Modern man is often interested in what amok is after reading a book by Stefan Zweig. What is it about and what is hidden under this word? The author goes into some detail about the meaning. Let's try to formulate briefly what this term is.
Where did the word come from
Another meaning of this term is "blind rage". It appeared for the first time in the Malaysian language. In this language, it sounds like "men-amok", meaning falling into a rage followed by a murder. This condition suggests rabies that is uncontrollable. A person, becoming a victim of such a state, destroys the environment without controlling his actions.
At first, this concept was applied exclusively to Malaysians, Filipinos and people living in neighboring lands. This term is used because the locals tend to act aggressively. As European observations showed, they often attacked others for no apparent reason.
Terms and history
Europeans thought about what amok is after watching the mysterious Asians. The understanding of the term described above came to the European powers approximately inseventeenth century and was popular with the general public until the nineteenth century. This is largely due to travel enthusiasts who have repeatedly climbed into remote Asian regions. For example, Captain Cook has contributed greatly to the understanding of amok.
The following fact is quite curious: until about the twentieth century, it was believed that only a person who was under the influence of narcotic substances could learn from experience what amok is. It was this drunkenness that made him prone to attacks. But today psychiatrists regard this phenomenon much more broadly. Speaking of amok, they no longer take into account either the nationality of a person, or his propensity to use drugs, the fact that such substances affect the consciousness at the time of the action.
Specific state
In modern psychiatry, amok is a specific state of a person that cannot be controlled. Scientifically, the term is defined as the desire for destruction, the collapse of products, objects. A person subject to such a state seeks to harm the people around him, to injure them. Very often amok ends with the death of someone around.
In psychiatry, defining what amok is, they describe in a word a condition for which the reasons are not obvious. According to a number of researchers of the phenomenon, such rage in most cases is due to the betrayal of the chosen partner. A person, being a victim of adultery, realizes the failure of himself as a person, fears ridicule by others. This emotional state merges with a feeling of hatred towardsthe public. The combinatorial mechanism is activated, the behavior becomes pronouncedly aggressive.
Step by step
At some point, aggression builds up enough volume to cause an explosion. It is impossible to predict in advance when this event will occur. It is impossible to predict what will be the impetus for a person to fall into a rage. Amok is followed by complete exhaustion. Some lose their memory of what they did.
In medicine, observations are known of people who are prone to amok, and the actions they have committed against themselves and their he alth. Possible suicidal behavior.
Ethnospecific Syndrome
This word came from a combination of two Greek words: ethnos, which means "people", and syndrome, that is, a combination. The term implies a complex of painful features caused by impaired consciousness and behavioral abnormalities. Such a syndrome is spoken of when violations are fixed in some traditional society. Sources of disorders are quite common for all people, so they cause pathopsychological conditions. A distinctive feature is in the manifestation. This is determined by the biological factors of people united by some specific community. At the same time, the influence of environmental factors on neurohumoral reactions plays an important role.
Ethno-specific syndrome (amok is one) is characterized by a cultural stereotype. This term hides some specific nature of the interaction between members of the community, as well aseducational features and specifics of community management.
Curious to know
Initially, ethnospecific syndromes were of interest to researchers because of the exotic nature of the human reaction shown by a person belonging to some closed society. Further, the syndrome began to be evaluated as an exceptional material that allows one to conclude about the mentality of the inhabitants of the area, the characteristics of a particular nationality. The study of syndromes made it possible to draw a common base for calculations devoted to general psychological research.
It is known that there are such ethnospecific syndromes in which specific living conditions are most significant. For others, role-playing behavior associated with gender comes to the fore in importance. Some stereotypes are culturally based and involve human emotions and reactions. Ethnospecific syndromes are especially important in the context of ethnospecific psychotherapy.
