Definition koro
It is a syndrome that is culture-specific and characterized by fear (read: overwhelming belief) of the penis and/or testicles shrinking to nothing and bringing death. This does not depend on any visual stimulus but is entirely psychological, which is why it is mentioned in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders instead of any magazine related to sexual disorders. The syndrome, although of Malaysian origin, is believed to have started mass hysteria in specific regions of Africa, Asia and Europe during the Middle Ages. The supposed causes were witches and their magic: people thought that witches could steal the penis and put the stolen organ in a small box!
It is interesting that Koro syndrome shares a lot of similarity with anorexia nervosa, in which the patient’s perception of his body is very different from that of others. This classifies koro as a depersonalization syndrome, whose main symptom is a distorted perception of the body, which the victim feels is disastrous.
Primary and Secondary Koro: The Causes and Damages
Ultimately, Koro is the fear of going against the cultural mandate (the bigger the penis, the bigger the man) and becoming more vulnerable to social pressures. The details are as follows:
Yo. primary chorus: This is triggered by the relative size of the genitals, either compared to others or by something (eg illness or weakness, exposure to cold, etc.) causing the penile muscles to contract temporarily and shrink the organ slightly. This leaves the victim in overwhelming fear of losing his manhood and sometimes even his life.
As a solution to the problem, mechanical anchors are widely used to stop more contraction of the genitals and these anchors can be ropes or metal wires. However, it is the extreme state of anxiety, characterized by sweating, fainting, and palpitations, that is most to be feared, and attacks can be isolated or chronic, each lasting between 20 and 60 minutes.
Out of fear, victims often inflict damage on their organs (in an attempt to pull out the retracted part); however, minor damage resulting from anchor attempts, such as bleeding and bruising, can be easily treated unless it progresses to infection. And as for the psychological complications, or to say the psychosexual complications, it can be severe depression leading to impotence.
ii. secondary chorus: This is when patients have additional psychological abnormalities; In simple words, depression is accompanied by paranoia and schizophrenia, which may have their roots in latent subconscious desires and/or phobias; for example, fear of castration.
Signs that the syndrome has affected
Apart from acute anxiety seen in most patients due to falsely perceived genital shrinkage/retraction (due to cold, anxiety, etc.), there are no other detectable symptoms. However, it is also a change in the shape of the penis (due to loss of penile muscle tone) that triggers such a panic, the incident is taken as genital paresthesia (shortening).
Deals:
In addition to psychological counseling for extremely anxious patients, there are physical methods to increase their confidence levels. An Andropenis traction device or another brand of stretching device can do a great job on your overall sexual anatomy. Even a lasso rope or penile restraint device can be helpful, but because of the associated risks, experts don’t recommend it. So if you feel like your penis is shrinking, in addition to serious psychological analysis, a medical traction device might be helpful. They are not cheap, the treatment will take time, so patience will definitely be your best ally. But first, a treatment with antidepressants is important to elevate the patient’s mood, without which, no further psychological treatment can be administered.