the illness experience.

Lastly, I wanted to address Rachel questions of whether hospitals births are necessarily safer and better. I agree with the article in saying that both hospitals and the midwife system have positive and negative aspects associated with their care. Midwifes are able to provided “personal care” while is vital and special to the traditional system of giving birth in Guatemala (142). However, hospitals are able to “provide the security” of medicines, doctors, and trained staff which many women desire (141). I believe that a lot of decision of how to give birth lies with the woman’s location, age, family, and faith in tradition. My mom actually gave birth to my brother at home using a traditional midwife. She reflected many of Mayans woman’s complaints that hospitals are too impersonal and detached from patients. Because my brother is the youngest, she also had already had my sister and I, and knew what to expect when giving birth. Things such as this are likely determining factors for Mayan women as well. Ultimately, I believe that both institutions in Guatemala should continue to integrate simply for the health of women and the future mothers of the country who deserve security, personal care, and educated physicians in all aspects of the pregnancy and birth processes.