Posted on 05/01/2009 5:41:47 AM PDT by mgist
BILWI, Nicaragua -- A mysterious illness that's driving some indigenous Nicaraguans to hysteria has authorities scrambling to find answers.
No one is entirely sure why the so-called grisi siknis -- the Miskito term for ''crazy sickness'' -- has returned to this port town on Nicaragua's northern Caribbean coast, but it has residents on edge.
More than 80 cases have been reported here in the past two months, including eight more girls who were afflicted at school April 21. The outbreaks are becoming a daily occurrence in schools, according to regional government authorities.
''We were scared,'' said 11-year-old Ana Stefani, whose Morava J.A.C. school in Bilwi was closed for three days last month after 35 of her classmates were afflicted in the schoolyard. ``The girls were yelling like they were possessed and they were calling out names of other students. Their eyes were closed and their fists were clenched.''
Grisi siknis is a powerful and puzzling cultural-bound syndrome that afflicts Nicaragua's indigenous and ethnic communities, mostly young adolescent Miskito women. Outbreaks have been reported as far back as the early 1800s. Some health experts say the illness is more mental than physical. However, it behaves similar to other viral outbreaks in that it's contagious and can last for months or years.
`THE END OF TIMES'
Residents say it's related to the supernatural: An evangelical reverend says the phenomenon is a sign of ''the end of times'' while a Catholic priest conducts ''preventive exorcisms'' and urges his faithful to pray for protection against demonic forces. And witch doctors are giving children charms to protect them from witchcraft and dwarfs.
Authorities have had to close four schools in recent weeks to prevent widespread panic among students.
''There is more devil than God in the city right now,'' said Rev. Kenneth Bushey, of the Moravian Renovation Evangelical Church, where seven women took ill with grisi siknis during a youth group event last month. ``God is testing our faith.''
While most outbreaks have occurred in remote villages, in the past month there have been some 50 new cases reported in the relatively populous regional capital of Bilwi, and dozens more cases have been reported in neighboring municipalities. Residents here fear the area is on the brink of an epidemic.
José Manzanares, a head of the regional government's department of traditional medicine, said he has asked the central government to take grisi siknis seriously. So far, however, the issue has been regarded by Managua as one of ''Indian craziness,'' Miskito leaders say.
The Sandinista government has not issued a formal response.
''The people feel unprotected,'' Manzanares said. ``The epidemic is getting worse and the government is not prepared to respond to the situation.''
Katie Booton, a nursing student from Nebraska working for a missionary group in the rural Miskito community of Francia Sirpi, said she was recently asked by villagers to transport a young woman with grisi siknis to a nearby health clinic.
''At first she seemed scared, but by the end of the trip she was raging,'' Booton said. ``Three men were struggling to hold her down in the back of the truck, as she tore their shirts. She was screaming and digging her fingernails into her palms.''
SYMPTOMS
Grisi siknis sufferers often experience alternate states of a coma-like trance and indomitable mania, according to witnesses. In the manic stage, victims usually keep their eyes closed and fists clenched with their thumbs tucked underneath their other four fingers, which many interpret as a sign of the dwarf -- evil spirits thought to inhabit the earth, an important part in the indigenous view of the cosmos.
Level headed mothers converse freely about the crazy world we live in. We all seem to feel like we are in some sort of apocalyptic trial. We also have this swine flu plague and now this news of people becoming crazed. All this while the media cheers and applauds Obama's "swagger".
Either that or demonic possession. Or nervous breakdowns. I wonder if the Vatican is watching this stuff closely.
I could use some “indomitable mania” about now!
this “illness” sounds like what drove the Salem witch trials - young girls then, too
It was linked to a fungus in the rye wheat that they ate in bread. Maybe these people have an isssue in their food or water supply, plus mass hysteria
I've got to get me one of those. One can never be too careful.
..your doing just what the new changed government wants you to do...."converse", now when you attend a TEA PARTY, you will be condemned and held up as an example of home grown terrorism
..whether or not you have attended a party or not, in no way am I attacking you...just stressing the importance of citizen involvement
Datura? Or some other plant with tropane alkaloids?
Tituba’s fault.
An evangelical reverend says the phenomenon is a sign of ''the end of times'' while a Catholic priest conducts ''preventive exorcisms'' and urges his faithful to pray for protection against demonic forces.''There is more devil than God in the city right now,'' said Rev. Kenneth Bushey
And witch doctors are giving children charms to protect them from witchcraft and dwarfs.
Well, at least the local religious authorities are having a calming influence.;-)
I was thinking along those lines. It sounds like the effects of ingesting DMT and there are several sources in Nicaragua.
Ergot. Also caused the “Dancing Plagues” of the Middle Ages. Very similar to LSD, if I recall correctly. It’s been 40 years since I read a book about it.
Maybe some link could be found to the diet of these girls. I wonder why it affects mainly teenaged girls?
That explains how they voted for Ortega.
Maybe it’s bobbysoxism. Beatlemania.
It provokes a very similar response when ingested...particularly the demonic aspects and encounters with dwarfs.
Oddly, the effects of DMT are very similar to what has been reported by those claiming they were abducted by aliens.
A good pair of boots will protect one from dwarfs.
I just punt the little bastiches.
Got to agree. They’re probably eating unprocessed Rye bread from the same health food shop.
My first thought too. I didn't know, however, that it was linked to rye bread fungus. I always just assumed it was some sort of demonic experience.
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