Biology of Bangungot

Felipe P. Jocano Jr.
Department of Anthropology
CSSP, UP Diliman
Many
kinds of illnesses tend to be dismissed

as folk illnesses or superstitions when no
explanation can be given by clinical
medicine. Such is the case with local
illnesses like bangungut, pasma and other
forms of bodily distress, including possession
or sapi.
Only
recently have medical researchers

begun to delve into the nature of the socalled culture-bound syndromes, illnesses
that dont seem to fit into the positivistic
biomedical model of modern medicine.
These syndromes are often bizarre, at least
to the point of view of someone coming from
outside the cultural setting in which they are
found.
Culture-bound
syndromes are illnesses or

syndromes that are specific to particular
cultures or to a range of cultural groups
within a geographic location
They include both behavioral and biological
changes; they are treated as being spiritual
in nature and therefore as beyond scientific
inquiry.
Examples
of culture-bound illnesses:
Latah (aka mali-mali)

Pasma
Bangungut
Road rage
Chocoholism
Internet addiction
The
first three in the list are also known

by different names in the SEA. The last
three are widely described in both the
popular and the scientific/medical
literature published in the west,
especially in the USA. These last three
have also been included in the Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Illness or
DSM (currently in its 5th edition, or DSM5). All of them are products of a cultures
circumstances, including especially the
historical situation.
WHAT
IS BANGUNGUT?
Bangungut
is a condition whereby the

person is asleep and is suddenly gripped
with a sensation of heavy weight on top
and is unable to move.
Bangungut can be fatal if the person is
not woken in time
Survivors of bangungut have reported
another presence in the room, usually a
humanoid form sitting on top of their
chest.
Bangungut
is also known as lai tai in

Thailand, pokkuri in Japan, and is widely
reported elsewhere in SEA.
Bangungut is potentially fatal in males,
though women have reported bangungut-like
episodes while sleeping
Because
of their similarities, is
bangungut the same as the
Euro-American nightmare?
The
nightmare has been depicted as a horse,

simply because the mare is a female horse
.
However, Hufford (2005) points out that the
mare may be derived from the older AngloSaxon term merran, meaning to crush, which
describes the sensation felt by people
experiencing nightmares
A phenomenon similar to bangungut, called old

hag, is reported in both Europe and America.
In the Euro-American version, the old hag is
reported as sitting on the chest of the sleeper, or
else choking him.
This phenomenon is believed to be connected to
a folk story or legend common in Europe that
of the witch who transforms her victim into an
animal and rides him hard i.e., a slave from
which the word haggard originates someone
who has been ridden by a hag
From
the medical point of view, these and

similar ailments are now classified as sleep
paralysis.
Various hypotheses have been advanced to
account for sleep paralysis:
Cardiac arrythmia, brought about by Brugadas
disease
Sleep disorder
What
is known is that if left unchecked or

uninterrupted, bangungut leads to sudden
nocturnal death (SND), a serious condition
for males.
In this presentation, I will touch one of the
current models to account for bangungut,
that of Brugadas disease.
Is
bangungut accounted for

by Brugadas disease?
Causes
of bangungut: going to sleep

immediately after a full meal; stress
Brugadas disease is a genetically inherited
cardiac condition limited to males, in which
arrhythmia can be induced by sleeping
immediately after a full meal; sleeping
immediately causes a shift in blood
chemistry by affecting the sodium level,
which in turn immediately affects the
heartbeat.
Other
features:
Widely reported among migrant Filipino males,

both locally and abroad
Possible
contributing elements
Stress due to life situations, including

adjustments to changes in the same
Cultural differences that can intensify the stress
level especially for migrants
Family conditions the material conditions of the
families that prompt young males to leave home
and work in other countries
In
spite of the cultural differences, why are

there similar stories around sleep paralysis,
assuming that this accounts for bangungut?
What does this say about recognizing the
same phenomenon in different guises?
Nightmares are seen as normative; but
bangungut and related syndromes are
exoticized; the manner by which a syndrome
or an illness is defined and who does the
definition matters as much as the actual
manifestation
Not
all folk ailments are necessarily

relegated to the realm of folk knowledge and
therefore beyond the scope of scientific
research; many of these ailments may have a
physiological basis that is recognized in a
particular way in a different culture.

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Felipe P. Jocano Jr.

kinds of illnesses tend to be dismissed

recently have medical researchers

syndromes are illnesses or

Latah (aka mali-mali)

first three in the list are also known

is a condition whereby the

is also known as lai tai in

nightmare has been depicted as a horse,

A phenomenon similar to bangungut, called old

the medical point of view, these and

is known is that if left unchecked or

bangungut accounted for

of bangungut: going to sleep

Widely reported among migrant Filipino males,

Stress due to life situations, including

spite of the cultural differences, why are

all folk ailments are necessarily

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