{{Short description|Aggressive behavioral pattern}} [[File:Amok (effet de l’opium sur les Malais). Wood cut, 1864, drawing by de Molins and Doerr. Illustr. to De Molins, Voyage a Java 1858–1861 from Le tour du monde nouveau journal des voyages Volume 10.jpg|thumb|400x400px|A ''pengamuk'' ({{literal|one who runs amok}}) in [[Batavia, Dutch East Indies|Batavia, Java]], {{circa|1858–1861}}. A group of people pursue to catch or kill him.]] '''Amok syndrome''' is an aggressive dissociative behavioral pattern derived from the [[Malay world]] which led to the English phrase ''running amok''.<ref name=":32">{{Citation |last=Murphy |first=Dominic |title=The DSM-5 in Perspective |chapter="Deviant Deviance": Cultural Diversity in DSM-5 |date=2015 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9765-8_6 |series=History, Philosophy and Theory of the Life Sciences |volume=10 |pages=97–110 |place=Dordrecht |publisher=Springer Netherlands |doi=10.1007/978-94-017-9765-8_6 |isbn=978-94-017-9764-1 |access-date=2022-04-11|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The word derives from the [[Malay language|Malay]] word {{lang|ms|amuk}}, traditionally meaning "rushing in a frenzy" or "attacking furiously".<ref name=lexico-amok>[https://web.archive.org/web/20210306222353/https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/amok Definition of "amok" by Oxford Dictionary] on Lexico.com</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/amok?ref=etymonline_crossreference|title=amok – Origin and meaning of even by Online Etymology Dictionary|website=www.etymonline.com|access-date=2022-08-02|archive-date=2022-09-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220929124951/https://www.etymonline.com/word/amok?ref=etymonline_crossreference|url-status=live}}</ref> Amok syndrome presents as an episode of sudden mass assault against people or objects following a period of brooding. It has traditionally been regarded as specifically occurring in [[Malay culture]], but is now increasingly viewed as more general psychopathological behavior.<ref>{{cite web |year=2013 |title=amok |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/amok |access-date=7 July 2013 |publisher=Merriam-Webster, Inc |archive-date=30 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130630145313/http://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/amok |url-status=live }}</ref> The syndrome of "Amok" is found in the ''[[Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders]]'' (DSM-IV TR).<ref name="Appendix I: Outline for Cultural Formulation and Glossary of Culture-Bound Syndromes2">{{cite book |title=Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) |year=2000 |isbn=0-89042-334-2 |edition=4th |volume=1 |chapter=Appendix I: Outline for Cultural Formulation and Glossary of Culture-Bound Syndromes |doi=10.1176/appi.books.9780890423349.7060 |chapter-url=http://www.psychiatryonline.com/content.aspx?aID=14123&searchStr=amok#14123 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070605073224/http://www.psychiatryonline.com/content.aspx?aID=14123&searchStr=amok#14123 |archive-date=5 June 2007 |url-status=dead |access-date=18 April 2007 }}</ref> In the DSM-V, Amok syndrome is no longer considered a [[culture-bound syndrome]], since the category of culture-bound syndrome has been removed.<ref name=":32"/>
== Malay word == The term ''amok'' originated from the [[Malay language|Malay word]] ''meng-âmuk'', which when roughly defined means "to make a furious and desperate charge".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hempel |first1=A.A. |last2=Levine |first2=R.D. |last3=Meloy |first3=J.D. |last4=Westermeyer |first4=J.D. |title=Cross-cultural review of sudden mass assault by a single individual in the oriental and occidental cultures |journal=Journal of Forensic Sciences |volume=45 |issue=3 |pages=582–588 |year=2000 |doi=10.1520/JFS14732J |pmid=10855962}}</ref> In turn, the word was derived from [[Proto-Malayo-Polynesian language|Proto-Malayo-Polynesian]] word ''hamuk'', "attack".<ref name="ACD2">{{cite web |last1=Blust |first1=Robert |author-link1=Robert Blust |last2=Trussel |first2=Stephen |date=2010 |title=*''hamuk'': attack, run amuck |url=https://acd.clld.org/cognatesets/26285#4/2.79/113.93 |access-date=17 November 2022 |website=Austronesian Comparative Dictionary |publisher=Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology |archive-date=16 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221116174122/https://acd.clld.org/cognatesets/26285#4/2.79/113.93 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to Malaysian and Indonesian cultures, amok is rooted in a deep spiritual belief.<ref>Van Loon, F.H.G. (1927). "Amok and Latah". Retrieved March 30, 2013, from PsycINFO. [http://huie.hsu.edu:2308/ehost/detail?vid=3&sid=a71ca420-96ff-40e4-be67-3ac88801c158%40sessionmgr12&hid=3&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=psyh&AN=2006-01643-010]{{dead link|date=August 2019|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> Malaysians traditionally believe that amok is caused by the ''[[hantu belian]]'',<ref>{{cite web |title=Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu: hantu belian |url=http://prpm.dbp.gov.my/Search.aspx?k=hantu+belian |quote=hantu belian |publisher=Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka |location=Malaysia |access-date=6 November 2011 |language=ms, en |archive-date=7 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120407124710/http://prpm.dbp.gov.my/Search.aspx?k=hantu+belian |url-status=live }}</ref> which is an evil [[tiger]] spirit that enters one's body and causes the heinous act. As a result of this belief, those in Malay culture tolerate amok and deal with the after-effects with no ill will towards the assailant.<ref name="ncbi">{{cite journal |last=Saint Martin |first=Michael |title=Running Amok: A Modern Perspective on a Culture-Bound Syndrome |journal=Journal of Clinical Psychiatry |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=66–70 |year=1999 |issn=0160-6689 |pmc=181064 |pmid=15014687 |doi=10.4088/pcc.v01n0302}}</ref>
Although commonly used in a colloquial and less violent sense, the phrase is particularly associated with a specific [[culture-bound syndrome]] in the cultures of [[Culture of Malaysia|Malaysia]], [[Culture of Indonesia|Indonesia]] and [[Culture of Brunei|Brunei]]. In a typical case of ''running amok'', an individual, almost always male, having shown no previous sign of anger or any inclination to violence, will acquire a weapon (traditionally a sword or dagger, but possibly any of a variety of weapons) and in a sudden frenzy attempt to kill or seriously injure anyone he encounters and himself.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite journal |last=Saint Martin |first=M.L. |title=Running Amok: A Modern Perspective on a Culture-Bound Syndrome |journal=Primary Care Companion to the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=66–70 |year=1999 |pmc=181064 |pmid=15014687 |doi=10.4088/pcc.v01n0302}}</ref>
Amok typically takes place in a well-populated or crowded area. Amok episodes of this kind normally end with the attacker being killed by bystanders or committing [[suicide]], eliciting theories that amok may be a form of intentional suicide in cultures where suicide is heavily stigmatized.<ref>{{cite web |title=Definition of Amok |url=http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=23464 |publisher=Medterms.com |access-date=17 September 2018 |archive-date=21 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130321221006/http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=23464 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Those who do not commit suicide and are not killed typically lose consciousness, and upon regaining consciousness, claim [[amnesia]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Saint Martin |first=Manuel L. |date=June 1999 |title=Running Amok: A Modern Perspective on a Culture-Bound Syndrome |url=https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC181064/ |journal=Primary Care Companion to the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=66–70 |doi=10.4088/pcc.v01n0302 |issn=1523-5998 |pmc=181064 |pmid=15014687}}</ref>
An early Western account of the practice appears in the journals of British explorer Captain [[James Cook]], who purportedly encountered amok firsthand in 1770 during a voyage around the world. Cook writes of individuals behaving in a reckless, violent manner, without apparent cause and "indiscriminately killing and maiming villagers and animals in a frenzied attack."<ref>Jackson, Y. (ed.). (2006). ''Encyclopedia of Multicultural Psychology''. University of Kansas: Sage Publications</ref>
A widely accepted explanation{{Among whom|date=January 2026}} links amok with male [[honour]]. Amok by women and children is virtually unknown.<ref>{{cite web |last1=McLaren |first1=Carrie |last2=Ringe |first2=Alexanra |title=Curious Mental Illnesses Around the World |url=http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/21/mental_illness.html |url-status=dead |publisher=stayfreemagazone.org |access-date=25 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121218053501/http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/21/mental_illness.html |archive-date=18 December 2012}}</ref> Running amok would thus be both a way of escaping the world, since perpetrators were normally killed or committed suicide, and re-establishing one's reputation as a man to be feared and respected.{{Citation needed|date=January 2026}}
== Contemporary psychiatric syndrome == In 1849, Amok was officially classified as a [[psychiatric condition]] based on numerous reports and [[Case study|case studies]] that showed the majority of individuals who committed amok were, in some sense, [[mentally ill]].<ref name="ncbi2">{{cite journal |last=Saint Martin |first=Michael |year=1999 |title=Running Amok: A Modern Perspective on a Culture-Bound Syndrome |journal=Journal of Clinical Psychiatry |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=66–70 |doi=10.4088/pcc.v01n0302 |issn=0160-6689 |pmc=181064 |pmid=15014687}}</ref> For about twenty years, this type of behavior has been described as a [[culture-bound syndrome]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Eytan |first=Ariel |date=2019-09-01 |title=[From running amok to mass shootings: a psychopathological perspective] |url=https://europepmc.org/article/med/31532119 |url-status=live |journal=Revue Médicale Suisse |volume=15 |issue=663 |pages=1671–1674 |doi=10.53738/REVMED.2019.15.663.1671 |issn=1660-9379 |pmid=31532119 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220306032727/https://europepmc.org/article/med/31532119 |archive-date=2022-03-06 |access-date=2022-04-14}}</ref> As of the DSM-V, the culture-bound syndrome category has been removed, meaning that this particular condition is no longer categorized as such.<ref name=":32"/> Culture-bound syndromes are seen as those conditions that only occur in certain societies, while standard psychiatric diagnoses are not seen that way, regardless if there is some sort of cultural limitation.<ref name=":32"/>
There are similar conditions in other cultures, such as "cafard" in Polynesia or "mal de pelea" in Puerto Rico.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Davis |first=Charles Patrick |date=March 29, 2021 |title=Medical Definition of Amok |url=https://www.medicinenet.com/amok/definition.htm |access-date=April 12, 2022 |website=MedicineNet |archive-date=December 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211223115409/https://www.medicinenet.com/amok/definition.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
== Forms == Though the [[DSM-IV]] does not differentiate between them, observers historically described two forms of amok: beramok and amok. Beramok, considered to be more common, was associated with personal loss and preceded by a period of [[Depression (mood)|depression]] and brooding. Amok, the rarer form, was believed to stem from [[Rage (emotion)|rage]], perceived [[insult]] or a [[Feud|vendetta]] against a person.<ref name="ncbi" />
== Historical and cross-cultural comparisons == [[File:Amok, furious madness of the Malays. The thorns penetrate the flesh and paralyze him.jpg|thumb|A ''pengamok'' being captured, 1883. The thorns on the pole paralyze him.]] Early travelers in Asia sometimes described a kind of military amok, in which soldiers apparently facing inevitable defeat suddenly burst into a frenzy of violence which so startled their enemies that it either delivered victory or at least ensured what the soldier in that culture considered an honourable death, for a similar case occurred at the [[Battle of Margarana]] on 1946 in Bali, where this refers to ''[[puputan]]'', a [[Balinese language|Balinese]] term referring to a [[mass suicide]] ritual carried out during war rather than surrender to the enemy.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Rough Guide to Bali and Lombok|first1=Lucy|last1=Ridout|first2=Lesley|last2=Reader|publisher=Rough Guides Ltd|edition=4|year=2002|isbn=978-1858289021|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JlcL6HeY-uAC&pg=PA496}}</ref>
[[Tomé Pires]], in his Suma Oriental, observed the custom of the [[Javanese people]] in 1513:<ref name=":3">{{citation-attribution|{{Cite book|last=Cortesão|first=Armando|url=https://archive.org/details/McGillLibrary-136385-182|title=The Suma oriental of Tomé Pires : an account of the East, from the Red Sea to Japan, written in Malacca and India in 1512-1515; and, the book of Francisco Rodrigues, rutter of a voyage in the Red Sea, nautical rules, almanack and maps, written and drawn in the East before 1515 volume I|publisher=The Hakluyt Society|year=1944|location=London}}}}</ref>{{rp|xxv, 176}}<blockquote>There are among the nations no men who are ''amocos'' like those in the Javanese nation. ''Amocos'' means men who are determined to die (to run amuck). Some of them do it when they are drunk, and these are the common people; but the noblemen are much in the habit of challenging each other to duels, and they kill each other over their quarrels; and this is the custom of the country. Some of them kill themselves on horseback, and some of them on foot, according to what they have decided.</blockquote>[[Duarte Barbosa]] in 1514 recorded the Javanese people in [[Malacca City|Malacca]]:<ref name=":42">{{Cite book |last=Stanley |first=Henry Edward John |url=https://archive.org/details/descriptionofcoa00barbrich/page/n7/mode/2up |title=A Description of the Coasts of East Africa and Malabar in the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century by Duarte Barbosa |publisher=The Hakluyt Society |year=1866}}</ref>{{Rp|194}}<blockquote>They have very good arms and fight valiantly. There are some of them who if they fall ill of any severe illness, vow to God that if they remain in health they will of their own accord seek another more honourable death for his service, and as soon as they get well they take a dagger in their hands and go out into the streets and kill as many persons as they meet, both men, women and children, in such wise that they go like mad dogs, killing until they are killed. These are called ''amuco''. And as soon as they see them begin this work, they cry out saying, ''amuco'', ''amuco'', in order that people may take care of themselves, and they kill them with dagger and spear thrusts. Many of these Javans live in this city with wives and children and property.</blockquote>
This form of amok appears to resemble the Scandinavian ''[[Berserker]]'', ''mal de pelea'' (Puerto Rico), and [[iich'aa]] (Navaho).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.as.ua.edu/ant/ant100/pdf/MedicalAnthropology.pdf |title=Medical Anthropology: Culture-bound syndromes |access-date=29 April 2009}}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The [[Zulu people|Zulu]] battle trance is another example of the tendency of certain groups to work themselves up into a killing frenzy.{{Citation needed|date=May 2026}} [[File:Native Policemen in Java 1911.jpg|thumb|Native policemen in Java, 1911. The man in the centre is holding a ''sangga mara'', a 2-forked pole for catching ''amok''.]] In contemporary [[Indonesia]], the term ''amok'' (''amuk'') generally refers not to individual violence, but to frenzied violence by mobs. Indonesians now commonly use the term 'gelap mata' (literally 'darkened eyes') to refer to individual amok. [[Laurens van der Post]] experienced the phenomenon in the East Indies and wrote in 1955:
{{blockquote|'Gelap mata', the Dark Eye, is an expression used in Sumatra and Java to describe a curious and disturbing social phenomenon. Socially speaking, the Malays, Sumatrans and Javanese are the best behaved people I have ever encountered. On the surface they are an extremely gentle, refined, submissive people. In fact the word 'Malay' comes from 'malu', 'gentle', and gentleness is a quality prized above all others among the Malays and their neighbours. In their family life, in their submission to traditional and parental authority, in their communal duties, they are among the most obedient people on earth. But every now and then something very disturbing happens. A man who has behaved in this obliging manner all his life and who has always done his duty by the outside world to perfection, suddenly finds it impossible to keep doing so. Overnight he revolts against goodness and dutifulness.<ref>[[Laurens van der Post|van der Post, Laurens]], ''The Dark Eye in Africa'' (London, 1955), pp. 51–52</ref>}}
In the [[Philippines]], ''amok'' also means unreasoning murderous rage by an individual. In 1876, the Spanish governor-general of the Philippines [[José Malcampo]] coined the term ''[[juramentado]]'' for the behavior (from ''juramentar'' – "to take an oath"), surviving into modern [[Philippine languages]] as ''huramentado''.<ref name=Hurley14>{{cite book |last=Hurley |first=Vic |chapter=Chapter 14: Juramentados and Amuks |chapter-url=http://www.nikhef.nl/~tonvr/keris/keris2/swish/swk2-14.html |title=Swish of the Kris; The Story of the Moros |url=http://www.nikhef.nl/~tonvr/keris/keris2/swish/index.html |publisher=E.P. Hutton |access-date=17 April 2011 |year=1936 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050215042345/http://www.nikhef.nl/~tonvr/keris/keris2/swish/swk2-14.html |archive-date=15 February 2005}}</ref> It has historically been linked with the [[Moro people]] of [[Mindanao]], particularly in the [[Sulu Archipelago]], in connection with societal and cultural pressures.<ref name=Tarling231>{{cite book |last=Tarling |first=Nicholas |title=The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia: The Nineteenth and Twentieth centuries |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pBfsaw64rjMC&pg=PA231 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=1992 |access-date=25 May 2009 |page=231 |isbn=0-521-35506-0}}</ref> A similar term to ''gelap mata'' in the Philippines is called ''pagdilim ng paningin,'' which translates literally to "darkening of vision". The term is commonly used to refer to a situation where a person is consumed by anger.
According to the [[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition|''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition]], some notable cases have occurred among the [[Rajput]]s. In 1634, the eldest son of the [[raja]] of [[Jodhpur]] ran amok at the court of [[Shah Jahan]], failing in his attack on the emperor, but killing five of his officials. During the 18th century, again, at [[Hyderabad, Sindh|Hyderabad]] (Sind), two envoys, sent by the Jodhpur chief in regard to a quarrel between the two states, stabbed the prince and twenty-six of his suite before they themselves fell.<ref>{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Amuck, Running|volume=1|page=899}}</ref>
== In popular culture == The Malaysian mythology surrounding ''[[Hantu (supernatural creature)#Types|hantu belian]]'' possessing humans and killing at random is a crucial plot point in ''[[The Night Tiger]]'' by Yangsze Choo.{{Citation needed|date=January 2026}}
In [[John Brunner (author)|John Brunner]]'s novel ''[[Stand on Zanzibar]]'' amok became the typical event due to the overpopulation. One of the characters describes the possible mechanism of such behavior.{{Citation needed|date=January 2026}}
Indonesia's descent into chaos following the [[30 September Movement|1965 coup attempt]] is the background for the third part of [[Christopher Koch]]'s novel ''[[The Year of Living Dangerously (novel)|The Year of Living Dangerously]]'', entitled 'Patet Manjura: Amok.'{{Citation needed|date=January 2026}}
In music, German band [[Ledernacken]] released their first single [[Amok (song)|"Amok!"]] based on the syndrome in 1983, which peaked at number 29 in US's [[Billboard Dance Chart]] in March 1984.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Amok! |url=https://www.musicvf.com/song.php?title=Amok!+by+Ledernacken&id=86347#gsc.tab=0 |website=Music VF}}</ref>
== See also == * [[Active shooter]] * [[Grisi siknis]] * [[Going postal]] * [[Suicide by cop]] * [[List of rampage killers]] * [[Osama bin Laden (elephant)]] * [[Musth]] (in elephants) * [[Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures]] * [[Road rage]] * [[Spree killer]] * [[Tantrum]] * [[Amok Time]]
== Notes == {{Reflist}}
== References == {{wiktionary|amok}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Culture-bound syndromes]] [[Category:Rampages]]