The ‘Dhat syndrome’ : a culturally determined symptom of depression?

Mumford, David B.

doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.1996.tb09842.x

Cited by 69 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…However, the complaint of Dhat syndrome is not confined to Hindus, but is widespread among all communities of the Indian subcontinent. It has been reported among Sikhs in Punjab, Buddhists in Sri Lanka and Muslims in Pakistan (4).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural misconceptions and associated depression in Dhat syndrome

Sawant¹,

Nath²

2012

Sri Lanka J. Psyc.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural misconceptions and associated depression in Dhat syndrome

Sawant¹,

Nath²

2012

Sri Lanka J. Psyc.

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“…16 The prominence of concern about semen discharge was also found in a recent community-based study among 2,084 men aged 18-35 in Orissa, where 27 per cent reported experience of semen discharge,2 l and among 11 per cent of 1,279 married slum dwellers in Mumbai in the two months prior to interview. 23 The Lahore study found that reported semen loss in urine was significantly associated with feelings of tiredness, weakness, difficulties in getting a complete erection and a burning sensation while urinating.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Addressing semen loss concerns: Towards culturally appropriate HIV/AIDS interventions in Gujarat, India

Lakhani¹,

Gandhi²,

Collumbien³

2001

Reproductive Health Matters

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A situation analysis of sexual networking and sexual health in an industrial area of Gujarat, India, identified anxiety about masturbation and other semen loss concerns as major preoccupations among young men. This paper describes how the Deepak Charitable Trust addressed these concerns in their HIVprevention programme for young men aged 15 to 30. Flowcharts were used as participatory learning tools and to obtain data on the perceived consequences of masturbation, both before and after intervention activities. Research was also done on the relation between semen-related anxieties and sexual risk behaviour by DCT and two other NGOs among young men engaging in unsafe sexual behaviour. DCT advocates addressing masturbation and other semen loss concerns in all sexual health campaigns in South Asia, based on the magnitude of these concerns, their potential to confound syndromic management of ST/s and their significance as an idiom of psychosocial distress. Masturbation and associated anxieties about sexual performance are seen as health issues and discussed as such by the programme. There is immediate identification among young men, whether or not they are already sexually active, and it provides an excellent en try point for sexual health and safer sex education. The community response to these efforts has been en tire/y positive.Keywords: young men, male semen loss concerns, masturbation, sexual health, India T HE magnitude of the HIV epidemic in India is still largely unknown, with estimates ranging from four to ten million already infected. 1 Arguments that traditional sociocultural norms of monogamy and universal marriage provided protection from HIV led to a long period of denial. When the sentinel surveillance sites set up in 1994 began to show rapidly increasing trends in seroprevalence among sex workers, STI clinic attenders and women attending antenatal clinics, the need for targeted HIV interventions became urgent.2 Largely without systematic data on sexual networking and sexual health, governmental bodies and NGOs started HIV awareness campaigns.3In 1997, the non-governmental organisation Deepak Charitable Trust (DCT) explored the need for incorporating HIV prevention activities in its social development programme by doing a situation analysis of sexual networking in its catchment area.4 DCT has been working for the last 12 years in Nandanagar (pseudonym), an industrial development area of 20 villages with 40,000 inhabitants, near Vadodara in Gujarat, where most villagers are employed in 200 chemical factories. A major national highway crosses the area and large numbers of trucks stop there. The area serves as a rest point, with numerous petrol stations, roadside restaurants and stalls. Locally produced liquor (daaru) and sex workers are also available along the highway.DCT staff were trained and supervised by a medical anthropologist to carry out a needs assessment among both women and men for HIV interventions, using ethnographic research 49 Lakhani, Gandhi, Collumbien methods. Methods included social m...

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“…However, cultural formulations of sexual presentations in clinical work must be viewed in the context of other disorders that may be presenting. For example, authors have commented on the role of dhat as a somatic presentation in depressive illness (Mumford 1996). Here, cultural background is understood to be shaping the particular mode of presentation of the patient experiencing distress, rather than causing the disorder itself -an example of pathoplastic influences.…”

Section: Box 2 Sex Positivity and Sex Negativitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural factors and sexual dysfunction in clinical practice

Bhavsar¹,

Bhugra²

2013

Adv. psychiatr. treat

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SummaryAttitudes to sex and the perceived role of sexual activity are very strongly influenced by cultural values. Culturally determined gender roles influence relationships between different-sex partners, and cultural values affect attitudes towards sexual variation. Cultures define what is deviant and from where help is sought. Through differing patterns of child-rearing, cultures also affect individuals' cognitive development, world views and explanatory models of emotional distress. It is critical that clinicians are aware of the role of culture in defining sexual dysfunction and how cultural factors can be used in initiating treatment as well as in therapeutic engagement and alliance. Although epidemiological data on prevalence of sexual dysfunction across cultures are scanty, it is likely that prevalences vary, as will pathways into care and patterns of help-seeking. In this article we discuss the potential impact of culture on sexual dysfunction, and issues that clinicians, whether in specialist or in general services, need to be aware of in assessing and treating patients who present with sexual dysfunction.

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The ‘Dhat syndrome’ : a culturally determined symptom of depression?

Cited by 69 publications

References 13 publications

Cultural misconceptions and associated depression in Dhat syndrome

Cultural misconceptions and associated depression in Dhat syndrome

Addressing semen loss concerns: Towards culturally appropriate HIV/AIDS interventions in Gujarat, India

Cultural factors and sexual dysfunction in clinical practice

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