MOLINA, Shaina Ginger dV.

December 9, 2016

BS Psy II-01

Prof. DA Macatangay
COMMON CULTURE BOUND SYNDROMES
ASSOCIATED IN ANXIETY DISORDERS

Taijin Kyofusho

One type of social phobia, occurring primarily in Japanese culture, is called Taijin

Kyofusho and is translated as "the disorder of fear."

Taijin Kyofusho is a specific type of social anxiety which finds its origins in
Japan. It is seen as an individual's intense fear that his or her body, its parts or its
functions, displease, embarrass or are offensive to other people in appearance,

odor, facial expressions, or movements.

Taijin Kyofusho is subdivided into the following categories:
Sekimen-kyofu: the phobia of blushing
Shubo-kyofu: the phobia of a deformed body (similar to body dysmorphic

disorder)
Jikoshisen-kyofu: the phobia of eye-to-eye contact
Jikoshu-kyofu: the phobia of having foul body odor (similar to olfactory
reference syndrome)

Kayak-angst

Kayak-angst is a disorder that is similar to panic disorder, seal hunters who are
alone at sea may experience intense fear, disorientation, and concerns about

drowning.
It describes the feeling of being overwhelmed, or the thought of being
overwhelmed by the elements, all alone in the wilderness

Koro

Koro is a culture-specific syndrome delusional disorder in which an individual

has an overpowering belief that one's genitalia are retracting and will disappear,

despite the lack of any true longstanding changes to the genitals.

(Malaysia) an episode of sudden and intense anxiety that the penis (or in the
rare female cases, the vulva and nipples) will recede into the body and possibly

cause death. The syndrome occasionally occurs in local epidemics.

This syndrome occurs throughout south and east Asia under different
names: suo yang(China); jinjinia bemar (Assam); and rok-joo (Thailand). It has
been identified in isolated cases in the United States and Europe, as well as
among diasporic ethnic Chinese or Southeast Asians.

Shenkui

is a culture bound syndrome native to China in which the individual suffers

somatic symptoms with anxiety, believed to be caused by a loss of semen.

Shenkui or shen-k'uei is one of several Chinese culture-bound syndromes locally
ascribed to loss (or fear of loss) of Yang. In Traditional Chinese Medicine,
Shenkui is believed to result from a deficiency in yang, obtained through the loss
of semen. Semen is believed to be "lost" through excessive sexual activity or
masturbation, nocturnal emissions, "white urine" which is believed to contain

semen, or other mechanisms.

marked anxiety or panic symptoms with accompanying somatic complaints for

which no physical cause can be demonstrated.

Symptoms include dizziness, backache, fatiguability, general weakness,
insomnia, frequent dreams, and complaints of sexual dysfunction (such as
premature ejaculation and impotence). Symptoms are attributed to excessive
semen loss from frequent intercourse, masturbation, nocturnal emission, or
passing of "white turbid urine" believed to contain semen. Excessive semen loss

is feared because it represents the loss of one's vital essence and can thereby
be life threatening.
Susto

Susto is a cultural illness primarily among Latin American cultures.

It is described by Razzouk et al. as a condition of being frightened and "chronic
somatic suffering stemming from emotional trauma or from witnessing traumatic

experiences lived by others".

Susto may be a culturally dependent variation of the symptoms of panic attack,
distinct from anxiety and depressive disorders.

Kyol goeu

Kyol goeu (literally, 'wind overload') is an orthostatically triggered syncopal

syndrome often found among Khmer refugees in the US.

As a case in point, a Khmer fainting syndrome, wind overload (kyol goeu),
results in dire expectations concerning the autonomic symptoms experienced
upon standing, thus contributing to the high rate of orthostatically induced panic.

Ataque de nervios

Ataque de nervios also known as "Puerto Rican syndrome" is a psychological

syndrome most associated in the United States with Spanish-speaking people
from the Caribbean although commonly identified among all Iberian-descended

cultures.
Ataque de nervios translates into English as "attack of nerves", although it is used
in its common cultural form to refer to a specific pattern of symptoms, rather than

being a general term for feeling nervous.

an idiom of distress principally reported among Latinos from the Caribbean, but
also among many Latin American and Latin Mediterranean groups. Symptoms

include uncontrollable shouting, attacks of crying, trembling, heat in the chest

rising to the head, and verbal or physical aggression. Ataques de nervios
frequently occur as a result of a stressful family event, especially the death of a
relative, but also a divorce or fight with a family member.
Amok

Running amok, sometimes referred to as simply amok or gone amok, also

spelled amuk, from the Malay language is "an episode of sudden mass assault
against people or objects usually by a single individual following a period of
brooding that has traditionally been regarded as occurring especially in Malay

culture but is now increasingly viewed as psychopathological behavior".

The phrase is often used in a less serious manner when describing something
that is wildly out of control or causing a frenzy (e.g., a dog tearing up the living

room furniture might be termed as "running amok".)

Although commonly used in a colloquial and less-violent sense, the phrase is
particularly

associated

with

specific

sociopathic culture-bound

syndrome in Malaysian culture. In a typical case of running amok, an individual

(often male), having shown no previous sign of anger or any inclination to
violence, will acquire a weapon (traditionally a sword or dagger, but presently any
of a variety of weapons) and in a sudden frenzy, will attempt to kill or seriously

injure anyone he encounters and himself.

Amok typically takes place in a well populated or crowded area.

Shin byung

Sinbyeong or shinbyong, also called "self-loss", is the possession from a god

that a chosen mu (shaman) goes through in the Korean shamanic tradition. It is
said to be accompanied by physical pain and psychosis.

Believers would assert that the physical and mental symptoms are not subject to
medical treatment, but may only be cured through acceptance of and full

communion with the spirit.

The illness is characterized by a loss of appetite, insomnia, visual and
auditory hallucinations. A ritual called a naerim-gut cures this illness, which also

serves to induct the new shaman-priest.

syndrome characterized by anxiety and somatic complaints (general weakness,
dizziness, fear, loss of appetite, insomnia, and gastrointestinal problems),
followed by dissociation and possession by ancestral spirits.

Spell

a culture bound system in southern U.S.

a trance state in which individuals "communicate" with deceased relatives or with
spirits. At times this is associated with brief periods of personality change. Spells
are not considered medical events in the folk tradition, but may be misconstrued
as psychotic episodes in a clinical setting.