THE SOCIOSOMATIC COURSE OF DEPRESSION AND TRAUMA - A CULTURAL ANALYSIS OF SUFFERING AND RESILIENCE IN THE LIFE OF A PUERTO-RICAN WOMAN

Objective: This study sets forth the premises of psychosomatic and soc iosomatic approaches in medicine and psychiatry and considers how thes e approaches differentiate or complement one another. The course of pe rsistent mental illness is examined in sociosomatic terms by consideri ng a life defined by a cycle of expectation, violation, illness, and r ecovery. Method: A case study of a Puerto Rican woman is drawn from a larger study of the course of depression and schizophrenia among 80 La tinos and Euro-Americans. Results: Analysis of the patient's narrative reveals a set of interrelated themes in terms of which this cycle is structured. Conclusion: The study concludes by offering a structural m odel of the sociosomatic reticulum that define the interaction between bodily experience and social relationships or conditions.