Culture-Linked Syndrome

As a culture-bound syndrome ( English syndrome bound culture- just CBS) are in medicine , clinical psychology , medical anthropology and ethno medicine called psychological or somatic symptoms (to a certain ethnic ) society or culture are limited and in which biochemical causes or organ changes not are detectable. The clinical picture is unknown in other cultures.

The term was included in the American Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) in 1994 ; Appendix 1 of this work also provides an overview of the most common culture-related syndromes.

features

Culture-related syndromes have the following characteristics:

1. internal culture classification as a real disease
2. high level of awareness within the culture
3. lack of knowledge of this disease in other cultures
4. no detectable biochemical or organic causes
5. Diagnosis and therapy are usually carried out within the local folk medicine

Some culture-linked syndromes may have physical symptoms (for example, pain, physical disorder ), while others are solely behavioral .

Western perspective

Whether culture-related syndromes actually exist is controversial within evidence-based medicine . The question is particularly controversial between anthropologists and psychiatrists. Anthropology tends to emphasize the culture-specific aspects, while psychiatry pursues more universal and neuropsychological explanations.

Selection of culture-related syndromes

Africa

• Ufufuyane : a behavioral disorder found in South Africa and Kenya among the Bantu and Zulu people

Europe and North America

• Anorexia nervosa : mentally related eating disorder
• Bulimia : mentally related eating disorder

Latin America

• Susto : Anxiety and physical discomfort from emotional trauma or sympathy for others
• Grisi siknis : a kind of hysteria among the Miskito in Nicaragua and Honduras

Arctic regions

• Pibloktoq : arctic hysteria

China

• Qigong psychotic reaction : psychotic episode as a result of intensive practice of qigong lasting several days or weeks
• Suo yang: similar to Koro
• Frigophobia , mandarin pa-len or wei-han : fear of the cold

Taiwan

• Hsieh-ping : "mental illness" with trance states

Japan

• Hikikomori : People who voluntarily lock themselves in their apartment or room and reduce contact with society to a minimum
• Taijin Kyōfushō : social fear of offending other people through certain behavior or behavior

India

• Dhat syndrome : Fear of loss of semen and the consequent loss of life energy

Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines

• Amok : acts of violence with fatal consequences
• Koro : Fear that the penis will retract inside the body and death will occur; less often in women, in these related to breasts or labia
• Latah : mental disorder

See also

• Ajase Complex (Japan-oriented psychoanalytic concept)
• Amae (Japanese discourse: need for dependency between mother and child)

literature

• American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 4th edition. American Psychiatric Association, Washington 1994 (English).
• Peter J. Guarnaccia, Lloyd H. Rogler: Research on Culture-bound Syndromes: New Directions. In: American Journal of Psychiatry. Volume 156, September 1999, pp. 1322-1327 (English).
• WG Jilek: Psychiatric Disorders: Culture-specific. In: International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences . Elsevier Science, 2001, pp. ?? (English).
• Raymond H. Prince: In Review. Transcultural Psychiatry: Personal Experiences and Canadian Perspectives. In: Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. Volume 45, 2000, pp. 431-437 (English).
• Weng-Shing Tseng: Handbook of Cultural Psychiatry. Academic Press, San Diego 2001 (see especially Chapter 13: Culture-related Specific Syndromes ).

Web links

• Volker Faust: Mental disorders in foreign cultures. (PDF) In: psychosoziale-gesundheit.net. Retrieved on February 17, 2016 (German). 
• Ronald C. Simons: Introduction to Culture-bound Syndromes. In: Psychiatric Times. UBM Medica, November 2001, accessed on July 15, 2014 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ SC Weller, RD Baer u. a .: Regional Variation in Latino Descriptions of Susto. In: Cult Med Psychiatry. Volume 26, No. 4, December 2002, pp. 449-472 (English; PMID 12572769 ).
2. ↑ BP Bayles, DA hangover Dahl: Culture-bound syndrome in Hispanic Primary Care Patients. In: Int J Psychiatry Med. Volume 39, No. 1, 2009, pp. 15-31 (English; PMID 19650527 ).
3. ↑ JK Wen: Folk Belief, Illness Behavior and Mental Health in Taiwan. In: Changgeng Yi Xue Za Zhi. Vol. 21, No. 1, March 1998, pp. 1-12 (review: PMID 9607258 ).
4. ↑ Wiki entry: Hsieh-Ping Syndrome (aka "Ghost Sickness"). In: Trooper. March 21, 2010, accessed July 15, 2014.