In medicine and medical anthropology, a culture-bound syndrome, culture-specific syndrome, or folk illness is
a combination of psychiatric (brain) and somatic (body) symptoms that are considered to be a recognizable disease only within a specific society or culture
.
How is culture-bound syndrome treated?
If there is the presence of associated anxiety or depressive symptoms that may impede the process of therapy, anxiolytics or/and antidepressants can be added for the least possible time and in the least possible doses. Lorazepam was found to be most useful at the end of four weeks of treatment.
What is an example of a culturally specific syndrome?
Another example of a culture-bound syndrome is
hwa-byung in Korean women
. In this syndrome, depression or suppressed anger may lead to complaints of an uncomfortable, yet nonpalpable, abdominal mass.
How do the culture-bound syndromes manifest?
Culture-bound syndrome is a broad rubric that encompasses
certain behavioral, affective and cognitive manifestations seen in specific cultures
. These manifestations are deviant from the usual behavior of the individuals of that culture and are a reason for distress/discomfort.
Is OCD a culture-bound syndrome?
Background: The aspects of cultural identity and its impact on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have been un-derstudied. There are different opinions, ranging from the idea that
culture does not affect
the symptoms of this condition to the idea that cultures with high religiosity may have more severity of OCD.
What is Koro syndrome?
The koro syndrome is
a psychiatric disorder characterized by acute anxiety and a deep-seated fear of shrinkage of the penis
and its ultimate retraction into the abdomen, which will cause death.
What is Pibloktoq syndrome?
n. a
culture-bound syndrome observed primarily in female Inuit and other arctic populations
. Individuals experience a sudden dissociative period of extreme excitement in which they often tear off clothes, run naked through the snow, scream, throw things, and perform other wild behaviors.
Which disorder is an example of a culture-bound syndrome?
Though “the ethnocentric bias of Euro-American psychiatrists has led to the idea that culture-bound syndromes are confined to non-Western cultures,” a prominent example of a Western culture-bound syndrome is
anorexia nervosa
.
What is culture-bound syndrome?
A culture-bound syndrome is
a collection of signs and symptoms that is restricted to a limited number of cultures by reason of certain psychosocial features
. Culture-bound syndromes are usually restricted to a specific setting, and they have a special relationship to that setting.
Why must psychologists be aware of culture-bound syndromes when determining what is abnormal?
First, culture and society shape the meanings and expressions people give to various emotions. Second, cultural factors determine which
symptoms or signs
are normal and abnormal. Third, culture helps define what compromises health and illness. Lastly, it shapes the illness behavior and help seeking behavior.
Which of the following culture-bound syndromes is found mostly in Western cultures?
Anorexia nervosa
is presently considered a Western culture-bound syndrome.
Is depression a culture-bound syndrome?
It can be argued that
depression
also fulfils the criteria for a culture-bound syndrome, in westernised societies. Our indigenous beliefs are based on the premise that depression is an illness of common and increasing prevalence, destined to become the second most disabling disease by 2020.
Is obesity a culture-bound syndrome?
One can in fact retain use of the biological data while analyzing biomedicine, which is understood to include cultural components.
Mild-to-moderate obesity in the U.S.
today fits the proposed definition of a culture-bound syndrome.
Is OCD diagnosed in all cultures?
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
doesn’t discriminate
. It can affect any person regardless of age, race, gender, culture, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status.
What are the psychological causes of OCD?
Compulsions are learned behaviours, which become repetitive and habitual when they are associated with relief from anxiety. OCD is due to genetic and hereditary factors.
Chemical, structural and functional abnormalities in the brain
are the cause. Distorted beliefs reinforce and maintain symptoms associated with OCD.
What is a Latah?
Latah is
a culture-bound syndrome from Malaysia and Indonesia
. Persons exhibiting the Latah syndrome respond to minimal stimuli with exaggerated startles, often exclaimning normally inhibited sexually denotative words. Sometimes Latahs after being startled obey the commands or imitate the actions of persons about them.
