Grisi siknis

Grisi siknis (in Miskito language, from the English, means "crazy sickness") is a contagious, culture-bound syndrome that occurs predominantly among the Miskito People of eastern Central America and affects mainly young women. It is also known as "grisi munaia", "Chipil siknis" and "Nil siknis". More recently cases occurring amongst people of Spanish descent have also been reported.

According to Dr. Phil Dennis of Texas Tech University, grisi siknis is typically characterized by longer periods of anxiety, nausea, dizziness, irrational anger and fear, interlaced with short periods of rapid frenzy, in which the victim "lose[s] consciousness, believe[s] that devils beat them and have sexual relations with them" and runs away.

Often the outbreak of the syndrome is violent in nature, with victims grabbing weapons, attacking unseen enemies and/or hurting themselves.

The causes of grisi siknis are indefinite, says the American Psychology Association, but the prevailing Western theory calls this syndrome a "psychological disorder due to stress, upheaval and despair".

Traditional Miskito belief, says Dennis, holds that grisi siknis is the result of evil spirits or black sorcerers. While Western medicine typically has no effect on those afflicted with the disease, the remedies of Miskito herbalists or witch doctors are often successful in curing grisi siknis.

Symptoms of grisi siknis vary, but there is a distinct set of central characteristics. Most of the victims are young girls from 15 to 18 years old. The attacks are prefaced by headaches, dizziness, anxiety, nausea, irrational anger and/or fear. During the attack, the "victim loses consciousness" and falls to the ground, subsequently running away, which running Dennis calls "perhaps the most distinctive defining characteristic of grisi siknis behavior". The victim may view other people as devils, feel no pain for bodily injuries and have absolute amnesia regarding their physical circumstances. Some grab machetes or broken bottles to wave off unseen assailants. Other victims are reported to have performed superhuman feats, vomited strange objects such as spiders, hair and coins and spoken in tongues. In some cases the semi-conscious victim will speak the names of the next to be infected, although it is not always accurate. It is still highly contagious. During attacks, victims report mental visions in which devils or evil spirits come for them, and have sex with them. These visions also include anything from horrifying nightmares to pleasant experiences, and many anthropologists claim these are sexual experiences. This is a disputed fact, as not all cases involve sexual encounters. Attacks occur anywhere from multiple times a day to rarely when one is infected with grisi siknis. A person typically remains with the disease for several months to a year without medical attention, although some cases have been documented to recur for much longer.

...
Wikipedia