Chapter 4. Why does Dissociation Occur ? (5)

In a dissociative state, loss of perception and emotional numbness as well as out-of-body experience allow the individual to avoid a vivid experience of terror, pain, anxiety and despair that the traumatic events accompany. A defensive reaction equivalent to dissociation in human being can be seen in reptiles, fish, insects and other lower animals. It usually takes a form of an apparent death that is called thanatosis or tonic immobility.
It might be hard to imagine that in these lower animals a mental process similar to our subjective experience of dissociation occurs. However, in the recent “translational research”, animal’s freezing behavior is considered as a process equivalent to tonic immobility in human beings (Schmahl, Bohus, 2007).
There are so-called culture-bound syndromes that are also considered to occur in a reflex like defensive manner. Most of their symptoms are dissociative in nature. Latah is one of these conditions seen in Southeast Asia. Triggered by a startle reflex, a person falls into a trance in which he or she engages in repetitive speech or movements, often in a form of echopraxic or echolaliac automatisms.
Less known, but much more specific to our culture is the condition called “imu”. I quote myself from an article where I discussed this condition rather in detail.
“Imu is a psychopathology seen among Ainu, an indigenous ethnic group living in Hokkaido, the northern-most island in the Japanese archipelago. Patients with Imu demonstrate very curious symptoms. Typically, a decent, intelligent, and talented middle-aged woman suddenly shows totally uncharacteristic behaviors, such as picking up whatever is on the ground, and throwing it to whoever is around. These behaviors are triggered when she hears somebody say `tokkoni' or `bicki,' meaning `snake' and `frog', respectively, animals considered taboo among ainu people. However, this agitation is only temporary. Usually within several minutes the person recovers her normal mental state and becomes amnestic about her own behaviors, or feels ashamed of her deed. In his discussion of Imu, Uchimura postulates that the stress that ainu women experience in interpersonal relationships could be responsible for this condition. He states: `[What could be causative of Imu is the] well-known oppressive lifestyle of ainu women. In a scene that I came across on the street, an old ainu woman never resisted being kicked into a ditch by one drunk ainu male. It is to be immediately noticed where frustration of ainu women could find its way of expression. The fit of Imu could be understood as a safety valve for it …… the true meaning of hysterical fit as well as Imu fit is a defense mechanism, a compensatory device that god provided for weak people'.20 Thus, this study of Imu more than a half century ago has already indicated that a relational pattern commonly seen in certain cultures and societies could well be a major stress factor leading to dissociative symptoms. However, relational stress in this sense is not limited to Japanese society, but historically has existed across cultures, which explains various forms of hysterical phenomena as well as culture–bound syndromes in the world”.(Okano, K.: Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences 52:123-128, 1998, Uchimura H. Essay of a Psychiatrist. Domei Shuppansha, Tokyo, 1947 (in Japanese).)