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Towards the Study of Epidemic Diseases in Georgia
Date Issued
2021
Abstract
Today, when the whole world was covered by the Covid 19 pandemic, the study of the history of epidemics was given special importance and various interesting materials were published. The issues related to epidemic diseases in Georgia are discussed in written sources and ethnographic data. Based on this material the ancient Georgian names of the epidemic diseases, the epidemics confirmed in historical sources
and folk customs of dealing with them are revealed. In order to prevent the disease and to prevent the spread of the epidemic, certain measures were taken in Georgia, some of which, as it turned out, are still used successfully today. Here are meant the observance of special hygienic norms, the active use of the bactericidal properties of garlic, the rules of patient care, which, according to the official medicine of the Middle Ages, included preventive measures, treatment and diet. The epidemic was causing some changes in the traditional life, demanding innovations. New rules of life were created, to use the words of Michel Foucault, a
certain disciplinary scheme was created, which would regulate life in the conditions of an epidemic. The psycho-social factor should also be emphasized. It is known that during epidemics, a new, unusual situation - forced confinement, fear of a deadly disease, which could be caused by a person next door, changed the relationship between people. Doubt, distrust, a feeling of helplessness took place. These and probably many
other factors also had a negative impact on the person, creating a threat to his mental illness. In such conditions, the popularization of self-sacrificing actions, e.g. the narration of Anatori Shrine where the sick people were distanting themselves from the villagers, deepened people’s sense of dignity, encouraged them to morally elevated actions. The religious means of preventing disease, the belief in deities or the protection of the sick by the saints, the fact of building churches etc. helped to calm people down, to overcome their fears. The population hoped to survive. All of this reduced the risk of mental disorders during epidemics.
and folk customs of dealing with them are revealed. In order to prevent the disease and to prevent the spread of the epidemic, certain measures were taken in Georgia, some of which, as it turned out, are still used successfully today. Here are meant the observance of special hygienic norms, the active use of the bactericidal properties of garlic, the rules of patient care, which, according to the official medicine of the Middle Ages, included preventive measures, treatment and diet. The epidemic was causing some changes in the traditional life, demanding innovations. New rules of life were created, to use the words of Michel Foucault, a
certain disciplinary scheme was created, which would regulate life in the conditions of an epidemic. The psycho-social factor should also be emphasized. It is known that during epidemics, a new, unusual situation - forced confinement, fear of a deadly disease, which could be caused by a person next door, changed the relationship between people. Doubt, distrust, a feeling of helplessness took place. These and probably many
other factors also had a negative impact on the person, creating a threat to his mental illness. In such conditions, the popularization of self-sacrificing actions, e.g. the narration of Anatori Shrine where the sick people were distanting themselves from the villagers, deepened people’s sense of dignity, encouraged them to morally elevated actions. The religious means of preventing disease, the belief in deities or the protection of the sick by the saints, the fact of building churches etc. helped to calm people down, to overcome their fears. The population hoped to survive. All of this reduced the risk of mental disorders during epidemics.
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ეპიდემიურ დაავადებათა ისტორიისთვის საქართველოში.pdf
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