The Khmer 'Weak Heart' Syndrome: Fear of Death from Palpitations.
The Khmer 'Weak Heart' Syndrome: Fear of Death from Palpitations.
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DOI：
10.1177/136346150203900303
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发表时间：
2002-09-01
影响因子：
2.5
通讯作者：
Sak, Sophia
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Hinton, Devon;Hinton, Susan;Sak, Sophia
根据高棉人的观念，一个人患有"心脏衰弱"（khsaoy beh daung）在轻微刺激时出现心悸发作（例如，由直立、愤怒、噪音、担忧、气味或运动触发）并且在这些心悸期间有死于心脏骤停的风险;同样，患者通常具有归因于声称的心脏功能障碍的其他症状：疲劳、呼吸急促和直立性头晕。许多高棉难民患有这种文化综合症，一种焦虑不安的本体论，最有可能是法国殖民起源。该综合征与西方疾病类别有相当大的重叠，这些疾病的特征是恐慌发作，特别是创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）和恐慌症。在一项精神病诊所调查中，60%（60/100）的被评估者认为自己目前患有“心脏虚弱”; 90%（54/60）的被评估者认为自己患有“心脏虚弱”，他们认为心悸（例如，由巨大的噪音或体位引起的）可能导致死亡。这篇文章说明了“心脏感觉”的深刻的文化构建性质，位于特定的历史轨迹和知识型;同样，这篇文章表明，创伤可能导致更多的恐慌症比“创伤后应激障碍”时，自主觉醒症状（在这种情况下，心悸）被认为是潜在的生命威胁。
According to the Khmer conception, a person suffering 'weak heart' (khsaoy beh daung) has episodes of palpitations on slight provocation (e.g. triggered by orthostasis, anger, a noise, worry, an odor or exercise) and runs the risk of dying of heart arrest during these periods of palpitations; too, the sufferer typically has other symptoms attributed to the purported cardiac dysfunction: fatigue, shortness of breath, and orthostatic dizziness. Many Khmer refugees suffer this cultural syndrome, an anxious-dysphoria ontology, most probably of French colonial provenance. The syndrome demonstrates considerable overlap with those Western illness categories that feature panic attacks, in particular post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and panic disorder. In a psychiatric clinic survey, 60 percent (60/100) of those assessed believed themselves to currently suffer 'weak heart'; 90 percent (54/60) of those considering themselves to suffer from 'weak heart' thought that palpitations (e.g., those resulting from a loud noise or orthostasis) might result in death. The article illustrates the profoundly culturally constructed nature of 'cardiac sensations,' located in a specific historical trajectory and episteme; too, the article suggests that trauma may result more in panic disorder than 'PTSD' when autonomic arousal symptoms (in the present case, palpitations) are considered potentially life-threatening.