Penis panic or koro syndrome

The obese young man was distraught. "Doctor, please save me. My penis is shrinking. At this rate it will disappear altogether." He was almost in tears. The man is suffering from a psychological disorder: Koro syndrome, which means head of a turtle in Malay. This condition is also called Genital Retraction Syndrome (GRS), penis panic etc. It's characterised by the belief that the penis is shrinking. It will eventually be absorbed into the body and disappear. It will cause death.

The koro syndrome is a psychiatric disorder characterized by acute anxiety and a deep-seated fear of shrinkage of the penis and its ultimate retraction into the abdomen, which will cause death. Not only men even women suffer from this syndrome. They believe that their breasts and vaginal lips are shrinking and being sucked inside the body. This vanishing penis belief has a long and distinguished history. It was first mentioned in the ancient Chinese text The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine dating to 300 B.C. A penis panic is sometimes a mass hysteria event in which a majority of the population is besieged with this fear. This hysteria has occurred around the world, most notably in Africa and Asia. A well documental ‘penis panic' mass hysteria occurred in Singapore in 1967. Hospitals were inundated with people worried that their penises were shrinking into their bodies.

This psychological disorder is associated with occult belief, such as witchcraft or with guilt associated with masturbation. Men who are extremely obese will find it difficult to locate their penises buried under the layers of fat. Similarly men who have huge hydroceles will have their penises buried in the massive scrotal enlargement.

Penis panics in southeast Asia have become known under the term "Koro" (which means "head of the turtle" in Malay). Some anthropologists have referred to Koro as a culture-bound syndrome, but it is phenomenologically related, if not identical, to penis panics in various cultures. Koro most commonly describes the extreme fear that the penis is retracting into the body, including the idea that such retraction will bring about death. It can also refer to beliefs of "genital theft" or some kind of sorcery which has resulted in the loss of the penis. Sometimes the testicles are also believed to be affected. Koro also tends to reflect a certain xenophobia among some groups, whereby foreigners are often blamed as the ones behind the "attacks".

In Chinese, the term used for the condition is the Chinese term shook. Outbreaks of Koro in China were reported in 1948, 1955, 1966, 1974 and 1984/85, although none have been reported in the 20 or so years since (Tseng 2006).

A condition called "Bang-utot" (or bangungot) matching the description of Koro is a repeated theme in William S. Burroughs' book Naked Lunch. Although Koro goes back to ancient times, beliefs have evolved to better suit modernity. Whereas in the past the causes were usually identified as supernatural, e.g. sorcery, a recent Koro episode in Northern Thailand placed the blame on Vietnamese Communist agents who supposedly put chemicals in the water supply.

Sufferers may resort to extreme physical measures to prevent the believed retraction of the penis. As well as affecting individuals, Koro-like syndromes can often occur in an outbreak of mass hysteria. Koro most commonly strikes men, but rare cases are known to involve women and the fear that either their external genitals or nipples are retracting into the body.

Aside from the emotional distress, Koro by itself is not physically harmful, and no actual retraction takes place. Injuries have occurred when stricken men have resorted to apparatus such as needles, hooks, fishing line, and shoe strings, to prevent the disappearance of their penises.

Koro has been successfully treated with a course of alprazolam and imipramine (which are psychiatric medications, the former used to treat anxiety disorders).

Sudanese victims were made to believe by force of suggestion that their penises would melt away after they shook hands, shared a comb, or received a verbal curse. The so-called "penis-melting" has been blamed on Zionists trying to wipe out the Sudanese people by making their men unable to reproduce. The hysterical reports were spread throughout Sudan by means of cell phone text-messaging.

Sudanese police investigated the claims and have found no evidence of anything supernatural, and that it is likely a hoax which victims believed through the power of suggestion. Mr. Abul-Gasim Mohamed Ibrahim, Sudan's Minister of Health, issued official statements to calm the public's fears.

Local media also contributed to the idea's spread. The Sudanese columnist Ja'far Abbas has warned visitors to avoid shaking hands with "a dark-skinned man". In reference to the electronic comb which was supposed to have caused one man's penis to disappear, Abbas writes, "No doubt, this comb was a laser-controlled surgical cyborg that penetrates the skull, [passes] to the lower body and emasculates a man!!" The phrase "Penis-melting Zionist cyborg combs" has been coined to describe this humorous story.

A few reminders to the panic stricken:

* Once the penis has grown to it's adult size it will not shrink.

* Penis has no bone. It has only spongy tissues. Its size depends on the amount of blood staying in the tissue spaces at any given moment. It will vary from time to time.

* Penis can be stretched long when necessary (during an erection) and can be compressed during non-sexual situations.

* Life depends on overall general health and not just on the penis.