Koro (disease)
| Koro | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Genital retraction syndrome, shrinking penis |
| Specialty | Psychiatry |
Koro is a culture-bound delusional disorder in which individuals have an overpowering belief that their sex organs are retracting and will disappear, despite the lack of any true longstanding changes to the genitals.[1][2] Koro is also known as shrinking penis, and was listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
The syndrome occurs worldwide, and mass hysteria of genital-shrinkage anxiety has a history in Africa, Asia and Europe.[3] In the United States and Europe, the syndrome is commonly known as genital retraction syndrome.[4]
The condition can be diagnosed through psychological assessment along with physical examination to rule out genuine disorders of the genitalia that could be causing true retraction.[5][6]
The word was borrowed from Malay and means the head of a turtle (or tortoise), referring to how it looks when they retract their heads into their shells.[7][8]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
DSM-IV-TRwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Koro". dictionary.com. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
- ^ Mattelaer, Johan J.; Jilek, Wolfgang (September 2007). "SEXUAL MEDICINE HISTORY: Koro—The Psychological Disappearance of the Penis". The Journal of Sexual Medicine. 4 (5): 1509–1515. doi:10.1111/j.1743-6109.2007.00586.x. PMID 17727356.
- ^ "Top 10 Little-Known Mental Disorders". Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on 15 October 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
- ^ Chowdhury, Arabinda N. (March 1996). "The definition and classification of Koro". Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry. 20 (1): 41–65. doi:10.1007/BF00118750. PMID 8740958. S2CID 12734087.
- ^ Ghanem, Hussein; Glina, Sidney; Assalian, Pierre; Buvat, Jacques (January 2013). "Position Paper: Management of Men Complaining of a Small Penis Despite an Actually Normal Size". The Journal of Sexual Medicine. 10 (1): 294–303. doi:10.1111/j.1743-6109.2012.02725.x. PMID 22512935.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Yap 1965was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Gorvett, Zaria. "What we can learn from 'untranslatable' illnesses". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 9 June 2020.