Latah
Latah is a condition of hyperstartling found in certain parts of the world. Latah is considered a culture-specific syndrome. It is known as latah in Malay-Indonesian languages, bah-tschi in Thailand, yaun in Myanmar, mali-mali in the Philippines, miryachit in Siberia, imu among the Ainu, Lapp panic among the Sami, and as jumping among rural populations of French-Canadian background in the Northeast of the USA.
In the 1880s, Gilles de la Tourette collected reports on latah-type reactions from different culture areas because he assumed they were manifestations of the neurological syndrome that Jean-Martin Charcot had named after himself. [1]
Symptoms and Onset
Many people gasp or swear, when startled, then after a few seconds, most of them return to whatever they were previously doing. For those who suffer from latah, however, that jolt of surprise turns into a 30-minute orgy of screaming, dancing, and hysterical laughter, punctuated by shouted obscenities.
Though often unpleasant for the person suffering from latah, who are usually middle-aged women, family and friends find the outbursts entertaining and slyly provoke the person in order to see a show. Startled women tend to mimic those around them, gaping relatives or imitating things they see on TV. When a woman goes latah in public, this can be a real problem. One woman, who suffers from latah, told a New York Times reporter about a hunchbacked man who lives in her neighborhood. If something sets her off when she's out shopping, she'll start walking like him for no apparent reason.
Any number of things can cause the onset of latah. Sufferers often cite a traumatic experience, the death of a child, for instance, as the source of the problem. But, according to psychiatrist Ronald C. Simons, the author of Boo! Culture, Exper-ience and the Startle Reflex, "Some cultures are more fascinated, and amused, by the startle response than others, making people who are easily frightened objects of attention." [2]
Latah is found primarily among populations residing in Malaysia and Indonesia. It is present in both males and females but it is more frequent among females. The two major components are a startled reaction and the subsequent imitative behavior including echolalia (repeating what someone says), echopraxia (repeating what someone does), automatic obedience coprolalia (involuntary utterance of obscene words), altered consciousness, and/or fear. These behaviors can occur repeatedly. In most instances, the disorder is precipitated by a sudden stress.
Origin
H. B. M. Murphy, an anthropologist and transcultural psychiatrist proposed a number of theories about the origins of latah and its relationship ito cultural factors. He posits that certain Malaysian and Indonesian child-rearing practices predispose individuals toward hypersuggestibility, which then becomes linked to sexual functioning. Researchers have speculated that latah is similar to hysterical disorders found in Southest Asia, Siberia, and various parts of Japan. Pow Meng Yap, a transcultural psychiatrist who wrote extensively on culture-bound disorders, noted that latah is similar to the following disorders: miryachit, amurakh, imu, imubacco, young-dah-the, bahtschi, yuan, mali-mali, jumping, and Arctic hysteria. Of all culture-bound syndromes, latah has been the most popular among researchers.
Latah in the News
Latah is a famous and controversial culture-bound syndrome. Remarkably, the dispute over Latah has generated more pages of print in psychiatric and anthropological writings than any other CBS. This is odd because the persons afflicted are often not locally regarded as ill, seldom seek treatment, and, for the most part, provide entertainment for their fellows. Latah has been characterized as a “syndrome usually triggered by a fright (a loud noise, unexpected gesture, even a stimulus word such as ‘snake’ or ‘tiger’) which results in some or all of the following behavior: an exaggerated startle reaction, echolalia, echopraxia, coprolalia, copropraxia and automatic obedience."
At first it was thought to occur only in Malay populations. But New York neurologist George Beard (1839–1883), who invented the concept of neurasthenia in 1864, was also among the first to describe in detail a condition apparently identical to latah in non-Malay cultures. He found it in Northern Maine. Having heard mention of an unusual neurological disorder around Moosehead Lake, he visited the area in 1880. Cases were not hard to find: two afflicted individuals worked at his hotel. Never having heard of latah, he referred to these cases as the “jumping Frenchmen of Maine." Based on observations of 50 cases, including 14 in 4 families, the syndrome struck mostly lumberjacks of French-Canadian descent. One of his subjects, for example, was sitting, cutting his tobacco with a knife and Beard startled him by striking his shoulder and shouting “throw it.” Beard described his reaction: “Almost as quick as the explosion of a pistol, he threw the knife, and it struck the beam opposite; at the same time he repeated the order, ‘throw it’ with a certain cry as of terror or alarm." This behavior and that of other subjects described in his papers indicate the jumpers to be highly similar or identical to latah cases. [3]
Latah in Jakarta, Indonesia
Centuries ago in Maly, latah was characterized by an exaggerated motor startle response, associated with involuntary vocalizations, echolalia, echopraxia, and forced obedience. Modern latah has not been systematically studied.
References
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11391750
Links
[1] Latah in South East Asia-Cambridge University Press This article gives an explanation as to how the syndrome known as Latah should be viewed.
[2] Latah in Southeast Asia This article gives the history and ethnography of the syndrome Latah.
Latah
Latah is a condition of hyperstartling found in certain parts of the world. Latah is considered a culture-specific syndrome. It is known as latah in Malay-Indonesian languages, bah-tschi in Thailand, yaun in Myanmar, mali-mali in the Philippines, miryachit in Siberia, imu among the Ainu, Lapp panic among the Sami, and as jumping among rural populations of French-Canadian background in the Northeast of the USA.
In the 1880s, Gilles de la Tourette collected reports on latah-type reactions from different culture areas because he assumed they were manifestations of the neurological syndrome that Jean-Martin Charcot had named after himself. [1]
Symptoms and Onset
Many people gasp or swear, when startled, then after a few seconds, most of them return to whatever they were previously doing. For those who suffer from latah, however, that jolt of surprise turns into a 30-minute orgy of screaming, dancing, and hysterical laughter, punctuated by shouted obscenities.
Though often unpleasant for the person suffering from latah, who are usually middle-aged women, family and friends find the outbursts entertaining and slyly provoke the person in order to see a show. Startled women tend to mimic those around them, gaping relatives or imitating things they see on TV. When a woman goes latah in public, this can be a real problem. One woman, who suffers from latah, told a New York Times reporter about a hunchbacked man who lives in her neighborhood. If something sets her off when she's out shopping, she'll start walking like him for no apparent reason.
Any number of things can cause the onset of latah. Sufferers often cite a traumatic experience, the death of a child, for instance, as the source of the problem. But, according to psychiatrist Ronald C. Simons, the author of Boo! Culture, Exper-ience and the Startle Reflex, "Some cultures are more fascinated, and amused, by the startle response than others, making people who are easily frightened objects of attention." [2]
Latah is found primarily among populations residing in Malaysia and Indonesia. It is present in both males and females but it is more frequent among females. The two major components are a startled reaction and the subsequent imitative behavior including echolalia (repeating what someone says), echopraxia (repeating what someone does), automatic obedience coprolalia (involuntary utterance of obscene words), altered consciousness, and/or fear. These behaviors can occur repeatedly. In most instances, the disorder is precipitated by a sudden stress.
Origin
H. B. M. Murphy, an anthropologist and transcultural psychiatrist proposed a number of theories about the origins of latah and its relationship ito cultural factors. He posits that certain Malaysian and Indonesian child-rearing practices predispose individuals toward hypersuggestibility, which then becomes linked to sexual functioning. Researchers have speculated that latah is similar to hysterical disorders found in Southest Asia, Siberia, and various parts of Japan. Pow Meng Yap, a transcultural psychiatrist who wrote extensively on culture-bound disorders, noted that latah is similar to the following disorders: miryachit, amurakh, imu, imubacco, young-dah-the, bahtschi, yuan, mali-mali, jumping, and Arctic hysteria. Of all culture-bound syndromes, latah has been the most popular among researchers.
Latah in the News
Latah is a famous and controversial culture-bound syndrome. Remarkably, the dispute over Latah has generated more pages of print in psychiatric and anthropological writings than any other CBS. This is odd because the persons afflicted are often not locally regarded as ill, seldom seek treatment, and, for the most part, provide entertainment for their fellows. Latah has been characterized as a “syndrome usually triggered by a fright (a loud noise, unexpected gesture, even a stimulus word such as ‘snake’ or ‘tiger’) which results in some or all of the following behavior: an exaggerated startle reaction, echolalia, echopraxia, coprolalia, copropraxia and automatic obedience."
At first it was thought to occur only in Malay populations. But New York neurologist George Beard (1839–1883), who invented the concept of neurasthenia in 1864, was also among the first to describe in detail a condition apparently identical to latah in non-Malay cultures. He found it in Northern Maine. Having heard mention of an unusual neurological disorder around Moosehead Lake, he visited the area in 1880. Cases were not hard to find: two afflicted individuals worked at his hotel. Never having heard of latah, he referred to these cases as the “jumping Frenchmen of Maine." Based on observations of 50 cases, including 14 in 4 families, the syndrome struck mostly lumberjacks of French-Canadian descent. One of his subjects, for example, was sitting, cutting his tobacco with a knife and Beard startled him by striking his shoulder and shouting “throw it.” Beard described his reaction: “Almost as quick as the explosion of a pistol, he threw the knife, and it struck the beam opposite; at the same time he repeated the order, ‘throw it’ with a certain cry as of terror or alarm." This behavior and that of other subjects described in his papers indicate the jumpers to be highly similar or identical to latah cases. [3]
Latah in Jakarta, Indonesia
Centuries ago in Maly, latah was characterized by an exaggerated motor startle response, associated with involuntary vocalizations, echolalia, echopraxia, and forced obedience. Modern latah has not been systematically studied.
References
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11391750
Links
[1] Latah in South East Asia-Cambridge University Press This article gives an explanation as to how the syndrome known as Latah should be viewed.
[2] Latah in Southeast Asia This article gives the history and ethnography of the syndrome Latah.