A preoccupation with death and the deceased (sometimes associated with witchcraft) frequently observed among Native American tribes. Symptoms attributed to it include bad dreams, weakness, feelings of danger, loss of appetite, fainting, dizziness, fear, anxiety, hallucinations, loss of consciousness, confusion, feelings of futility, and a sense of suffocation.
Ghost sickness is a culture-bound syndrome observed among many Native American and other indigenous tribes throughout North and South America. This disorder is that contains a “preoccupation with death and the deceased” and is often associated with witchcraft and spirit possession (American Psychiatric Association, 1994.)
A culture-bound illness found in Native Americans in which the affected person is consumed by thoughts of death or by visitations from spirits of dead ancestors.