Languages of suffering. Transcultural constructions of suffering, pain, and healing during the pandemic

Curator: Daria Schwalbe

This thematic cluster explores local conceptions and ideas of suffering (and recovery/healing) in both lay and clinical narratives, as these came to be signified during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Local concepts, idioms, and metaphors often convey ideas and assumptions about illness and mental health. They may affect people’s perceptions, attitudes, and emotional responses to illness, mental disorders, or a crisis, such as the pandemic. They can also come into tension with the global trauma-inflicted language of psychiatry, triggering unanticipated responses and conflict in the local population. Gomez-Carrillo and Kirmayer have further argued that the mind itself should be understood as part of a larger, self-reflective system that is “embodied and enacted through language and other cultural practices”, emphasizing that: “Individuals’ narrative self-construals, culturally mediated interpretations of symptoms and coping strategies, as well as the responses of others in social world, can play a crucial role in the mechanisms of mental disorders, illness experiences, treatment responses, and recovery” (2023 p. 1; Kirmayer, 2019: Towards an Ecosocial psychiatry).

The thematic cluster assembles anthropological and clinical articles that describe the different ways in which people conceptualized and talked about suffering and pain during the time of global crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The texts offer an insight into the different languages (wordings and modes of expression) in which ordinary people and mental health practitioners in Colombia, China, Ghana, Nigeria, and Russia expressed and explained their pain and distress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, both in relation to the infection itself and the collateral effects of the pandemic and social isolation measures, which were imposed by many governments. The objective is to understand how specific languages — the unique lexical features and the variety of meanings and emotions they convey — framed people’s perceptions and experiences of illness and healing across the globe. This cluster focuses on both local voices and languages of suffering (i.e., vocabularies, diagnostic categories, idioms, and concepts related to suffering and pain), used in public discourses and scientific literature during the Covid-19 pandemic, and on patterns of coping and recovery articulated in local therapeutic discourses during and after the pandemic. It aims to address the following questions:

What was the language that described suffering during the COVID-19 pandemic? Which dominant narratives, ideas, words, concepts, diagnostic categories, metaphors, and terminologies were used in various geographical and social locations, and for what purposes? How did global psychiatric concepts and tools become localized in various concepts during the pandemic? Which therapeutic strategies (of normalization and healing) were used? Ultimately, how does the pandemic help to rethink the poetics and politics of therapeutic knowledge?

This collection of texts shows how individual and collective responses to the pandemic were intertwined with language and with local ideas about illness, care, love, fear, anxiety, pain, and grief. It discusses a variety of linguist and artistic expressions of suffering and healing: From the locally used global metaphors of war (like ‘fighting the pandemic’) in the case of Colombia and China, to the anti-yang jokes conceptualized as a form of emotional relief in China, the Ghanian and Nigerian uses of proverbs, humor, poetry, and songs both as fear management strategies and emotional control (in the case of Ghana) and socio-political and economic struggle (in the case of Nigeria), to the Russians’ ‘tolerance to endurance of suffering’ (притерпелость) as a way of making sense in the absence of alternatives of choice, and to the local therapeutic and self-management strategies, used as a way of coping with the infection, distress, and the collateral damage of the pandemic.

Russia

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the scale of fear, pain, and social anxiety has been on a rise in Russia. During the pandemic many people reported about psychological discomfort, anxiety, frustration and fear, which comes from infection itself and collateral effects of pandemic: loss of the loved ones, social isolation, loneliness, poverty, crime, political repressions, the lack of freedom of choice, abuse from the authorities, various forms of domestic violence, and ‘collective neurosis as pathology of the spirit of the time’. At the same time, artistic expressions (like graffiti) and social media were used as a way to resist the pandemic fear. This collection assembles anthropological and clinical articles that deal with the different ways in which pandemic suffering was conceptualized in Russia, including the triggers and intensity of pain and distress during the pandemic, languages of resistance, and therapeutic discourses of normalization and coping with loss and mental distress (searching for life resources, intellectual resources as healing). Some of the key narratives are those of ‘surviving the lock down’, ‘fighting the pandemic fear’, ‘crimes against elderly people in isolation’, ‘personal (in)security’, ‘ephemerality of existence’, ‘loss of trust’, ‘loss of meaning’ and ‘loss of understanding of how to act in situations of crisis when people are deprived of choice’, and ‘tolerance to endurance of suffering’ as a trait of Russian character (притерпелость). Suffering is conceptualized both as pathology (phobias), and as a normal reaction to uncertainty and instability that the crisis entails (normalization discourse).

See abstracts and keywords for the articles covering Russia (pdf).

  1. Clinical Features of First-episode Psychoses During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Mental health clinic No.1 named after N.A. Alexeev, Moscow, Russia. (Russian) Vladimir A. Zyablov, Mikhail A. Gusev, Vasilyi S. Chizhikov. 2021. https://doi.org/10.17816/CP85

  2. ‘Don’t kill my mother’. Attitudes towards elderly people during the pandemic [Колдман С.Д. (2020) «Не убивайте мою маму!»: отношение к пожилым людям во время пандемии COVID-19. Медицинская антропология и биоэтика. 2(20)] (Russian) Koldman, S. D. 2020.

  3. “If the enemy does not exist, it is constructed”, Reportage ‘Tell Gordeeva’ [Александр Асмолов: «Если враг не существует, то его изобретают» // «Скажи Гордеевой»] accessed July 4, 2024, at https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=CL9bigv1hek&list=PLynm3_86ldoTv06Qb-0MhzyDGgPxzZm3-&index=1 (in Russian, English subtitles available) Asmolov, A. 2022.

  4. “Without Panic! How to learn to live calmly and with confidence” (ed. Book, in Russ.) [Д. В. Ковпак, И. С. Качай. «Без паники! Как научиться жить спокойно и уверенно»] Kovpak, D. Kachaj I.S.,

  5. Intensity of suffering after the death of the loved ones from the Covid-19 infection, In Psychological Health: Live resourses and potentials, Proceedings of International scientific-practical conference, pp. 181-187. [Е.П. Малюткина, К.Р. Стаценко, А.В. Сивкова ИНТЕНСИВНОСТЬ ПЕРЕЖИВАНИЙ ПОСЛЕ СМЕРТИ БЛИЗКИХ ЛЮДЕЙ ОТ КОРОНАВИРУСНОЙ ИНФЕКЦИИ КАК ФАКТОР РИСКА РАЗВИТИЯ ЗАТЯЖНЫХ ПСИХОГЕННЫХ РАССТРОЙСТВ. In: ПСИХОЛОГИЧЕСКОЕ ЗДОРОВЬЕ ЧЕЛОВЕКА: ЖИЗНЕННЫЙ РЕСУРС И ЖИЗНЕННЫЙ ПОТЕНЦИАЛ. Материалы VIII-й Международной научно-практической конференции, г. Красноярск, 25–26 ноября 2021г., Красноярск 2022. ISBN 978-5-94285-247-4 (Rusian) Malyutkina E.P., Statsenko K.P., Sivkova A.V. (2022).

  6. Surviving a Lockdown: Changes in Employment and Psychological Well-being of the Population in the Pandemic Era. Monitoring of Public Opinion: Economic and Social Changes. No. 3. P. 250–270. https:// doi.org/10.14515/monitoring.2021.3.1893. (In Russ.) [Ерицян К.Ю., Русакова М.М., Александрова А.А., Усачева Н.М. Пережить локдаун: изме- нения в занятости и психологическое благополучие населения в эпоху пандемии // Мониторинг общественного мнения: экономические и социальные перемены. 2021. No 3. С. 250—270] Eritsyan K. Y., Rusakova M. M., Aleksanrova A. A., Usacheva N. M. (2021)

  7. Жемчугова А. В., Чудова И. А. Терапевтический дискурс психологов в кризисных условиях: нормализация не-действия // Интеракция. Интервью. Интерпретация. 2023. Т. 15. No 2. С. 11–33. EDN: DQDPAD

  8. Intellectual resources of psychological well-being personality in conditions of existential challenge (In Russ). [Л. И. Ларионова, В. Г. Петров, Д. Ю. Горелышева, Интеллектуальные ресурсы психологического благополучия личности в условиях экзистенциального вызова, In: СПОСОБНОСТИ И МЕНТАЛЬНЫЕРЕСУРСЫ ЧЕЛОВЕКАВ МИРЕ ГЛОБАЛЬНЫХ ПЕРЕМЕН, red. А. Л. Журавлёв, М. А. Холодная, П. А. Сабадош]. 399-410. Larionova. L. I., Petrov V.G, Gorelysheva D.Y. (2020)

Nigeria and Ghana, West Africa

See abstracts and keywords for the articles covering Nigeria and Ghana (pdf).

Nigeria

The contributions to this database are built from an existing knowledge and awareness of the language or mode of expression of suffering in Nigerian even prior to the pandemic and what has changed during the Covid-19 pandemic. It presents Femi Adedeji’s report of Nigerians’ use of gospel songs as instrument to express socio-political and economic struggles within the nation. This may be followed by the call for God’s help on the nation to alleviate the suffering. A direct opposite expression of suffering is seen in a news report by a veteran Nigerian journalist, Sola Odunfa (reporting in BBC African viewpoint, 2010) who’s final statement in the report makes it clear the expression of suffering among Nigerians. He writes: “Verily, verily I say unto you, the terrible twins called Suffering and Cursing are not in a hurry to leave Nigeria”. However, in the time of the pandemic, two ways of expression of suffering discussed in literature are the use of poetry and humor. Dele Odunlami and colleagues report from analysed cartoons, images, and video skits in Nigeria on the pandemic from Facebook posts. They found the use of irony, satire, parody and caricature as the different categories of language expression used to express suffering and dissatisfaction with the government during the Covid-19 pandemic. Finally, on the poetry side, Musa’s analysis of Hausa poetry about the pandemic from different parts of Nigeria revealed this as a means by which some Nigerians process traumatic experiences.

  1. Singing and Suffering in Africa A Study of Selected Relevant Texts of Nigerian Gospel Music. Matatu, 40(1), 411-425. Adedeji, F. (2012). 

  2. Cursing to express suffering  (Not related to the pandemic but the economic hardship in the country)

  3. Humour as a crisis communication strategy: content analysis of selected Covid-19 Facebook cartoons, images and skits in Nigeria. African Journal of Science and Nature, 11, 322-332. Odunlami, D., Adebayo, J. J., & Atewolara-Odule, O. (2020). 

  4. Poetic Verses on Covid-19: Hausa Lyricist’s Expressions on the Pandemic. In Covid-19 in Africa: Societal and Economic Implications (pp. 81-103). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland. Musa, U. A. (2023). 

Ghana

“Abofuo te se ohohoo, ontena baakofoo fie”. This is an Akan proverb and translates as: anger is like a stranger, it does not stay in only one person’s house. This and over 250 emotion related proverbs were analysed by Vivian Afi Abui Dzokoto and colleagues. They found these proverbs of emotions from Ghana portrayed strategies of emotional control and required behaviours from some Ghanaian tribes which they described further in their article in the frontiers. The compiled database for this thematic area also identified that the people of Akan (again) embody distress, stress, sorrow and depression and these are portrayed in the idioms and proverbs used to express them. Finally, Marfo and colleagues reported how humour (from social media posts) were means by which Ghanaians communicated their distress and dealt with their fear associated with the pandemic.

  1. Use of Akan (a Ghanaian ethnolinguistic group) proverbs to understand the cultural meaning and expectations of emotions.

  2. Emotion norms, display rules, and regulation in the Akan society of Ghana: an exploration using proverbs. Frontiers in psychology, 9, 1916. Dzokoto, V. A., Osei-Tutu, A., Kyei, J. J., Twum-Asante, M., Attah, D. A., & Ahorsu, D. K. (2018). 

  3. Akan concepts of stress, distress, sorrow and depression and idioms of distress: Agyekum, Kofi. “Akan Cultural Concepts and Expressions for ‘Stress’, ‘Distress’, ‘Sorrow’, and ‘Depression.’” Nordic Journal of African Studies, vol. 29, no. 3, 2020, pp. 1-.
     
  4. “By June, Everyone Would Have Died”: Historicising Humour during the Covid-19 Pandemic in Ghana. Modern Africa Politics History and Society. 9. 56-80. Marfo, Charles & Adu-Gyamfi, Samuel & Sanka, Confidence & Darkwa, Benjamin & Tomdi, Lucky. (2022). 

Hong Kong, China

These articles operationalize several concepts pointing to ways people talked about suffering in pandemic-era China. While discourses on the pandemic disseminated by state bureaucrats relied on metaphors of war (as in the expression kangyi, or “fighting the pandemic”) in hopes of triggering patriotic emotions, popular sentiments often found their expressions in self-deprecatory and dark humor, as in the case of anti-yang jokes (yang refers to being tested positive for COVID-19), conceptualized by researchers as a form of emotional relief (qingxu shujie). The concept of psychological subhealth (xinli yajiankng) gained traction, as people reported experience of ambiguous psychological malaise, hanging somewhere between health and disease, as in the case of “post-lockdown social anxiety” (jiefeng shi shekong). Adjusting (shiying) became a key coping strategy to deal with pandemic era suffering and in academic literature failure to do so was sometimes pathologized as adjustment disorder (shiying zhang’ai). Official discourses highlighted the importance of “psychological construction” (xinli jianshe), i.e. building a psychological framework compatible with the new normal that centralizes positive attitude, enhanced emotional management skills, and resilience.

See abstracts and keywords for the articles covering Hong Kong (pdf).

  1. “Socio-emotional Adjustment and Relief Through Deliberate Metaphors under Social Crisis” (社会危机下蓄意隐喻的社会情绪调适疏解). News Sentinel 4: 4-6. (in Mandarin) ZHAO Mingzhu and LU Junwei. 2023.

  2. “An Analysis of College Students’ Patriotic Education Based on Their Online Opinions on ‘Fighting the Pandemic’” (“抗疫”网络舆情挑战下大学生爱国主义教育论析). Journal of China Three Gorges University (Humanities and Social Sciences Edition) 43(01): 25-29. (in Mandarin) LIANG Qingting and YU Huan. 2021.

  3. “Latest Report: Half of the Working People Are in the State of Psychological ‘Sub-Health’” (最新报告：半数职场人处于心理”亚健康“状态). Beijing Daily. 13 June. PAN Fuda. 2022. (accessed 14 January 2024).

  4. “Paths to Strengthen the Psychological Construction and Psychological Counseling of the Leading Cadres under the Anti- pandemic Prevention and Control in the New Normal” (常态化疫情防控背景下加强领导干部心理建设与心理疏导的路径). Leadership Science Forum 3:115-118. WANG Shuangli. 2022.

  5. “The Effects of the Adjustment Disorder and Depression on the Mental Health of College Students during the Prevention and Control Measures of the New Normal of the COVID-19 Pandemic” (新冠疫情常态化防控期大学生适应障碍和抑郁对心理健康的影响). Education Review 8: 92-96. LIN Fei, LIAN Rong, LAN Ruiming, and HUANG Yajing. 2022.

Colombia, Latin America

The articles gathered here operationalize various concepts, pointing to the ways in which people spoke about suffering in Colombia during the period of the pandemic. Collectively, they seek to situate these experiences by considering local or even regional sociocultural imaginaries and beliefs and placing them within broader contexts of political contestation that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In contrast, it is also interesting to note how in medical circles, references to mental experiences are often disconnected from social and cultural dynamics, reaching the point of proposing a new diagnosis such as "Pseudo-COVID," questioning the veracity of the patient's reported experience rather than questioning the recently identified characteristics of COVID-19 itself and the techniques used to identify it.

In the case of Colombia, the metaphor of war was inevitably referenced in various mediums, both in academic circles and in literary works and widely circulated in newspapers.

See abstracts and keywords for the articles covering Colombia (pdf).

  1. “COVID-19 and it’s socio-cultural imagery in Latin America: a tool for public health” (COVID-19 y sus imaginarios socioculturales en Latinoamérica: una herramienta para la salud pública). Rev. salud pública [online]. 2020, vol.22, n.4, pp.393-399. Epub Apr 28, 2021. ISSN 0124-0064. GOMEZ-GONZALEZ, María del Pilar; CHAVEZ-DIAZ, Alexis and SIERRA-MACIAS, Alejandra. 

  2. “Empathy, Social Media and Mental Health Indicators in Colombian’ Social Crises” (Empatía, redes sociales e indicadores de salud mental durante las crisis sociales en Colombia). Universitas Psychologica, 21, 1-18. León Rodríguez, Diego Armando; Tobar Herrera, María Paula; Hodeg Fernández de Castro, María Olga & Aguilar Mejía, Oscar Mauricio (2022).
     
  3. “Between wars and pandemics, will we be the same? Is there any doubt on the resilience of humanity?” (Entre guerras y pandemias ¿volveremos a ser los mismos? ¿Hay duda de la resiliencia de la humanidad?) Rev Colomb Cardiol. 2020;27(2):73-76. Echeverri, Dario. 

  4. Pseudo-COVID-19. A new mental disorder?. Rev. Fac. Med. 2021;69(1):e90132. English. Escobar-Córdoba F, de Borba Telles L, Hernández-Yasno M. 

  5. Mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rev. Fac. Med. 2021;69(2):e97128. English. Rodríguez-Gama A. 

  6. ”Fed up with war, Colombia resists the war metaphor in the face of the pandemic” (Hastiada de la guerra, Colombia se resiste a la metáfora bélica ante la pandemia | Internacional | EL PAÍS (elpais.com))

  7. ”Covid-19 and its metaphors: rereading Sontag these days” (El covid-19 y sus metáforas: releer a Sontag en estos días - La Silla Vacía (lasillavacia.com))