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Transcultural Psychiatry
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Problemas de Nervos: A Multivocal Symbol of Distress for Portuguese Immigrants

Susan James

University of British Columbia, susan.james{at}ubc.ca

Mark Fernandes

University of Guelph

Geoffrey S. Navara

University of Guelph

Sara Harris

Wilfrid Laurier University

Durwin Foster

University of British Columbia

This article outlines research on a previous unstudied form of suffering specific to the Portugese immigrant community: problemas de nervos. Thirty-two Portuguese immigrant women (in Waterloo, ON and Boston, MA) were interviewed and each completed a questionnaire. Cluster analysis demonstrated that problemas de nervos has many meanings. The study profiled symptoms, causes and therapies associated with four variations of this culture-specific form of distress: "mal da cabeca" meaning problems with/in the head (e.g., lack of control, visions); " aflição" meaning affliction (e.g., nervous attacks, heart problems); immigration stress (causing sleep disturbances); and, conflicts with others (resulting in pressure within the body). None of the symptom clusters reported matched criteria for a DSM-IV-TR diagnosis, suggesting that problemas de nervos represents an idiomatic rather than universal expression of distress.

Key Words: immigrant mental health • Portuguese immigrants • problemas de nervos

Transcultural Psychiatry, Vol. 46, No. 2, 285-299 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1363461509105819
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