The Culture-Bound Syndromes: Folk Illnesses of Psychiatric and Anthropological Interest

508 Pages·1985·16.37 MB·English

by  Charles C. Hughes (auth.)

THE CULTURE·BOUND SYNDROMES
CUL TURE, ILLNESS, AND HEALING
Studies in Comparative Cross-Cultural Research
Editor-in-Chief:
ARTHUR KLEINMAN
Harvard University and Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Editorial Board:
ATWOOD D. GAINES
Departments of Anthropology and Psychiatry, Case Western Reserve
University and Medical School, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A.
MARGARET LOCK
Departments of Anthropology and Humanities and Social Studies
in Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
NUR YALMAN
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
ALLAN YOUNG
Department of Anthropology, Case Western Reserve University,
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A.
THE
CULTURE-BOUND
SYNDROMES
Folk Illnesses of Psychiatric and Anthropological Interest
Edited by
RONALD C. SIMONS
Depts. of Psychiatry and Anthropology, Michigan State University,
East Lansing, Michigan, U.S.A.
and
CHARLES C. HUGHES
Dept. of Family and Community Medicine, Medical Center, The University of Utah,
Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A.
D. REIDEL PUBLISHING COMPANY
A MEMBER OF THE KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS GROUP
DORDRECHT I BOSTON I LANCASTER /TOKYO
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Main entry under title:
The Culture-bound syndromes.
(Culture, illness, and healing)
Bibliography: p.
Indudes indexes.
I. Medical anthropology-Addresses, essays, lectures. 2. Ethno
psychology-Addresses, essays, lectures. 3. Mental illness-Social aspects
Addresses, essays, lectures. 4. Psychiatry, Transcultural-Addresses, essays,
lectures. I. Simons, Ronald C. II. Hughes, Charles C. (Charles Campbell)
III. Series. [DNLM: 1. Culture. 2. Ethnic Groups-psychology.
3. Mental Disorders-etiology. 4. Social Environment. WM 31 C9685]
GN296.C835 1985 362.1'042 85-14613
ISBN-13: 978-90-277-1859-4 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-009-5251-5
DOl: 10.1007/978-94-009-5251-5
Published by D. Reidel Publishing Company.
P.O. Box 17, 3300 AA Dordrecht, Holland.
Sold and distributed in the U.S.A. and Canada
by Kluwer Academic Publishers,
190 Old Derby Street, Hingham, MA 02043, U.S.A.
In all other countries, sold and distributed
by Kluwer Academic Publishers Group,
P.O. Box 322, 3300 AH Dordrecht, Holland.
All Rights Reserved
© 1985 by D. Reidel Publishing Company
and copyrightholders as specified on appropriate pages within.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover I st edition 1985
No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
induding photocopying, recording or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner
With Appreciation to:
Clyde Kluckhohn
Alexander H. Leighton
Eng-Seong Tan
Nathaniel N. Wagner
T ABLE OF CONTENTS
SOURCES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xi
PREFACE xiii
INTRODUCTION
CHARLES C. HUGHES / Culture-Bound or Construct-Bound? The
Syndromes and DSM-III 3
RONALD C. SIMONS / Sorting the Culture-Bound Syndromes 25
PART I: FOLK ILLNESSES OF PSYCHIATRIC INTEREST IN
WHICH SOME EVIDENCE SUPPORTS THE HYPOTHESIS OF A
NEUROPHYSIOLOGICAL SHAPING FACTOR
A. The Startle Matching Taxon
RONALD C. SIMONS / Introduction 41
RONALD C. SIMONS / The Resolution of the Latah Paradox 43
MICHAEL G. KENNY / Paradox Lost: The Latah Problem Revisited 63
RONALD C. SIMONS / Latah II - Problems with a Purely Symbolic
Interpretation: A Reply to Michael G. Kenny 77
EMIKO OHNUKI-TIERNEY I Shamans and Imu: Among Two Ainu
Groups - Toward a Cross-CulturaI Model of Interpretation 91
CHARLES C. HUGHES / Commentary 111
B. The Sleep Paralysis Taxon
RONALD C. SIMONS / Introduction 115
JOSEPH D. BLOOM and RICHARD D. GELARDIN / Uqamairineq and
Uqumanigianiq: Eskimo Sleep Paralysis 117
ROBERT C. NESS / The Old Hag Phenomenon as Sleep Paralysis: A
Biocultural Interpretation 123
CHARLES C. HUGHES / Commentary 147
vii
viii T ABLE OF CONTENTS
PART II: FOLK ILLNESSES OF PSYCHIATRIC INTEREST IN
WHICH A NEUROPHYSIOLOGICAL SHAPING FACTOR IS
ONLY SUSPECTED
A. The Genital Retraction Taxon
RONALD C. SIMONS / Introduction 151
GWEE AH LENG / Koro - A Cultural Disease 155
o. I. IFABUMUYI and G. G. C. RWEGELLERA / Koro in a Nigerian Male
Patient: A Case Report 161
J. GUY EDWARDS / The Koro Pattern of Depersonalization in an
American Schizophrenic Patient 165
JAMES W. EDWARDS / Indigenous Koro, A Genital Retraction Syndrome
of Insular Southeast Asia: A Critical Review 169
CHARLES C. HUGHES / Commentary 193
B. The Sudden Mass Assault Taxon
RONALD C. SIMONS / Introduction 197
JOHN E. CARR / Ethno-Behaviorism and the Culture-Bound Syndromes:
The Case of Amok 199
JOSEPH WESTERMEYER / Sudden Mass Assault with Grenade: An
Epidemic Amok Form from Laos 225
B. G. BURTON-BRADLEY / The Amok Syndrome in Papua and New
Guinea 237
J. ARBOLEDA-FLOREZ / Amok 251
CHARLES C. HUGHES / Commentary 263
C. The Running Taxon
RONALD C. SIMONS / Introduction 267
ZACHAR Y GUSSOW / Pibloktoq (Hysteria) Among the Polar Eskimo: An
Ethnopsychiatric Study 271
PHILIP A. DENNIS / Grisi Siknis in Miskito Culture 289
EDWARD F. FOULKS / The Transformation of Arctic Hysteria 307
CHARLES C. HUGHES / Commentary 325
TABLE OF CONTENTS ix
PART III: FOLK ILLNESSES USUALLY LISTED AS
CULTURE-BOUND PSYCHIATRIC SYNDROMES WHICH
SHOULD PROBABLY NO LONGER BE SO CONSIDERED
A. The Fright fllness Taxon
RONALD C. SIMONS I Introduction 329
ARTHUR 1. RUBEL, CARL W. O'NELL, and ROLANDO COLLADO I
The Folk Illness Called Susto 333
MARLENE DOBKIN DE RIOS I Saladera - A Culture-Bound Misfortune
Syndrome in the Peruvian Amazon 351
DONN V. HART I Lanti, Illness by Fright Among Bisayan Filipinos 371
STEPHEN FRANKEL I Mogo Laya, A New Guinea Fright Illness 399
CHARLES C. HUGHES I Commentary 405
B. The Cannibal Compulsion Taxon
RONALD C. SIMONS I Introduction 409
LOU MARANO I Windigo Psychosis: The Anatomy of an Emic-Etic
Confusion 411
H. B. M. MURPHY, HAZEL H. WEIDMAN, ROBERT A. BRIGHTMAN,
and LOU MARANO I Commentaries and Replies 449
CHARLES C. HUGHES I Commentary 463
APPENDIX
CHARLES C. HUGHES I Glossary of 'Culture-Bound' or Folk Psychiatric
Syndromes 469
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS 507
INTRODUCTION TO THE INDEX 509
INDEX 512
SOURCES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Ronald C. Simons, 'The Resolution of the Latah Paradox' originally appeared in
the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 168 (1980),195-206. It is reprinted
here by permission of the Williams & Wilkins Co., Baltimore.
Michael G. Kenny, 'Paradox Lost: The Latah Problem Revisited', and Ronald C.
Simons' rejoinder, 'Latah II - Problems with a Purely Symbolic Interpretation',
fIrst appeared in the Journal ofN ervous and Mental Disease 171 (1983), 159-67
and 168-75 and are both reprinted here by permission of The Williams &
Wilkins Co., Baltimore.
Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney, 'Shamans and Imu: Among Two Ainu Groups - Toward
a Cross-Cultural Model of Interpretation', fIrst appeared in Ethos 8 (1980),
204-28 and is reproduced here by permission of the Society for Psychological
Anthropology .
Joseph D. Bloom and Richard D. Gelardin, 'Uqamairineq and Uqumanigianiq:
Eskimo Sleep Paralysis' originally appeared in Arctic 29(1) (1967), and is re
printed here by permission of the Arctic Institute of North America_
Gwee Ah Leng, 'Koro - A Cultural Disease' first appeared in the Singapore Medical
Journal 4(3) (1963) and is reprinted here by permission of the Singapore Medical
Association.
O. I. Ifabumuyi and G. G. C. Rwegellera, 'Koro in a Nigerian Male Patient: A Case
Report' fIrst appeared in the African Journal of Psychiatry 5 (1979) and is re
printed here by permission of Literamed Publications Nigeria Ltd.
J. Guy Edwards, 'The Koro Pattern of Depersonalization in an American Schizo
phrenic Patient' originally appeared in The American Journal ofP sychiatry 126
(1970),1171-73 and is reprinted here by permission of the American Psychiatric
Association.
Burton G. Burton-Bradley, 'The Amok Syndrome in Papua and New Guinea'
originally appeared in The Medical Journal of Australia 1 (1968), 252-56 and
is reprinted here by permission of The Medical Journal of Australia.
J. Arboleda-Florez, 'Amok', first appeared in the Bulletin of the American Academy
of Psychiatry and Law 7 (1979), 286-95 and is reprinted here by permission
of the American Academy of Psychiatry & the Law.
Z. Gussow, 'Pibloktoq (Hysteria) Among the Polar Eskimo' first appeared in The
Psychoanalytic Study of Society 1 (1960), 218-36 and is reprinted here by
permission of the International Universities Press, Inc., New York.
Philip A. Dennis, 'Grisi Siknis in Miskito Culture' is a shorter version of the article
entitled: 'Grisi Siknis Among the Miskito', which appeared in Medical Anthro
pology 5, 445-505 and is reprinted here by permission of Redgrave Publishing
Co.
xi
xii SOURCES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Lou Marano, 'Windigo Psychosis: The Anatomy of an Emic-Etic Confusion' and
the 'Commentaries and Replies' following this article originally appeared in
Current Anthropology 23 (1982), 385-412 and 24 (1983), 120-25 and are
both reprinted here by permission of The University of Chicago Press.
We also wish to acknowledge quotations from the following publications:
Alexander H. Leighton, T. Adeoye Lambo, Charles C. Hughes, Dorothea C. Leighton,
Jane M. Murphy, and David B. Macklin, Psychiatric Disorder Among the Yoruba:
A Report from the Cornell-Aro Mental Health Research Project in the Western
Region, Nigeria. © 1963 by Cornell University. Reprinted by permission of the
publisher, Cornell University Press.
A large quotation from P. M. Yap in M. P. Lau and A. B. Stokes (eds.), Comparative
Psychiatry: A Theoretical Framework, 1974. Reprinted by permission of the
University of Toronto Press.
Parts from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual ofM ental Disorders, Third Edition,
American Psychiatric Association, Washington, D.C., APA, 1980. Reprinted by
permission.
Z. Gussow, 'Some Responses of West Greenland Eskimo to a Naturalistic Situation
of Perceptual Deprivation', INTER-NORD: International Journal of Arctic and
Nordic Studies (December 1970),227-62. Reprinted with permission.
Joseph P. Reser and Harry D. Eastwell, 'Labelling and Cultural Expectations: The
Shaping of a Sorcery Syndrome in Aboriginal Australia', The Journal of Nervous
and Mental Disease 169 (1981), 303-10. Reprinted by permission of The
Williams & Wilkins Co., Baltimore.