Hey Mike:

my daughter works for the government in Nunavut's captial city, Iqaluit. ...recently, she sent me on an interesting article about Arctic hysteria known by the Inuit as Pibluktuk: ...the affected area stretches from the Klondike all the way over to Baffin Island. ...just wondering if you have heard of this mental disorder ??

below is the article in part:

cheers ....danny

2nd: Committee to decide if Arctic hysteria should be included in psychiatric manual

Updates to the American Psychiatric Association's Manual of Disorders could change how doctors deal with the syndrome currently known as Arctic hysteria. The association is preparing a new version of the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, or DSM, used around the world by mental health professionals. And as Paul Moore reports, that may change how psychiatrists diagnose a syndrome currently defined as unique to the north.

Pibluktuk (sp), or Arctic hysteria, is on page 901 of the psychiatric manual. It's defined as an attack where the individual may tear off his or her clothing, break furniture, shout obscenities or even eat feces. And according to the definition it's found in 'Arctic and sub-Arctic Eskimo communities.'

"Not necessarily..."

Dr. Danesh Boudra (sp) is the President Elect of the World Psychiatric Association. He says where and how a person lives is relevant to mental illness. But so called culturally bound syndromes like Arctic hysteria are often exoticized versions of mental issues common to all cultures.

"Just to ignore and say that you know people don't have similar symptoms elsewhere is problematic."

Now a committee of psychiatrists is working to decide how or if syndromes like Arctic hysteria should be included in the revised version of the manual. And whether or not it's included, the DSM doesn't make any recommendations on how to treat pibluktuk. Paul Moore, CBC News, Iqaluit