Problem Name Where Description
Amok Malaysia, Brooding followed by a violent outburst;
similar elsewhere often precipitated by a slight or insult;
prevalent only among men
Ataque de Nervios Latin America An episode of uncontrollable shouting,
and Mediterranean crying, trembling, heat in chest rising
to the head, verbal and physical
aggression
Bilis, colera Many Latin groups Rage perceived as disturbing body balances
or mulna causing nervous tension, headache,
trembling, screaming, etc.
Boufee delirante E. Africa and Sudden outburst of agitated and aggressive
Haiti behavior, confusion and mental and
physical excitement
Brain fag West Africa; "brain tiredness," a mental and physical
similar elsewhere reaction to the challenges of schooling
Dhat India; Sri Lanka; Severe anxiety and hyopchondria associated
China with discharge of semen and felings of
anxiety
Falling out or American South and Sudden collapse; eyes remain open but
Blacking out Caribbean sightless; the victim hears but feels
unable to move
Ghost sickness American Indians Preocupation with death and the dead,
with bad dreams, fainting, appetite
loss, fear, hallucinations, etc.
Hwa-byung Korea Symptoms attributed to suppression of
anger, like insomnia, fatigue, panic,
fear of death, depression, indigestion,
etc.
Koro Malaysia; related Sudden intense anxiety that sexual organs
conditions will recede into body and cause death;
in East Asia occasional epidemics
Latah Malaysia, Indonesia, Hypersensitivity to sudden fright, often
Japan, Thailand with nonsense mimicking of others;
trancelike behavior
Locura U.S. and Latin Psychosis tied to inherited vulnerability
America and/or life difficulties; incoherence,
agitation, hallucinations, possibly
violence
Mal de ojo Mediterranean and Sufferers, mostly children, are believed
"evil eye" elsewhere to be under influence of "evil eye,"
causing fitful sleep, crying, sickness,
fever
Pibloktoq Eskimo communities Extreme excitement, physical and verbal
violence for up to 30 minutes, then
convulsions and short coma
Qi-gong China A short episode of mental symptoms after
Psychotic engaging in Chinese folk practice of
Reaction of qi-gong, or "exercise of vital energy"
Shen-k'uel or Taiwan and China Marked anxiety or panic symptoms with
Shenkul bodily complaints attributed to life-
threatening loss of semen
Sin-byung Korea Syndrome of anxiety and bodily complaints
followed by disassociation and posession
by ancestral spirits
Spell Southern U.S. A trance in which individuals communicate
with deceased relatives or spirits, not
perceived as a medical event
Susto Latin Groups in Illness tied to a frightening event that
("fright" or U.S. and Caribbean makes the soul leave the body, causing
"soul loss") unhappiness and sickness
Taijin Japan An intense fear that the body, its parts
Kyofusho or functions displease, embarrass or are
offensive to others
Zar North Africa and Belief in possession by a spirit, causing
Middle East shouting, laughing, head banging, etc.;
not considered pathological
This list could provide a great way of showing how the culture "over the hill" differs from the one that PC's are used to!
Lest it be thought that advanced nations don't have their own strange forms of insanity, here are three "problems" that the United States and, increasingly other advanced nations have that Third World nations don't recognize: anorexia, ADD (attention-deficit disorder) and CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome).
Jim Chapin
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