Amok Syndrome

Amok syndrome is an aggressive dissociative behavioral pattern derived from the Malay world that gave rise to the English phrase running amok; the word comes from the Malay amuk, traditionally meaning rushing in a frenzy or attacking furiously. It presents as a sudden episode of mass assault against people or objects following a period of brooding, and has traditionally been regarded as specific to Malay culture, though it is now increasingly viewed as a more general pattern of psychopathological behavior. The syndrome appeared in the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, but in the fifth edition amok syndrome is no longer classified as a culture-bound syndrome, since that diagnostic category was itself removed.