The Puerto Rican Syndrome

By Patricia Gherovici

A revised edition of the award-winning historical account that offers timely insights into psychoanalysis and Hispanic experiences in America.

During the 1950s, U.S. Army medical officers noted a puzzling new syndrome that contemporary psychiatry could neither explain nor cure: Puerto Rican soldiers under stress exhibited a dramatic form of pseudo-epilepsy, foaming at the mouth, screaming, biting, kicking, shaking in seizures, and fainting. The phenomenon seemed to correspond to a serious neurological disease, yet physical examination failed to identify any sign of an organic origin. This unusual set of symptoms was designated "Puerto Rican Syndrome."

In this lucid, sophisticated work, Patricia Gherovici thoroughly examines the so-called Puerto Rican Syndrome in the modern world, its social and cultural implications for the growing Hispanic populations in the United States and, therefore, for the U.S. as a whole. As a mental illness that is, allegedly, uniquely Puerto Rican, this syndrome links nationality and culture to a psychiatric disease whose reappearance recalls the spectacular hysteria that led to the discovery of the unconscious and the birth of psychoanalysis. Gherovici beautifully and systematically uses the combined insights of Freud and Lacan to examine the current state of psychoanalysis and Hispanic communities in America. Blending these insights with history, current events, and her own case material, Gherovici provides a startling, fresh look at Puerto Rican Syndrome as social and cultural phenomenon. She sheds new light on the future of American society and argues that psychoanalysis is not only possible, but much needed in the barrio.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1635426375
• ISBN13: 9781635426373
• Release Date: January 2027
• Publisher: Other Press (NY)
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.81 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Okay so I have never read this book (don't attack me just yet)

I just happen to know what the "Puerto Rican syndrome" is and its funny because while it doesn't happen much with my generation, it occurs within my mothers and more frequently within my grandmothers more. All this has to do with is social acceptance and while being graceful at all times is seen as appropriate in American culture being graceful in times of tragedy is not seen too positively in Puerto Rican culture- Puerto Ricans would know the word "Fria" in English Cold Hearted. Culturally having these sort of nervous breakdowns are accepted and seen as normal- as an expression of emotion- I witnessed my grandma go through it a handful of times when I was a kid. All this comes to is cultural difference- think about the cultures that see two men kissing as normal- would we call them depraved- not in todays world. However, if we saw two men in our culture doing the same we would be guestioning their sexuality. Culture people thats all but I most say based on the subject matter this most be a very interesting and to Puerto Ricans with a sense of humor an ammusing book.

The continued overpathologization of Puerto Ricans in America.

The Puerto Rican syndrome is a psychiatric disorder "founded" by U.S. Army medical doctors in the 1950s. They were attempting to understand the symptoms seen in Puerto Rican soldiers returning from the Korean War. Instead of considering these wide range of behaviors in cultural context, they labeled them a disorder. Now, over 50 years later, Gherovici has provided us with a context in which we may better conceptualize the condition. Grounded in history, cultural critique, and Lacanian psychoanalysis, she shows that this group of symptoms is not a disorder, but rather a way that the "patient" tells us about the continued struggle of Puerto Ricans in U.S. society. This book is a must read for anyone interested in social justice. It will surely be of relevance to those interested in Latina/o issues, the history of Puerto Ricans in the U.S., or psychoanalysis.