Grisi Siknis: Symptoms And Causes Of This Cultural Syndrome
Cultural or culture-bound syndromes are disorders that have been identified exclusively in a specific society. Some of the best-known cultural syndromes are Koro, which occurs in Southeast Asia, and Amok, typical of Indonesia and the Pacific.
In this article we will talk about The causes and symptoms of grisi siknis, a culture-bound syndrome which occurs among the Miskitos, natives of Honduras and Nicaragua. We will also describe some similar disorders that occur in other cultures.
The grisi siknis is a specific cultural syndrome of the Miskito societyan ethnic group from Central America. The name is probably derived from the English words “crazy sickness”; In this case it could be translated as “insanity disease”. It is also known as “grisi munaia”, “Nil siknis” and “Chipil siknis”. This disorder was described by Philip A. Dennis in 1981.
It occurs mainly in adolescent women between 15 and 18 years old. Although Western psychology and psychiatry has attributed the appearance of episodes of grisi siknis to emotional distress and stress, traditional explanations of the Miskito people affirm that it is an experience of possession by spirits or evil sorcerers.
This esoteric tale about the nature of the syndrome is fueled by the fact that Western medicine and other treatments do not appear effective in resolving the symptoms of grisi siknis. On the other hand, the herbal and traditional remedies of Miskito healers are effective in dealing with the symptoms, perhaps due to suggestion and the placebo effect.
One of the most peculiar characteristics of the grisi siknis It is its contagious nature, which causes epidemics to occur. For example, in March 2009, outbreaks of grisi siknis were described that affected many young people in the municipalities of Puerto Cabezas and Siuna, in Nicaragua. These epidemics occurred shortly after Hurricane Felix, which wreaked havoc on the coast of Honduras and Nicaragua.
Episodes of grisi siknis are preceded by physical and psychological symptoms such as anxiety, anger, irrational fear, headache, dizziness and nausea.
The beginning of the attack coincides with the loss of consciousness that causes the person to fall to the ground. She then begins to run, immersed in a state of dissociation and lack of behavioral control.
During the crisis of grisi siknis, it is common for affected people to carry out aggressive behavior against themselves or against invisible aggressors product of hallucinationyes ; Those who have suffered episodes claim that they see spirits or demons that come to look for them, sometimes to rape them or have sex with them.
There is a great power of suggestion in this syndrome, partly because of the atmosphere of esotericism that is generated in crises and is reminiscent of the classic cases of Folie à Deux. It is also common for people affected by grisi siknis to say the name of the next people who will presumably suffer from it, although they are not necessarily correct. There are Miskito stories that narrate supernatural events that occurred during episodes of this syndrome, such as victims speaking in unknown languages or vomiting hair, spiders or coins.
The grisi siknis can last several months, even a year, if untreated. During this period, recurrent episodes with symptoms such as those described in the previous paragraphs usually occur.
Causes and explanations
According to the DSM-IV-TR manual, grisi siknis is a psychological disorder that occurs due to stress, emotional shock, and despair ; In this sense, this syndrome has been related to dissociative fugue, as is the case with Amok syndrome, another well-known cultural disorder. However, grisi siknis has been little studied and therefore its causes are not entirely clear.
The Miskito attribute grisi siknis to a destabilization in the spirit world, caused by the appearance of epidemic outbreaks or the action of dark sorcerers. These factors would lead to the possession of young girls by specters.
As we have seen, a possible explanation for the peculiar fact that grisi siknis is contagious is suggestion; Thus, the appearance of this syndrome in several people at the same time could be influenced by contact with other cases of grisi siknis. Seen in this way, the syndrome would have certain similarities with the shared psychotic disorder, better known as Folie à Deux.
Similar cultural syndromes
Symptoms of anxiety, physical discomfort and loss of control are very common in a large number of disorders, including those that are specific to certain cultures. As in grisi siknis, in many cases these syndromes have traditionally been attributed to spirit possession.
1. Amok or mata elap
Alteration detected in Malaysian men that is characterized by appearance of a dissociative episode during which aggressive behaviors occur. It is related to psychosis. After the amok attack the person does not remember what happened.
There are other cultural syndromes with symptoms very similar to those of amok and grisi siknis in different cultures, such as cafard, berserk, fighting sickness and iich’aa, identified in Polynesia, Scandinavia, Puerto Rico and the Navajo Indians, respectively.
2. Pibloktoq or Arctic hysteria
Pibloktoq occurs among the Inuit of Greenland. It usually consists of a dissociative episode of about 30 minutes that occurs after a period of agitation, irritability or low mood. The person behaves in an aggressive and uninhibited manner for example, being able to take off all their clothes, shout obscene words or eat feces.
The windigo is a mythological being from North America to which human and bestial characteristics are attributed. As a disorder, windigo is related to delusional experiences of possession that present with a compulsive desire to eat human flesh. Currently the existence of this cultural syndrome is highly questioned as such.
4. Nervous breakdown
This name is given to episodes of loss of control with screaming, crying, trembling and aggression that occur in some Latin American and Mediterranean cultures. It differs from panic attacks in the fact that the symptoms occur spontaneously, without a trigger and without feelings of fear.
5. Delirious Bouffée
La bouffée délirante (French for “delirious breath”) It is a type of psychotic break which is characterized by psychomotor agitation, violence, confusion, and visual or auditory hallucinations. It is typical of Haiti and West Africa.
6. Tsar
Dissociative episodes with uncontrolled screaming, crying, laughing, and singing, as well as self-harm, attributed to experiences of spirit possession. In African countries where it has been identified, such as Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt and Somalia, It is not considered a pathology.
7. Spirit illness
In some Native American societies, a syndrome consisting of an intense preoccupation with death and deceased people, along with various physical and psychological symptoms, has been described: anxiety, weakness, loss of appetite, dizziness, confusion, nightmares, hallucinations, etc.
8. Hsieh-ping
The hsieh-ping, a cultural syndrome detected in Taiwan is defined as a brief trance state during which the person believes they are possessed by ancestral spirits attempting to communicate with family members. Its symptoms include disorientation and hallucinations.
9. Madness
According to the DSM-IV psychiatric manual, the term “insanity” It is used in Latin America to refer to a type of chronic psychosis which include symptoms such as interpersonal difficulties, agitation, hallucinations, incoherence, impulsivity and aggression.
