Pibloktoq: Psychology in the Arctic

Pibloktoq is a psychological phenomenon associated with the cold, dark, snowy parts of the world. The first written case studies happened to Inuit people, but it's not actually limited to them. When someone suffers an episode of pibloktoq, she (it apparently usually happens to women) will scream, flail, and often strip off clothing and take off running. But within a couple hours she calms down, even falling asleep. Afterwards, she goes back to normal and may never have another attack of pibloktoq again. At the Providentia blog, psychologist Romeo Vitelli writes about the history of pibloktoq, the way it was used as part of racist and sexist narratives in the past, and how scientists interpret it today.

Since pibloktoq is most common during long Arctic nights, Inuit tradition holds that it is caused by evil spirits possessing the living. Shamanism and animism are dominant themes in Inuit traditional beliefs with the angakkuk (healer) acting as a mediator with the various supernatural forces. Considering angakkuit used trance states to communicate with spirits and carry out faith healing, there is a longstanding view among Inuit that individuals entering trance states be treated with respect given the possibility of a new "revelation" emerging as a result. For that reason, treatment with pibloktoq cases usually involved simply allowing the episode to run its course without interference. While pibloktoq can often be confused with other conditions (including epilepsy) in which failure to intervene can lead to the victim coming to harm, most cases tend to be more typical.

Although Brill classified pibloktoq as a hysteria (since women were the most common victims), later authors have argued that it is a form of primitive dissociation or, perhaps, an acute psychotic reaction with multiple possible causes that can include epilepsy or depression. A more recent author has suggested that pibloktoq may be linked to an overdose of vitamin A considering that humans and animals suffering from hypervitaminosis A can show many of the same symptoms as a pibloktoq episode.

This is really interesting. But I was also surprised that this article didn't also bring up paradoxical undressing—a symptom of hypothermia that can cause symptoms similar, in some ways, to the ones associated with pibloktoq.

Via Vaughan Bell

Image: Arctic Ice Bergs, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from polarphotos's photostream

• [noen]

  The link in red with the title “overdose of vitamin A” is malformed.

  How do long arctic nights cause hypervitaminosis A and pibloktoq? Maybe during long arctic nights with little food the Inuit eventually eat polar bear livers rather than starve?

• [Anonymous]

  This phenomenon has been observed during the witch hunts, catholic exorcisms, tribal cultures, and church services.
  A little cabin fever, a fair amount of encouragement and a lot of superstition makes people a little ‘spontaneous’ sometimes.

  -Throw a Stone for Jesus-

• [millrick]

  “a culture-bound psychosis”
  like the birthers?

• [Boldt]

  Things May Come and Things May Go, But the Art School Dance Goes on Forever

• [ChristinaWard]

  I would suggest reading/seeing Michael Lesy’s Wisconsin Death Trips for more observations of this phenomenon. Or hang around my house when the weather service put out a frost advisory last night…on May 16th!

• [glaborous immolate]

  so it was used in racist, sexist, and also superstitious narratives in the past as well!

  Actually, rereading Vitelli I don’t see where he talks about how it was used as part of a racist or sexist narrative. Does saying “primitive” and “hysteria” count for that now?

• [proginoskes]

  Sounds like this may be a contributing factor to the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/300_Club phenomenon.

• [Kosmoid]

  Gibson mentions this in his “Zero History.” He spells it differently.

  “She took off her coat, hung it on a stuffed, satin-covered hanger in the wardrobe, and sat on the edge of the bed to remove her shoes. The Piblokto Madness Bed, Inchmale called it. “Intense hysteria,” she recited now, from memory, “depression, coprophagia, insensitivy to cold, echolalia.” She kicked her shoes in the direction of the wardrobe’s open door. “Hold the coprophagia,’ she added.”

  From his blog post: http://williamgibsonblog.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html#1474390490063169434

• [Anonymous]

  I seriously doubt this has anything to do with hypothermic paradoxical undressing. I think it is purely a superficial resemblence. Hypothermic undressing doesn’t always happen but when it does it is caused by the last stages of hypothermia. You wouldn’t be running or doing much of anything by that point.

  It is a feeling of becoming hot as the body loses the ability to maintain body temperature by shunting blood away from the limbs and body surface. The dying person’s body lets the blood flow back into the limbs and skin causing a sensation of being suddenly hot.

• [Sterno Dare]

  Ever had cabin fever?

• [Michelle]

  I’m wintering in Antarctica right now, and we’re experiencing 24/7 darkness… but I’ve never heard of this happening anywhere in Antarctica! We definitely have people go a bit crazy every so often, but no women ever run around screaming hysterically. Still, a really interesting article, I’ll keep this in mind in case I suddenly have the urge to strip off my clothing and start flailing!

  • [Antinous / Moderator]

    If I didn’t hate the cold so much, I would love to move from pole to pole to completely avoid the yellow face. I ♥ the inky blackness of mother night.

    • [Anonymous]

      “Carpe Noctem” and all that