Pibloktoq
Pibloktoq is a psychological phenomenon associated with the cold, dark, snowy parts of the world. The first written case studies happened to Inuit people, but it’s not actually limited to them. When someone suffers an episode of pibloktoq, she (it apparently usually happens to women) will scream, flail, and often strip off clothing and take off running. (more here…)
Just wrapped up my spring semester at Stonehill and I think I just narrowly escaped developing Pibloktoq during these past frigid months of New England weather ha ha..
But more seriously, after taking cultural anthropology this semester, I have developed an interest in medical anthropology, especially concerning culturally bound illnesses and ethnopsychiatry. As a psych major, it was pretty enlightening to take a focus on the cultural determinants of some mental illnesses and see how culture shapes different treatments and views on health in general.
