Abstract
Koro, or shook yang, is a culture-bound psychogenic disorder occurring predominantly in men of the Chinese race who live in southern China and the countries of Southeast Asia to which the southern Chinese have migrated. The syndrome has three cardinal manifestations: first, delusions of retraction of the penis into the body with a fear of impending death; second, an intense panic with feelings of collapse, palpitations, sweating, nausea, breathlessness, visual blurring, bodily spasms, pain, and paresthesias; and, third, generally minor complications arising from patientś idiosyncratic remedial measures to physically prevent the ostensible disappearance of the penis into the abdomen (Koro Study Team, 1969). The strength of the delusory belief determines the degree of fear and panic, which in turn determines the vigor with which remedies are attempted, leading to various degrees of physical damage to the genitals.
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© 1982 Plenum Press, New York
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Rubin, R.T. (1982). Koro (Shook Yang) A Culture-Bound Psychogenic Syndrome. In: Friedmann, C.T.H., Faguet, R.A. (eds) Extraordinary Disorders of Human Behavior. Critical Issues in Psychiatry. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-9251-8_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-9251-8_9
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