User:Bhouck1026

Amok- "a dissociative episode characterized by a period of brooding followed by an outburst of violent aggressive, or homicidal behavior directed at people and objects."

The afflicted individual is known as a pengamok. Some of the symptoms include: suddenly withdrawing from family and friends, violent outburst that result in a murdur, the pengamok attacks the people around him with whatever they have available. The individual refuses to cease killings until he is overpowered or killed. If the pengamok is able to be overpowered he often falls into a sleep. When awake the pengamok has no knowledge of the violent acts. The pengamok is almost certainly a man between the ages of 20 and 45. If fact there is only one female pengamok on record. The commonly known and used phrase, "running amok" is used to describe this syndrome.

Unlike in premeditated murder the acts of these individuals are completely random. Those who are hurt or murdered most often are simply those who are closest to the individual at the time of outburst.

An undiagnosed or untreated psychiatric problem can be seen as one possible reason for amok seen today. Although even with the growing number of individuals who have mood or personality disorders, amok is still a rare incidence. With this being said, for those who have been hurt or affected by someone experiencing Amok the effects are long lasting. As it has been said it is virtually impossible for an amok attack to be stopped and prevention is the only way to avoid the damage of these long lasting effects. The prevention of amok episodes requires the detection of vulnerable persons and early mental health treatment for the fundamental condition. Once an individual is experiencing an amok episode it is nearly impossible to have a helpful medical intervention. The initial element to intervention is recognizing individuals whose diagnosis or stressors increase their chances of running amok. Patients with risk of violent behavior should be identified as having potential to run amok.