Missing or Shrinking Penis? No, It is Genital Retraction Syndrome

Irrational fear, ignorance, gullibility and mass hysteria are common variables in human societies, so also are primordial attitude, preliterate passions, and animalistic tendencies. But, as societies evolve -- helped along by education and global interactions that impacts their worldview -- such passions and tendencies and beliefs generally lessens, allowing for sensible thinking, rational acts, and science-based existence. A critical observation of modern societies seems to indicate two particulars: a correlation between very high levels of religiosity and irrational fear; and two, a corresponding association between low levels of formal education and irrationality. And no where in the world are the aforesaid more evident and ubiquitous than in the Indian subcontinent and in Africa .

Within the African continent, contagions of the intellect, mass hysterias and crippling urban legends are common. In one country after another, there are confounding tales of everything, i.e. magically induced shrinking brains, missing breasts, missing toddlers, and the missing or shrinking penis. And then there are tales of humans metamorphosing into dogs and cats and hyenas and other animals, or vice versa. Though there are no verifiable accounts of such transmutations, yet, there are Africans who swear by the Bible or the Quran of having witnessed such. There are no impeccable records of supernaturally-shrinking or missing penis or any of the legends that permeates the African society; nonetheless, some Africans go to their graves believing in such nonsensical tales.

In all instances, it has been a case of “somebody said,” “my grandfather told us,” or “my friend’s friend” said or saw it. Such historical figments have been kept alive from one generation to another: wild accounts of animals doing the unimaginable; humans with supernatural ability of biblical proportion; stories of gods and ghosts in the African rivers and forests that rivals and even supersedes any Greek mythology. Sleep paralysis and alcohol induced apparitions that are believed to be the handiwork of witches. In most African societies, clinical depression and other mental challenges are not recognized as illnesses per se, but instead, are attributed and thought of as the handiwork of satanic forces. A typical African does not believe that the mind and the brain can sometimes play games on the human reality; it is a society where everything is possible and nothing is impossible.

Year after year, thousands of Africans are killed after being accused of witchcraft or some other so-called supernatural-crimes. All that is needed, in some cases, is for your enemy, a critic or a no-good family member to accuse you of witchery; punishment can be death, loss of reputation or bodily harm. Understandably, most of such accusations and activities are mostly limited to the poor and the poverty stricken. The aforesaid, like religious stupidity, is generally at its peak in times of rampant economic depression. And most African countries have been in a rut since the early years of their flag independence.

In 1997, there was the case of lynch mobs were “roaming the streets of Senegal hunting down foreigners believed to be sorcerers with the power to shrink men’s penises. Allegedly, a handshake is all it takes.” In January of the same year (1997) in Accra , Ghana , “seven sorcerers who were accused of grabbing penises were beaten to death by angry mobs. Victims allege that the sorcerers touched them to make their genitals shrink or, in some cases, disappear to extort cash for the promise of a cure.” In Zimbabwe , in 1999, “a prostitute is accused of magically stealing a deadbeat client’s privates, then returning them on payment.” In 2001, “security forces were called onto the streets of Cotonou after a spate of horrendous murders connected with suspicions of witchcraft. All that is necessary to spark off such attacks is for a man to cry out in public: ‘My penis has gone!’ and the mob which quickly gathers attacks the first suspicious-looking passer-by.”

The Nigeria of my youth was widespread with reports of the missing and shrinking penis, missing or shrinking brains and breasts and of course of what in the local parlance was called, Gbomogbomo. Alleged perpetrators were beaten and or killed. Thirty-eight or so years after I became conscious of these phenomenons, no one has been able to prove their veracity, and no one has ever been prosecuted. In March 2006, one of Nigeria’s most prestigious newspapers, Daily Independent, reported that in Patani, Delta State “...three young men have allegedly lost their genitals in mysterious circumstances…the incident occurred in a restaurant after one of them allegedly gave change to a man after eating…"

Recently, the Times of Nigeria (Saturday May 24, 2008) reported that: “Motor bike Taxi drivers…gathered to protest against a client they accuse of using pigeons to steal penises…the suspect’s last victim is a 35 year old Motor Bike Taxi driver named Musa Abubakar. The suspect denies all accusations. Abubakar claims Mohammed Ma’aji had stolen his “family jewels” with the help of a white “spiritual pigeon” hidden in his bag. This spiritual pigeon was wearing a small black tie around its neck…I drove this man to three different places. On our way back to our point of departure, he squeezed his legs tightly around me which made feel sick and weak immediately. I therefore stopped riding to have a look in my trousers and it was gone!” As a result, “The local transport unions of motorcyclists have threatened to take the case to court if the pigeon does not give back the missing penis to its owner.”

Ironically, there are real instances of shrinking penises, but not in the same manner some ignorant and fearful persons think of it. The condition is generally referred to as Koro, or more scientifically, Genital Retraction Syndrome. According to the Journal of Urology (1995 Feb; 153 (2):427-8), “The koro syndrome is a psychiatric disorder characterized by acute anxiety and a deep-seated fear of shrinkage of the penis and its ultimate retraction into the abdomen.” For further information, see “Accusations of Genital Theft: A Case from Northern Ghana .” Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, Volume 29, Number 1 / March, 2005. See also the Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal (Volume 5, Issue 3, 1999: 611-613). Apparently, ‘the shrinking or disappearing penis’ is a pathological fear that the genitals are shrinking into the body, and this belief and feelings occurs only in certain cultures, particularly the Asian and African cultures.

In view of the frequency of the missing penis, missing body parts and the gbomogbomo rumors, fears and repercussions, why hasn’t African governments and universities taken it upon themselves to educate the people about the scientific explanations for such occurrences? How many innocent people have to be killed or maimed before appropriate actions are taken? Even if various African governments and universities are indifferent to the matter, what about the media? After all, the media is there, not just to report on the news and on government and public sector activities, but to also enlighten and educate the masses. The Daily Independent, in concert with other media houses should embark on such laudable endeavor -- too many innocent people are loosing their lives over sheer lies and misconceptions. It is in the interest of the country to embark on such a campaign.

Sabidde@yahoo.com

Robot  Villager

# 1 ...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 30.05.2008 10:43

Enforcer  Villager

# 2 In view of the frequency of the missing penis, missing body parts and the gbomogbomo rumors, fears and repercussions, why hasn’t African governments and universities taken it upon themselves to educate the people about the scientific explanations for such occurrences? How many innocent people have to be killed or maimed before appropriate actions are taken? Even if various African governments and universities are indifferent to the matter, what about the media? After all, the media is there, not just to report on the news and on government and public sector activities, but to also enlighten and educate the masses. The Daily Independent, in concert with other media houses should embark on such laudable endeavor -- too many innocent people are loosing their lives over sheer lies and misconceptions. It is in the interest of the country to embark on such a campaign. Sabella This is an interesting point. One explanation for lack of interest in researching these claims (as with other bizare African beliefs) is that African culture still view their traditional beliefs as superior to any scientific explanations. What worries me more is that if African universities wanted to research this phenomenon they could easily have researched it at a cost they can afford without recourse to government funding. Neither are they keen on seeking funds from big corporations for research activities of this nature. Posted by Enforcer| 30.05.2008 11:03

Kelechi  Villager

# 3 This is a proper academic piece that will amongst many other benefits enhance awareness and put to rest the age-long erroneous belief steeped in voodoo, simple and mundane perceptions. Genital retraction syndrome certainly makes a whole lot of sense to me. Thanks Sabella. Posted by Kelechi| 30.05.2008 13:25

truthsayer33  Villager

# 4 Sabella,please don't rush to rubbish our people.Penile shrinkage is real but the cause is the mystery.One explanation is an imbalance in the male/female sex hormones. See this extract from Google on 'Penile Atrophy' While I am not a doctor, it is the testosterone/estrogen ration that is important, and your symptoms scream "too much estrogen". The problem with testosterone replacement therapy is that the body can convert the testosterone into estrogen, particular if you carry a good amount of body fat (and particularly abdominal fat). Fat tissue converts testosterone into estrogen, so you have a vicious cycle: higher estrogen leads to more fat deposition, which results in more conversion to estrogen. Estrogen competes with testosterone for receptor uptake. Penile shrinkage is related to a shortage of (or a shortage of uptake of) DHT, dihydrotestosterone. The irritability you describe is also a classic case of whacked TER (testosterone/estrogen ratio). Fortunately this can all be reversed. I recommend the Science of Sex book as by far the most thorough and detailed discussion of all this. You need to take measures to reduce your estrogen level (you need to get the fat off!), the book has a great deal of information on this, and you need to find a more responsive endocrinologist who understands this and/or is willing to work with you until your TER is normal. Don't despair, this is correctable if you are motivated. Best of luck. Posted by truthsayer33| 30.05.2008 17:14

abidde  Villager

# 5 Hello Truethsayer33, We are talking about 2 totally different conditions here. I was talking about ‘temporary vanish’ you are talking about ‘diseased…wasting away’ condition. If I had penile atrophy in mind, I would have said so… Sabella Abidde Posted by abidde| 30.05.2008 18:12

TEchi  Villager

# 6 Sabella, In South East Asia this condition is known as “Suo yang” (Koro, or genital retraction syndrome - GRS). It is one of the most colorful of the culture-bound syndromes and has accordingly received attention disproportionate to its actual number of cases. Genital retraction syndrome comes in two major varieties: the Malaysian/Indonesian version, ethnographically called koro and known locally under several names; and the Chinese version, found primarily in South China or in ethnic Chinese of South Chinese origin, where it is known by various local phrases meaning "shrinking penis". Numerous isolated cases of a similar syndrome have been reported worldwide. Those afflicted with genital retraction syndrome believes that his or her genitals (or in the case of women, breasts and/or genitals) are retracting into the body. Such a belief would be frightening enough, but local tradition adds the warning that such an occurrence is usually fatal. The majority of persons with GRS are male; cases are reported to occur in women, at least in the Malaysian version, but are much more rare. A typical episode will occur when a man goes to urinate in the cold or while emotionally upset (often due to guilt over masturbation or frequenting prostitutes, while concerned about his sexual performance, or after a fight with his wife) and observes that his penis is becoming smaller, a condition known medically as “hyperinvolution”. Remembering the dangers of a shrinking penis, the man grabs his genitals before they can retract into his body, and calls for help. Imagine the horror of having to call someone to help you hold your private part.- eheh, Huuuuuumma! If no one is around to help hold onto his penis, the individual may use mechanical devices to keep the penis from retracting, including cords, chopsticks, clamps, or small weights. Episodes of GRS may strike the same indvidual repeatedly, and epidemics of GRS have been noted, most famously the great koro epidemic in Singapore in 1967. Nawa for this one o! The bulk of the literature has taken GRS as a purely subjective phenomenon, and much ink has been used in speculations on psychoanalytic explanations. In contrast to this psychoanalytic tradition, James Edwards (in Simons & Hughes, 1984:169-191) points out that there are physical events which could give rise to beliefs in GRS. Male genitals shrink on exposure to the cold, or in anxious and fearful emotional states. Penes may be displaced into the scrotum or abdominal cavity by injury, and can appear to be shrunken or partially retracted due to illness, obesity, or in victims of drowning. He also reports (p. 182) the strange case of a Russian man whose penis spontaneously retracted into his abdomen (it re-emerged by the next day, and did not repeat its disappearing act.) Several articles on koro appear in urological journals, and report that the syndrome is occasionally found in persons with anatomical abnormalities. Even though now more Africans or some backward Indian traditionalists may be reporting it now and then but GRS phenomenon is not peculiar to them. These criticisms of the case analyses aside, GRS cases seem to be similar in many ways to the Western category of panic attack, with sexual elaborations. It seems probable that, in a culture where sexual anxiety is high and stories exist of death by genital retraction, a man in the right frame of mind could panic at the observation that his genitals are shrinking in response to cold or anxiety. Case studies have not typically reported actual shrinkage of penes, and the majority of damage to the individuals has resulted from over-enthusiastic attempts to restrain the penis from retracting. Therapy consists mainly of patient education on reproductive anatomy, and reassurance that the penis is not in danger of disappearing. Look at this typical case study: H.K.F., a male Chinese, aged 34...was at a cinema show when he felt the need to micturate. He went out to the latrine in the foyer, and as he was easing himself, he suddenly felt a loss of feeling in the genital region, and straightaway the thought occurred to him that he was going to get penile retraction. Sure enough, he noticed that the penis was getting shorter...He felt cold in the limbs, and was weak all over, and his legs gave way under him. So he sat on the floor, all this time holding onto his penis. About half an hour later, the attacks abated. He went to see a medical specialist and was prescribed some pills...At 24 years of age, he exposed himself to a prostitute, and was infected with gonorrhea, and since then he has abstained himself. He heard of shook yong from his friends and also heard about some fatalities during intercourse previous to the attack. Treatment: He was vigorously reassured and given some talk on sexual anatomy. No further attack occurred. -- from Gwee Ah Leng, "Koro--a cultural disease" In Simons, Ronald C.; and Hughes, Charles C. (eds.) (1985) The Culture-Bound Syndromes: folk illnesses of psychiatric and anthropological interest. (Dordrecht, The Netherlands: D. Reidel Publishing Company.) p. 156. Well-attested individual cases of koro in China or SE Asia are relatively infrequent: Yap found 19, later researchers have compiled perhaps another 20 or 30. However, koro occurs in epidemics, in which hundreds or thousands of cases occur. Cheng (1996) reports that epidemics occur frequently in Hainan Island and Leizhou Peninsula, Guangdong Province. There was a famous epidemic in Singapore in 1967, and a more recent and puzzling one in India. Edwards claims that traditional Chinese medical specialists dismissed the epidemic in Singapore as "not really suo yang", which raises the question for the semantic hair-splitter (which most of the culture-bound syndrome specialists are) of the ontological (and emic-etic) status of epidemic koro as a CBS. The Chinese version is situated within a larger set of concerns about the balance between male and female energies (yang and yin) within the human body. Chinese medicine sees most illnesses as symptoms of imbalance rather than as discrete entities. The term suo yang, literally translate as "shrinking penis", and represent not so much a disease as a symptom of extremely deficient yang. Thus it makes sense within the system for extreme cold (very yin) to overpower the yang in a vulnerable man and cause his penis (the symbol of his yang) to retract. Genital retraction syndrome, usually under the name koro, is one of the most published of the culture-bound syndromes. The literature is conflicted, however. As with many of the culture-bound syndromes, some authors question the frequency of cases and accuracy of reporting, as well as the conflation of Malaysian koro with Chinese suo yang. The difference with this phenomenon in Nigeria or African for that matter is that people use it to extort money from their neighbors and to accuse them of unimaginable witchcraft. Posted by TEchi| 30.05.2008 18:54

mulan  Villager

# 7 Sabella and Techi, Thanks for the very informative articles. We had a case of missing penis during my NYSC and since then I had had loads of questions. Most of them have now been answered. Cheers... Posted by mulan| 30.05.2008 19:21

ttonjo  Villager

# 8 "In view of the frequency of the missing penis, missing body parts and the gbomogbomo rumors, fears and repercussions, why hasn’t African governments and universities taken it upon themselves to educate the people about the scientific explanations for such occurrences? How many innocent people have to be killed or maimed before appropriate actions are taken? Even if various African governments and universities are indifferent to the matter, what about the media? After all, the media is there, not just to report on the news and on government and public sector activities, but to also enlighten and educate the masses. The Daily Independent, in concert with other media houses should embark on such laudable endeavor -- too many innocent people are loosing their lives over sheer lies and misconceptions. It is in the interest of the country to embark on such a campaign." @Abidde: Thanks for a well researched and informative article. I do hope that the 'media' in particular will wake up to their responsibilities by using their mediums to educate the people to desist from taking the law into their own hands and stop the public lynching of innocent people. Especially the issue of 'gbomogbomo' ('child kidnapping'), whereby a ten year old boy was accused last year somewhere at Surulere, Lagos; and before you could say Ben Johnson, the poor soul was lynched to death in public. It is a terrible thing to happen to anyone, irrespective of their crime or lack of it. What happen to the saying: 'innocent until proving guilty?' How about the press using this opportunity to publish your well informative article in their various publications for a start? Posted by ttonjo| 31.05.2008 02:16

ttonjo  Villager

# 9 "In view of the frequency of the missing penis, missing body parts and the gbomogbomo rumors, fears and repercussions, why hasn’t African governments and universities taken it upon themselves to educate the people about the scientific explanations for such occurrences? How many innocent people have to be killed or maimed before appropriate actions are taken? Even if various African governments and universities are indifferent to the matter, what about the media? After all, the media is there, not just to report on the news and on government and public sector activities, but to also enlighten and educate the masses. The Daily Independent, in concert with other media houses should embark on such laudable endeavor -- too many innocent people are loosing their lives over sheer lies and misconceptions. It is in the interest of the country to embark on such a campaign." @Sabella: Thanks for a well researched and informative article. I do hope that the 'media' in particular will wake up to their responsibilities by using their mediums to educate the people to desist from taking the law into their own hands and stop the public lynching of innocent people. Especially the issue of 'gbomogbomo' ('child kidnapping'), whereby a ten year old boy was accused last year somewhere at Surulere, Lagos; and before you could say Ben Johnson, the poor soul was lynched to death in public. It is a terrible thing to happen to anyone, irrespective of their crime or lack of it. What happen to the saying: 'innocent until proving guilty?' How about the press using this opportunity to publish your well informative article in their various publications for a start? Posted by ttonjo| 31.05.2008 02:18

aguabata  Villager

# 10 this is social evolution in action, thanks sabidde Posted by aguabata| 31.05.2008 12:24

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