Parasuicidal snow‐wandering in Arctic Northern Norway

ABSTRACT— Psychiatric morbidity in the Arctic has not been extensively studied. Seasonal variations in climate, light and darkness are unique for these areas and impose special kinds of strains on the population. Three case‐histories focusing on snow‐wandering as a parasuicidal act are presented. On...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica
Main Authors: Nissen, T., Haggag, A.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 1988
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0447.1988.tb05126.x
https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1600-0447.1988.tb05126.x
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1600-0447.1988.tb05126.x
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Summary:ABSTRACT— Psychiatric morbidity in the Arctic has not been extensively studied. Seasonal variations in climate, light and darkness are unique for these areas and impose special kinds of strains on the population. Three case‐histories focusing on snow‐wandering as a parasuicidal act are presented. One of them bears some resemblance to the Arctic hysteria described among Eskimoes. Reasons for choosing snow‐wandering as an alternative to other kinds of suicide are discussed and a hypothesis is suggested. The psychological and physiological factors as explanations for post snow‐wandering amnesia are discussed.