The curious psychological syndromes of different countries

A paralysing fear of embarrassing oneself due to body odour, deformations, eye contact, or gas. The fear stems in part from the weight of social interactions in Asia.

Victims: More common among men

Symptoms: Heart rate acceleration, shortness of breath, panic attacks

Treatment: Relaxation, manual labour, writing in a notebook

Anxiety caused by any loss of seminal fluid (due to premature or nocturnal expulsion of fluid, or seminal fluid in urine), which is considered to be a “vital fluid” in traditional Hindu spirituality. Experienced as a loss of male power.

Victims: Adult men

Symptoms: Fatigue, difficulty concentrating, exhaustion, loss of appetite

Treatment: Psychiatric follow-up

Also called “arctic hysteria”. A reaction that causes irrational or dangerous acts, often followed by amnesia. In addition to extreme cold and isolation, the illness is caused by the Eskimo diet, which is too rich in vitamin A (from sea offal and polar bears).

Victims: Women and some explorers

Symptoms: Social withdrawal, excitement, irrational behaviour, convulsions followed by a stupor

Treatment: Food without vitamin A (onions, cashews, potatoes...)

Excessive fear of wind, generally associated with its twin syndrome, Pa-leng, fear of cold or “frigophobia”. The anxiety disorders stem from a belief in the yin and the yang, in which wind and cold can disturb the balance of nature.

Victims: Undifferentiated

Symptoms: Stomach aches, headaches, vertigo, wearing heavy clothing

Treatment: Sauna, hammam, hot drinks

Emotional pain ranging from melancholy to anguish and depression. Nabokov wrote: “It is a feeling of deep spiritual suffering for no particular reason. At the less painful level, it is an indistinct pain of the soul ... that worries, becomes nostalgic or languishes with love.”

Victims: Undifferentiated

Symptoms: Sadness, anxiety, discouragement

Treatment: Long solitary walks in the steppe

An individual or epidemic anxiety tied to the belief that a man’s primary sexual organ will retract into one’s abdomen and disappear. It is attributed to an attack of black magic. It can cause sufferers to tie this said organ to themselves with a cord to prevent it from disappearing during sleep.

Victims: Men of all ages

Symptoms: Feelings of guilt, schizophrenic attacks, collective panic

Treatment: Anxiolytics, neuroleptics

Upon examination, patients never show any clinical syndromes

Slight swelling of the back that convinces some-one a lizard has crawled up under their skin and will soon obstruct their airway. Upon examination, patients never show any clinical syndromes.

Victims: Men

Symptoms: Intense pain, the sensation of suffocating, vain and messy attempts to crush the animal

Treatment: Rest, holy siesta

At the sight of holy places, pilgrims caught up in fantasies will roam around preaching the good word in their hotel sheets. On one December 24, a woman even harassed the obstetric department of a hospital, convinced she was giving birth to Jesus.

Victims: Believers from remote areas of the world

Symptoms: Ablutions, declamation of hymns

Treatment: Kfar Shaul hospital treats about 40 “biblical heroes” per year for a period of four to five days each

Dissociative disorder in which the victim uncontrollably imitates the gestures and words of those around him. The causes are believed to be a sudden noise, witchcraft, or having been tickled too much during childhood. The writer William Burroughs saw it as a parody of how advertisements condition us to act.

Victims: Women experiencing menopause

Symptom: Ingestion of inedible objects

Treatment: Increased understanding and support for those around you

The evil of Portuguese settlers during the colonisation of Africa. When those who stayed in Lisbon waited for the return of their loved ones. At the beginning of the 19th century, this melancholy, inspired by the Afro-Brazilian music brought to Portugal, found its modern form in Fado.

Victims: Sensitive hearts, nostalgics

Symptoms: A desire to be elsewhere, temporal confusion. The sentiment is celebrated in Brazil on January 30

Treatment: Guitar and song

The Pintupis count 15 types of fear. The ngulu is the fear of being persuaded that one seeks revenge. The kamarrarringu is the impression that someone is crawling behind you. Or the nginyiwarrarringu, to be startled and look for a cause.

Victims: Among the Pintupis, a desert tribe in western Australia

Symptoms: Bursts of spasm and alarm, frenetic observation of one’s environment

Treatment: Outdoor physical activity