User:Baileywheeler/practice

Overview
"Pibloktoq" is a mental disorder characterized by an abrupt dissociative episode accompanied by extreme excitement of up to 30 minutes' duration and frequently followed by convulsive seizures and coma lasting up to 12 hours, as defined by the DSM-IV. 

Origins
Abraham Brill was the first person to actually identify Pibloktoq in 1913. Pibloktoq has been categorized as strictly affecting the artic peoples, considering it was first observed in the Inuit people of Greenland, and made its way into other artic and subartic communities. 

Symptoms
Symptoms of Pibloktoq include, but are not limited to :
 * Abrupt dissociative episode of intense hysteria
 * Convulsive seizures
 * Coma-like state, which could last up to 12 hours, following an extreme period of behavior.
 * Intense screaming
 * Uncontrolled wild behavior
 * Depression/ Withdrawn
 * Coprophagia (eating feces)
 * Insensitivity to extreme cold
 * Echolalia (senseless repetition of overheard words)

Documented Accounts
This article reported a study in which 39 Pibloktoq cases were classified by month, and according to the study, there was actual significance in what months held the ratings for the highest levels of "outbreaks". The months July-October account for 2/3 of the total Pibloktoq reports documneted for the year. July reported 6 episodes, August with 5, September with 5, and October with the highest number of outbreaks recorded for a month by a staggering 11 episodes. Thats over 1/4th of the total amount of episodes recorded happening in 1 month. According to Lyle Dick in Muskox Land: Ellesmere Island in the Age of Contact, these reports support the notion that Pibloktoq is linked with darkness, as the months July through October mark the disappearance of the sun. 

Treatment
"Seizure disorders should be ruled out in individuals who present symptoms of Pibloktoq as should excessive levels of vitamin A which can be found in high amounts of artic marine life and mammals and which comprises a large part of many Eskimos' diet and can cause similar symptoms."--Lyle Dick

Where Pibloktoq is common, there is often a member of a family designated to care for the other members afflicted. Also, in order to care for the person experiencing a Pibloktoq attack, they just keep the person safe, but allow the symptoms of Pibloktoq to run its course. To a lot of people where this is common, its viewed as a "physical maladay, much like that of a flu in the continental United States". It is not as harshly viewed as it would be in the U.S. It is more of a thing where it could happen to anyone so you don't try to shame those people or make it into a big deal. 

Media
Pete Brown & Piblokto! This British Progressive Rock band that got their name from the mental health disease, Pibloktoq.