© 2004 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
REVIEW ARTICLE |
Culture-bound syndromes: the story of dhat syndrome
Section of Epidemiology, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK
Sri Jayawerdenpura General Hospital, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka
Section of Cultural Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK
Correspondence: Professor Dinesh Bhugra, Section of Cultural Psychiatry, PO25, Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 8AF, UK
Declaration of interest None. Funding detailed in Acknowledgements.
Background Culture-bound syndrome is a term used to describe the uniqueness of some syndromes in specific cultures. Dhat (semen-loss anxiety) has been considered to be an exotic ‘neurosis of the Orient’.
Aims To ascertain the presence of similar symptoms and syndromes in different cultures and historical settings.
Method Electronic and manual literature searches were used to gather information on the existence and description of semen-loss anxiety in different cultures and settings.
Results Most of the empirical studies on dhat syndrome have emerged from Asia, whereas its concepts have been described historically in other cultures, including Britain, the USA and Australia. The different sources indicate the universality of symptoms and global prevalence of this condition, despite its image as a ‘neurosis of the Orient’.
Conclusions It appears that dhat (semen-loss anxiety) is not as culture-bound as previously thought. We propose that the concept of culture-bound syndromes should be modified in line with DSM-IV recommendations.
Related articles in BJP:
- Highlights of this issue
BJP 2004 184: 193-a11.[Full Text]
This article has been cited by other articles:
 |
|
 |
|
  L. J. Kirmayer and N. Sartorius Cultural Models and Somatic Syndromes Psychosom Med, November 1, 2007; 69(9): 832 - 840. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 V. Patel and A. Sumathipala Psychological approaches to somatisation in developing countries Advan. Psychiatr. Treat., January 1, 2006; 12(1): 54 - 62. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 D. Hodgson Spermatomania--the English response to Lallemand's disease J R Soc Med, August 1, 2005; 98(8): 375 - 379. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 V. Patel, S. Pednekar, H. Weiss, M. Rodrigues, P. Barros, B. Nayak, V. Tanksale, B. West, P. Nevrekar, B. R Kirkwood, et al. Why do women complain of vaginal discharge? A population survey of infectious and pyschosocial risk factors in a South Asian community Int. J. Epidemiol., August 1, 2005; 34(4): 853 - 862. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 P. Tyrer Combating editorial racism in psychiatric publications The British Journal of Psychiatry, January 1, 2005; 186(1): 1 - 3. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
G. Rajesh, K. S. Jacob, and D. Bhugra Form-content dichotomy in psychopathology * Author's reply The British Journal of Psychiatry, December 1, 2004; 185(6): 520 - 521. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
K. A. L. A. Kuruppuarachchi and L. T. Wijeratne The continuing story of dhat syndrome The British Journal of Psychiatry, September 1, 2004; 185(3): 260 - 260. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
N. Gojanur The British Journal of Psychiatry, September 1, 2004; 185(3): 261 - 261. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
N. Painuly and S. Chakrabarti The British Journal of Psychiatry, September 1, 2004; 185(3): 260 - 260. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
B. R. Shankar, D. Gilligan, A. Sumathipala, S. H. Siribaddana, and D. Bhugra Author's reply The British Journal of Psychiatry, September 1, 2004; 185(3): 261 - 262. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
G. Ranjith and R. Mohan Dhat syndrome: a functional somatic syndrome? The British Journal of Psychiatry, July 1, 2004; 185(1): 77 - 77. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
eLetters:
Read all eLetters
- Dhat syndrome - culture-related specific syndrome.
- RAVI SHANKAR BALU
- BJP Online, 18 May 2004 [Full text]