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Psychological Phenomena

Soul Wandering

Clinical and Motivational Phenomena

Soul wandering, known in Inuktitut as ukamairinek and also called soul loss or soul possession by patients, is a culture-specific disorder occurring among Inuit peoples of the circumpolar regions, characterized by sleep paralysis accompanied by restlessness, anxiety, and hallucinations, with prodromal signs of transient hallucinatory odors or sounds. Researchers have described the syndrome as a dissociation reaction or a possible narcolepsy-cataplexy syndrome; it concludes with complete remission, usually within a few minutes, and is coded under the ICD-10 as F44.88 and G47.4.

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