Culture-bound Syndrome: Has it Found its Right Niche?

Culture-bound syndrome is a broad rubric that encompasses certain behavioral, affective and cognitive manifestations seen in specific cultures. These manifestations are deviant from the usual behavior of the individuals of that culture and are a reason for distress/discomfort. This entitles these manifestations for a proper labeling and subsequent management. However, the available information and literature on these conditions suggest that at least some of them are/have been more widely prevalent than being considered. This article presents a case for possible relabeling and inclusion of these conditions in the mainstream diagnostic systems based on the example of the dhat syndrome- a culture-bound syndrome from India. These conditions could be relabeled as functional somatic syndromes.