10 Of The Most Bizarre Cultural Disorders

Cultural disorders, for those who may not know or realize what one is, are mental disorders or acquired quirks that seem to affect an entire cultural group at a time. More often than not, these disorders are unknown outside of specific regions of the world, weirdly enough. Some have cropped up in the past, and they seem to disappear on their own, but new ones seem to come around all the time. These phenomenon affect a lot of people around the world, especially westerners. Here are ten of the most bizarre cultural disorders in the world.

Koro

Koro is a psychological disorder that stems from the delusion of your penis shrinking and retracting into the body. This is generally accompanied by panic or a fear of dying. Koro comes from Chinese cultural practices.

Wendigo

Wendigo is a psychosis that comes from a human being craving human flesh and thinking they have turned into a cannibal or a werewolf of some sort. The most common occurrences of this comes from aboriginal communities.

Gururumba

Gururumba is also known as “wild man syndrome” and generally occurs in a recently married male who begins to burglarize homes within their neighborhood. The individual usually runs into a forest for a few days, then returns with no objects and a bad case of amnesia, being completely unaware of what he has done.

Saora Disorder

Saora Disorder usually occurs amongst the people of the Saora tribe of the Orissa State within India. Young men and women exhibit seriously abnormal behavior that many would consider a mental disorder. These people cry, laugh, experience memory loss, and sometimes pass out.

Berserkers

Berserkers, which is otherwise known as fury, comes from the Norsemen, who would head into the heat of battle in an adrenaline-fueled rage. Men who perform laborious work sometimes suffer from this. Their faces swell, change color, and their teeth chatter and their body goes chill.

Shenkui

Shenkui, another Chinese cultural syndrome, generally presents itself in the same manner as anxiety or panic attacks. Somatic complaints are usually quite common, too, plus weakness, insomnia, and sexual dysfunction.

Ghost Sickness

Ghost Sickness stems from various Native American tribes, and is generally associated with the dead or those who are dying. It is also associated with various forms of witchcraft, and is a psychotic disorder that includes loss of appetite, nightmares, terror, and suffocation.

Grisi Siknis

Grisi siknis, which is also known as crazy sickness, is a cultural syndrome that occurs amongst the Miskito people in eastern Central America, and generally only affects young women. Many of the victims are between the ages of 15 and 18. The victims see people as devils, and feel zero pain in their bodies.

Couvade Syndrome

Couvade Syndrome is a mental condition that comes about when the father begins experiencing the same bodily issues as the wife when she is near to childbirth. This will include birthing pains, postpartum depression, sex taboos, and worse.

Homosexual Panic

Homosexual Panic was first discovered by psychiatrist Edward J. Kempf in 1920, who believed the psychosis involved delusions and hallucinations of homosexual activity amongst friends and family. Mental breakdowns usually occurred soon after the hallucinations.