CULTURE
You've probably never heard of koro--the delusion that your genitals are receding into your body. But for folks in East Asia, it's a very real--and understandably frightening--condition.
If koro isn't well-known in the West, it's because some mental disorders--psychiatrists call them "culture-bound syndromes"--are largely specific to particular locales. They may be the ultimate example of how culture, belief, and experience interact in the formation of psychiatric problems.
Lest North Americans develop a cultural superiority complex, consider this: Asians would be baffled by the thought of someone eating a delicious meal and then intentionally vomiting it up. We, of course, call it bulimia. Some other culture-bound syndromes:
SYNDROME LOCATIONS SYMPTOMS
Tabanka Trinidad Depression in men
