Culture bound syndromes

Question 1

Culture bound syndrome seen largely in SE Asia. Sullen period followed by an outburst of violence and then a return to premorbid state

Answer 1

Amok

Question 2

Culture bound syndrome occurring in those of latino descent. An attack of severe distress often relating to a stressful event. Involves uncontrollable shouting, crying, beating oneself, seizure type activity.

Answer 2

Ataque de Nervios

Question 3

Culture bound syndrome seen in West Africa and Haiti. Sudden outburst of agitated, distressed and confused behaviour often resembling a brief psychotic episode

Answer 3

Bouffee delirante

Question 4

Culture bound syndrome seen in West Africa. Difficulties in concentrating, thinking and remembering seen at times of hard intellectual work

Answer 4

Brain fag

Question 5

Culture bound syndrome seen in India and SE Asia. Various symptoms are attributed to loss of semen.

Answer 5

Dhat, also called Shenkui in China

Question 6

Culture bound syndrome seen in China. Fear of cold due to a perceived yin-yang imbalance

Answer 6

Pa-Leng

Question 7

Culture bound syndrome seen in China. Fear of wind due to a perceived yin-yang imbalance

Answer 7

Pa-Feng

Question 8

Culture bound syndrome seen in Cambodia. Panic attacks due to a fear that Khyâl (a wind-like substance) may rise up in the body and cause a range of effects including SOB, blurred vision and even death

Answer 8

Khyâl cap

Question 9

Culture bound syndrome seen in SE Asia and China. Belief among males that the penis is withdrawing up into the abdomen and will possibly cause death

Answer 9

Koro

Question 10

Culture bound syndrome seen in Malaysia. Usually in women, a hypersensitivity to being frightened or startled causing echopraxia, echolalia, automatic responses and dissociative behaviour

Answer 10

Latah

Question 11

Culture bound syndrome seen in the Mediterranean. Concept of the evil eye affecting people’s health, often causing physical symptoms in children.

Answer 11

Mal de ojo

Question 12

Culture bound syndrome seen in Haiti. General explanation for a range of illnesses or symptoms which revolves around the idea illnesses have been sent by others to cause malice

Answer 12

Maladi moun

Question 13

Culture bound syndrome seen in people of Latino descent. General state of higher vulnerability to stressful events causing a range of symptoms of emotional distress, leading to an inability to function.

Answer 13

Nervios

Question 14

Culture bound syndrome seen in Egypt, Greece and Central America. Recurrent severe episodes of sorrow or anxiety causing a range of physical symptoms.

Answer 14

Nerfiza or Nevra

Question 15

Culture bound syndrome seen in Arctic Indigenous groups. Dissociative episodes with extreme arousal or agitation followed by seizure and coma lasting up to 12 hours. May behave dangerously e.g. jumping into ice cold water naked. Usually amnesia following the event

Answer 15

Piblokto

Question 16

Culture bound syndrome seen in Mandarin Chinese groups. Involves feeling lethargic or overly emotional, associated with physical pain and insomnia triggered by some environmental stressor and associated with a sense of personal failure.

Answer 16

Shenjing shuairuo

Question 17

Culture bound syndrome seen in people of Latino descent. An illness that is attributed to a frightening event causing the soul to leave the body resulting in unhappiness and sickness.

Answer 17

Susto

Question 18

Culture bound syndrome seen in Japan. The avoidance of interpersonal situations due to the feeling that one’s appearance or actions are inadequate or offensive to others

Answer 18

Taijin kyofusho

Question 19

Culture bound syndrome seen in Southern Africa. An anxious state sometimes including paralysis, loss of consciousness or a trance like state occurring in young, unmarried women. Attributed to the effects of magical potions or spirit possession.

Answer 19

Ufufuyane

Question 20

Culture bound syndrome seen in Algonquian Indian cultures. Occurs after a severe scarcity of food. Involves a distaste for food which eventually leads the sufferer to believe they are turning into a cannibalistic ice spirit

Answer 20

Wendigo

Question 21

Culture bound syndrome seen in Native American people. Characterised by general weakness, recurring nightmares, and a preoccupation with death

Answer 21

Ghost sickness

Question 22

Culture bound syndrome seen in Chinese patients where reported coldness of the extremities leads to a morbid fear of death

Answer 22

Frigophobia

Question 23

Culture bound syndrome seen in the Shona people of Zimbabwe where it is believed that thinking too much causes anxiety, depression, or somatic problems

Answer 23

Kufungisisa

Question 24

Type of phenomenon koro is

Answer 24

Desomatisation phenomenon

Question 25

Culture bound syndrome seen in North Africa where patients present with an experience of spirit possession, characterised by episodes of dissociation

Answer 25

Zar

Question 26

Culture bound syndrome which translates to ‘nerve weakness’

Answer 26

Shenjing shuairuo