Epilepsy and guria: The shaking syndromes of New Guinea

Abstract

New Guinea, a rapidly emerging country of some two million people, is divided into a large number of linguistically distinct groups many of which appear to share a shaking syndrome known by the Melanesian pidgin term guria. It occurs both sporadically and in minor “epidemics” and takes convulsive forms patterned broadly on the model of grand mal epilepsy. The diagnostic problem is best resolved by enquiry into the personal, social and cultural background of the patient. Guria is then found to represent a culturally-determined expression of a variety of excitatory themes including physical illness and interpersonal and ecological tensions.