Koro syndrome : when culture interacts with psychopathology

Elghazouani, Fatima; Barrimi, Mohammed

doi:10.30637/2018.17-097

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 5 publications

(5 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The etiologies identified include psychosis in one out of two cases, as well as substance abuse, personality disorders, or gender dysphoria. Koro syndrome, observed mainly in Asia and North Africa (and therefore probably culturally determined), is the sudden onset of intense but reversible anxiety, associated with the fear that the penis (most often), vulva, or breasts will retract into the body (Elghazouani & Barrimi, 2018; Godfryd, 2015).…”

Section: Affective Disordersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Semiology of atypical bodily experiences.

Baumard,

Lerouge,

Becquet

2024

Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Affective Disordersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Semiology of atypical bodily experiences.

Baumard,

Lerouge,

Becquet

2024

Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…26,27 Before the publication of the 10th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10), Koro-like symptoms tended to be subsumed under other diagnoses, for example, delusional disorder. [26][27][28] Furthermore, individuals with Koro symptoms often present without a clear history of psychosis or psychiatric illnesses. 29,30 Some studies, however, have demonstrated a clear link with psychosis and other psychiatric disorders.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Classical Koro and Koro-Like Symptoms: Illustration from Canada

Stip

Nguyen

Bertulies-Esposito

et al. 2021

Journal of Psychosexual Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Koro syndrome has been colorfully described as a pathological distortion of one’s body image of the genital organ. In Koro, body image dysphoria is characterized by severe anxiety related to the delusional idea that one’s genitals will shrink and retract into one’s abdomen, eventually leading to death. This syndrome was first reported in South East Asia, where endemics have been described, but it has also sporadically occurred globally. We present a systematic literature review on Koro syndrome and report 7 cases from Canada. A search review with PubMed and Google Scholar resulted in 504 entries. Sixty-seven manuscripts were eventually selected following a thorough elimination process. The resultant literature underscored the cultural diversity that underlay the reported cases. Various aspects of Koro have been examined (eg, etiological, clinical, diagnostic, and cultural aspects). It has stimulated substantial scholarly debate, discussions, correspondences, and arguments from anthropological, psychiatric, psychological, and biological perspectives. In our series, it seems that Koro could have been misattributed here. The primary concern was not with penile retraction of the cases. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a series of cases is documented from North America where the syndrome is often ignored. We highlight the potential differences between the classical Koro syndrome and a collection of beliefs related to the perception or delusion of penile retraction in other codable psychiatric disorders, Koro-like syndrome. Understanding Koro syndrome beyond geographic boundaries is in line with our collected case reports of Koro from outside Asia.

show abstract

“…Some take remedial actions by tying the penis with strings to an object, or getting others help (9). There are possible interactions between culture and psychopathology (8). The firm belief may take the form of a delusion, overvalued idea or an oedipal castration anxiety, especially when there is a male dominant cultural significance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Koro, psychological retraction of the genitalia: A case series

Ellepola¹

2021

Sri Lanka J. Psyc.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Koro has been found to exist mainly in Asia and Africa. Some authors describe the syndrome as a universal syndrome, rather than a condition found only in certain cultures. It is not uncommon to find koro presenting with comorbid conditions and psychopathology relevant to these conditions. The cases in this article illustrate three different presentations of Koro in Sri Lanka, where the affected males believed that their worth was associated with fertility and sexual potency. One patient had comorbid schizophrenia, and other two had anxious personality traits.

show abstract

Koro syndrome : when culture interacts with psychopathology

Cited by 3 publications

References 5 publications

Semiology of atypical bodily experiences.

Semiology of atypical bodily experiences.

Classical Koro and Koro-Like Symptoms: Illustration from Canada

Koro, psychological retraction of the genitalia: A case series

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About