Koro - Shrinking Penis Syndrome - What is it? Short Documentary

Koro is the strange belief that your penis is shrinking and being drawn back inside your body. It is a culture bound psychological condition first described in China and South East Asia in rural, undereducated populations with strong beliefs in the supernatural. Occasional cases of men developing koro-like beliefs have also been reported in Africa, Europe and North America, but these tend to occur in people with clear signs of other mental disorders and are not normally associated with a fear of impending death. The term has also been extended to women who develop distressing fears that their nipples are being drawn inwards or their labia are shrinking. The first description of koro was in 1895 but the Chinese term suk-yeong predates this by 30 years. Typically, people experience koro as acute anxiety with a sense of abdominal pull – that something is drawing the penis inwards, and the fear that if it disappears inside, they will die. This can lead to frantic efforts to make sure it doesn’t disappear by pulling on it, clamping it or tying weights onto it. It is usually self-limiting but it can recur or go on for years.

References:

Berrios, G. E., and Morley, S. J. (1984). Koro-like symptom in a non-Chinese subject. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 145(3), 331-334.

Chiang, H. (2015). Translating culture and psychiatry across the Pacific: How koro became culture-bound. History of Science, 53(1), 102-119.

Chowdhury, A. N. (1994). Koro in females: An analysis of 48 cases. Transcultural Psychiatric Research Review, 31(4), 369-380.

Chowdhury, A. N. (1996). The definition and classification of Koro. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, 20(1), 41-65.

Chowdhury, A. N. (1998). Hundred years of Koro the history of a culture-bound syndrome. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 44(3), 181-188.

Cremona, A. (1981). Another case of Koro in a Briton. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 138(2), 180-181.

Crozier, I. (2012). Making up koro: multiplicity, psychiatry, culture, and penis-shrinking anxieties. Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, 67(1), 36-70.

Yap, P. M. (1965). Koro—a culture-bound depersonalization syndrome. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 111(470), 43-50.

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Video produced by Graeme Yorston and Ewelina De Leon.

[RGB_tv]

thank you i needed to explain this to some people about this disorder. no one believed it was real

[RickCahler]

Oh my god. Never once in my life have I ever heard about this phonomenon, yet, this perfectly decribes what's been happening to me for the past few months. It all started with a shroom trip where I said to one of my family members that all of my problems are rooted in my insecurity with my penis. Since then, my sex drive has decreased immenseily, and my flaccid penis has shrunk by about 30 percent. After that, when i've smoked weed, I've experienced delusions that my penis is shrinking and being pulled inside of me and i've felt that there's been a black hole inside of my stomach literally inverting myself. Similarly to the people in China who first experienced it, I would always get a sense of impending doom whenever this happened, and I believed that if i let it get pulled in completely, I would be transported into an alternate dimension, or I would be sent to hell. I would also consider that I would be sent to another dimension where I had to live as a female, almost like I was being punished spiritually for my ignorance and mysogony.
After those experiences, I've steered clear from drugs, but even still, i've had a handful of unprovoked episodes. i'm only 18 years old, I live in the US, I've never been exposed to this idea before, and yet, it perfectly describes what I've been through and what I continue to struggle with. And in all the episodes I've had, the penis does actually shrink, It isn't just in my head. I'm 75 percent caucasian and the other 25 percent is split ethnically between Korean and Chinese.
I'm so confused and scared.

[scarface]

I was struggeling with this disorder for 2 years glad im healthy now

[Iamlearningtolove]

Yikes!!! How unfortunate the circumstances which caused these concerns!! 😫

[Claytone-Records]

Is this related to Bang Utot? Described by William Burroughs.

[shubhamjain]

Any reports of death due to this? Or any damage?

[CrustyUgg]

3:18 I guess the "I got your penis!" (Much like the 'I got your nose!') Game wouldn't have been appropriate at that time... 😬

[DefaultName-yfsd]

I must say I’m amazed that Koro is so wide spread, it sounds so ridiculous that I would have thought it’s just an American thing.

[Moha-bbxm]

It happened in libya, they thought its voodoo

[igorczajkowski]

How can I heal it? I have it from 09.03.2016

[fearandloathingmedia]

This is why science is so important and religious schools and superstitions need to be vocally invalidated for humanity to advance.

[FrankOdonnell-ejhd]

Luckily I’ve never had this though at times I’ve almost wished it would disappear entirely due to its never-ending demands for attention and the toll it takes on my time and energy. Be well.⚛️ 0:0