Mental Health: Penis Snatching & Terrorism

With last week’s topic being “Mind, Behavior, and Global Health,” I recalled an interesting article posted by Professor Shahi entitled “Koro: A Natural History of Penis Panics” that discusses Koro – the belief in retracting genitals or genital theft. This article sheds light on how powerful the mind can be in the context of human perception of health. I mean, think about it: if many men have believed erroneously that their penises have retracted into their bodies or been stolen, one is caused to question the limit of the human imagination in constructing medical maladies or threats.

Additionally, this article points out that social influences may be strong shapers of individual beliefs, stating: “…we are much more likely to believe what our neighbours believe than we would like to admit.” In the context of mental health, this raises some interesting questions about community influences. Mental health services are mostly designed to meet individual needs – particularly those with diagnosable mental health disorders. What benefit could community approaches to mental health have in bolstering general well-being?

***If there are outbreaks of seemingly ridiculous social beliefs like penis snatching, what happens when legitimate social beliefs arise?***

To be honest, I am more afraid of the widespread social panic associated with terrorism than I am with terrorism itself. What happens if our worst fears are realized and there is a substantial terrorist attack on American soil? We may have the medical infrastructure to address the acute care of serious injuries that would result, but do we have the mental health infrastructure to address the community panic that would also result? Is it unreasonable to consider population approaches to panics and such outbreaks of a mental nature?