Psychiatry Investig.
2017 Jul;14(4):392-399. 10.4306/pi.2017.14.4.392.
Posttraumatic Embitterment Disorder and Hwa-byung in the General Korean Population
- Affiliations
-
- 1Department of Psychiatric Rehabilitation, Bugok National Hospital, Changnyung, Republic of Korea. biophilia1@paran.com
- 2Department of Psychiatry, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
- 3Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, USA.
- 4Department of Psychiatry, Kyungpook National University School of Medicine, Deagu, Republic of Korea.
- 5Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
- 6Department of Neuropsychiatry, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Republic of Korea.
- KMID: 2387128
- DOI: http://doi.org/10.4306/pi.2017.14.4.392
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
Posttraumatic embitterment disorder (PTED) is characterized by states of "embitterment", characteristically similar to "Hwa-byung", which is a Korean culture-bound syndrome. The present study aimed to assess diagnostic relationships between PTED and Hwa-byung.
METHODS
A total of 290 participants completed our survey. PTED and Hwa-byung were diagnosed using a diagnostic interview and scale. Scales for depression, suicide ideation, and anger were used for evaluation. Fisher's exact tests and Mann-Whitney U tests were performed to evaluate diagnostic overlap between PTED and Hwa-byung, and associations of scale scores for depression, suicide ideation, and anger between the PTED, Hwa-byung, and non-diagnosed groups. Associations of these scales between the depressive and non-depressive groups, and suicidal and non-suicidal groups were also evaluated.
RESULTS
Among the participants, 1.7% of the sample fit the diagnostic criteria for PTED and 2.1% fit the criteria for Hwa-byung. No individual fit the criteria for both. Anger scores were significantly higher in the Hwa-byung group than in the non-diagnostic group. There were not any significant differences in anger scores between the PTED and non-diagnostic groups. Depression scores were significantly higher in the PTED than in the non-diagnostic groups. In contrast, no significant differences were observed between depression scores in the Hwa-byung and non-diagnostic groups.
CONCLUSION
These results suggest that PTED may be a disorder category that is distinct from Hwa-byung.
