|
What's awesome about crazy people is they always find ways to surprise us. And there might not be anything stranger in the world of mental illness than culture-bound syndromes. These are specific, and incredibly bizarre, forms of insanity that only happen in certain countries or cultures, for reasons that often leave experts baffled. Such as... #5.
Wendigo Psychosis: Normal Folks in a Man-Eating Frenzy
The Wendigo is a mythical monster that is featured in the folklore of some northern Native American and Canadian tribes. They all describe it as a "malevolent, cannibalistic, supernatural being of great spiritual power, associated with winter, coldness, famine and starvation." Basically, it's what vampires were before Anne Rice hand-stitched giant pussies into their mythos.
Now that we've cleared up what a true Wendigo is, you might be wondering in terror what exactly "Wendigo Psychosis" entails, and if you're not, you should probably start right about now. It's when a person becomes convinced that they are a Wendigo... most prominently marked by an intense craving for human flesh. Yes, this is a real thing, that happened to real people. What? WHY?!? Many tribal societies were familiar with cannibalism, having to eat human flesh during dire periods of starvation and all, but sometimes the guilt and fear associated with the act was so great that it drove them insane. When you end up snacking on a dude, it's not hard to imagine yourself as a kind of monster. After all, isn't it better to see yourself as a mythical beast than just a hungry guy with low standards?
That's the best guess as to where Wendigo Psychosis comes in. But understand that once it kicks in, the victim believes they're an invincible man-eating monster regardless of how much actual food is around. When people would start to feel the symptoms coming on, they would sometimes actually ask to be executed before they could go on a man-eating frenzy. Holy shit! Today, Cracked declares that "Dammit, I'm about to go Wendigo on your asses!" is a new catchphrase. Try to use it today. #4.
Dhat Syndrome: Ejaculation Anxiety
Dhat Syndrome, seen pretty much in India and nowhere else, doesn't need a fancy setup to seem bizarre: it's semen-loss anxiety. Dhat sufferers believe they are leaking semen (not like dripping into their pants, they think they're losing it when they urinate) and that this loss is weakening them both mentally and physically.
Dhat suffers are very worried about keeping as much semen as they possibly can inside of their bodies, which is the exact opposite goal of every other man in the world, who pretty much think of their sperm like the end of a garage sale: as long as you're willing to take it, you can have as much of it as you can carry. What? WHY?!? To understand Dhat Syndrome, you must first consider traditional Hindu beliefs: food converts to blood, which converts to flesh, which converts to bone marrow and the marrow is eventually converted into semen. It is said that it takes 40 days for 40 drops of food to be converted to one drop of blood, 40 drops of blood to one drop of flesh and so on. To put it into terms you can understand, basically it takes 73 burritos to make just one sperm. At the very least, that's a lot of cash; you can see why they really want to keep it.
Combine that with the whole "loss of virility and thus manhood" thing and you can see how this unique and bizarre kind of anxiety can turn up. In most cases of Dhat, patients suffer from premature ejaculation, insomnia and anxiety. All of these symptoms, it should be noted, are also cited as reasons why other men masturbate, that is they're dispensing too little semen on the world, not the other way around. With that in mind, we would like to write a prescription to all Dhat sufferers, and it's a little thing we like to call porn. #3.
Amok: The Random Killing of Dudes
You've heard the term "running amok," but the word "amok" is Malaysian, and originally described elephants going mad and separating from their herd. At that point the animal would run wild destroying, fighting, and making sweet crazy furious love to anything in its way, pretty much just re-enacting an average day in Sean Connery's life. And it is in Malaysia where the condition began cropping up in humans as well. We're talking about random, kill-crazy outbursts by males with non-violent histories who, with absolutely no provocation, will suddenly up and decide that not enough of everything is dying and do their level best to rectify that situation.
Amok episodes are such a kill frenzy that they often only end when bystanders eventually kill the berserker. Those lucky enough to survive, report no memories of their carnage, presumably because laughing shamefully and saying, "Oh yeah, I totally killed that restaurant," doesn't look all that good in court. In the year 2000 alone, 13 separate cases of people "running amok" were reported, during which 11 people were murdered and 29 more were wounded. That sounds a little scary, but just look at the bright side: those numbers tell us that yes, Malaysia may indeed be a terrifying place to live, but hey, at least only about 80 percent of the randomly triggered psychopathic berserkers are competent enough to succeed at murder. What? WHY?!? Unlike the Wendigo thing where you can sort of draw a line between things going on in their culture and the occasional spontaneous madness, there is no such clear-cut explanation for running amok. Experts have suggested pretty much everything--drug abuse, alcoholism, heat, internal parasites or just good ol' fashioned devil possession--but there is not enough evidence to support any of these speculations.
Then again, the devil wouldn't actually leave any evidence behind, would he? |
5 Self-Destructive Ways People Accidentally Cured Themselves
6 Fake Foods You (Will Wish You Didn't) Have in Your Kitchen
6 Natural Disasters That Were Caused by Human Stupidity
17 More Images You Won't Believe Aren't Photoshopped
"among humans, crazy is more contagious than any disease" w3rd.
Also, at this point we're starting to think there's a hidden part of the human brain that just wants an excuse to f**k s**t up and blame it on ghosts. haha true dat
Hello everyone, I found a great dating site______MillionaireCupid.org_____ The best dating club for seeking the rich singles, sexy beauties and even hot celebs.. what's the most important is:you dont have to be a millionaire.but you can meet one. I think everyone need to meet some miracle after all the terrible stuff in the news and the economy .You should check it out!!!
Wow that's sad. I looked at the picture of the 'Pre-Rice Vampire' and my first thought was "That's not a vampire, that's a Draegloth, it's from D&D" Holy CRAP I'm a nerd.
OK, 400 children going nuts at a single school sounds to me less like mass hysteria, and more like one kid coming to class and saying "I found out about this weird thing called am i full of nana or something. Lets use it to get out of school for the day"
Wendingo isn't a Vampire, it's the original Zombie/La Cupacabra. & Brahm Stoker beat Anne Rice to it.
For more on Wendigo Psychosis, watch Ravenous, the best movie you have never seen.
For more on Wendigo Psychosis, watch Ravenous, the best movie you have never seen.
It's alot like this lst that was on listverse a few days ago, august 21st to be precise, it only shares one or two items though so I guess it's just a coincedence http://listverse.com/2009/08/21/top-10-bizarre-cultural-disorders/
I actually had to come back to this article because Cracked hardly ever makes me laugh out loud anymore -- but this did -- and it's Monday morning and I could use a giggle. So here I am ... laughing at the insanity of others. Yay me.
Amok sounds an awful lot like what North America (and perhaps elsewhere?) call "Going postal"...
Good old Cracked stuffs. Here are more fun stuffs, “Week’s Most Hilarious Videos 8/17” http://tv1.com/playlists/508
I'm surprised Fan Death didn't make the list. Google it! It apparently only occurs in Korea, and some people are hell-bent on believing in it despite all evidence. I guess the very nature of the belief makes it more of an urban legend than a mental disorder - if it were called "Fan Sickness," I'm sure there would be many (surviving) people complaining of it.
Dhat syndrome. I think I've got it! I think I've got it!
mic_m, you made me shoot milk out my nose....not pleasant. And ka_la_la_lira: do NOT push wimpy Anne Rice vampires off on us. Maybe SOME have been swayed by the wimpitude found in most of the "modern" vamps, but plenty of wussy men seem to be following along, too. One of my favorite pieces of news is that Anne Rice found Jesus. Not just because I'm a fan of Jesus myself, but because it's also kind of her starting a runaway sparkle-train and then hopping off.
#1: "The Voice" episode of Seinfeld
I live in Singapore which is next to Malaysia and to be very honest, situations where amok happened are very, extremely rare to the point of being unheard of. So no, it doesn't make Malaysia a terrifying place to live in. Many Singaporeans have homes in the Malaysian state of Johor which I guess wouldn't happen if amok is something commonplace. Also, when it happened it doesn't occurred to random, normal people. Usually, the perpetrator has a history of mental illness or psychological problems. In other words, amok can be seen anywhere else in the word. The word 'amok' by the way comes from the word 'mengamuk' which means to be angry.
I remember this from psychology class. The "Cultural differences" title of the day's work sounded so innocent. I could probably name a few more as you can't forget these things.
My theory for Amok: Rage Virus.
I could not stop laughing at the spell check for a good 2 minutes. Now I'm craving Funyons. I should really go to bed.
7 Secrets Only Two Living People Know (For Some Reason)
The 15 Most Shameless Fake Photos Ever Passed Off as Real
6 Creepy Urban Legends That Happen to be True (Part 3!)
The 6 Creepiest Places on Earth
The Men Who Stare At Goats: New Trailer
Curse of the Duck Hunt Dog
Copyright © 2005 - 2009 Cracked Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved. CRACKED, CRACKED.COM and the "CRACKED" logo are trademarks owned by Cracked Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved.
Reddit
Facebook
StumbleUpon
Digg
Del.icio.us
Fark
