User:Ladewood

'''Taijin Kyofusho'

Taijin Kyofusho is one type of syndrome which occurs mostly in the Japanese culture. It is known to be similar to social anxiety disorder described in the DSM-IV. The individual has a fear of offending other people with their body parts. They are afraid their body parts are offensive, displeases, or embarrasses other people with the way they look, smell, talk, etc.. The Japanese diagnostic system has Taijin Kyofusho classified as a mental disorder.

American Psychiatric Association. Outline for Cultural Formulation and Glossary of Culture-Bound Syndromes. Appendix I. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed.

Taijin-Kjofusho (TKS) is compared to social phobia. Social phobia is an anxiety in which individuals have a fear of emarrassing themselves. Whereas, Taijin-Kjofusho has a fear of embarrassing other people.

Ambivalence and Anxiety in the Psychiatric Systems of the United States and Japan. Nuckolls, Charles W.; Anthropology & Medicine, Vol 13(2), Aug 2006. pp. 173-186. [Journal Article]

Tainin Kyofushohas four classification subtypes. Jikoshu-kyofu (phobia of smelling of one's own body), sekimen-kyofu (phobia of blushing), jikoshisen-kyofu (phobia of direct eye contact), and shubo-kyofu (phobia of physical disorders). According to the symptoms in the DSM-IV, there is only one of these subtypes that is considered to be a social phobia. With these findings some researchers are skeptical about Taijin-kyosusho being a culture-bound syndrome.

American Psychiatric Association. (2003). Is Taijin-Kyofusho a Culture-Bound Syndrome.Retrieved June 6, 2008, from http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/160/7/1358