hwa-byung

1: Taehan Kanho Hakhoe Chi. 2003 Feb;33(1):104-12. Related Articles, Links

[Exploring the nature of "hwa-byung" using pragmatics]

[Article in Korean]

Khim SY, Lee CS.

College of Nursing Korea University, Korea. asyk@korea.ac.kr

PURPOSE: While most psychiatrists diagnose Hwa-Byung as a chronic psychogenic disorder associated with familial, financial and personality, the purpose of study was to shed light on the nature of Hwa-Byung through pragmatics. Hwa-Byung is characterized as 'Hwa' which means fire 'Byung' which means disease. This condition cannot be empirically experienced, rather it is represented by suffering internally (in the mind). It also could find an aspect of somatization, and self-diagnosing. METHOD: As patients themselves diagnose Hwa-Byung, pragmatical approach was taken to analyze the context of the learning through their communication with others. The case examples resulted from in-depth telephone counseling with a client who is housewife with Hwa-Byung over a period of time at the Women's Hot Line. RESULT: The study showed that the client experienced continuous improper attacks by her husband. She expressed improperness by applying her personal emotions to social-justice reasoning. CONCLUSION: 'Hwa' means lack of mutual intimacy in this research. By expressing this 'Hwa', the client would like to recover mutual intimacy with her husband.

PMID: 15314470 [PubMed - in process]


2: Health Care Women Int. 2002 Jun;23(4):389-97. Related Articles, Links

The conceptual structure of hwa-byung in middle-aged Korean women.

Park YJ, Kim HS, Schwartz-Barcott D, Kim JW.

College of Nursing, Korea University, Seoul. yjpark@korea.ac.kr

The term hwa-byung (HB) as a culture-bound syndrome of Koreans has been used to refer to certain types of symptom complexes. However, there is an ambiguity in relation to what sorts of experiences and personal attributes can be identified for describing HB. Our study was designed to reexamine the conceptual structure of HB through a qualitative analysis of interview data with six middle-aged women experiencing HB. The emerging common themes of HB were identified in three dimensions: (a) those related to personal attributes or life situations such as quick-temperedness, strong commitment to traditional values, a hard or unhappy life, and conflicted marital relationship; (b) those related to experiential accounts such as deep sorrow (hahn in Korean), a feeling of victimization, anger, and enduring; and (c) HB symptoms. "Enduring" as one of the core concepts of HB viewed as the only way of life for these women needs further examination.

PMID: 12148916 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


3: J Transcult Nurs. 2001 Apr;12(2):115-22. Related Articles, Links

A survey of Hwa-Byung in middle-age Korean women.

Park YJ, Kim HS, Kang HC, Kim JW.

College of Nursing, Korea University, Seoul.

Hwa-Byung (HB) has been categorized as a Korean culture-bound syndrome that refers to insidious, long-standing, serious discontent that is projected into the body and is manifested by numerous symptoms such as insomnia, fatigue, panic, palpitations, dyspnea, and others. This study was designed to investigate the prevalence rate of HB in Korean women, validate the predominant symptoms of HB, and validate the related sociodemographic factors and lifestyle factors that differentiate women with HB from those without HB. A total of 2,807 women ages 41 to 65 years were recruited from seven metropolitan areas and six provinces in Korea. The prevalence rate of women who designated themselves as having experienced HB was 4.95%. The rates were higher in women of low socioeconomic status, living in rural areas, among the divorced or separated, smokers, and drinkers. A set of 31 HB symptoms differentiated the potential HB women from the non-HB women.

PMID: 11989228 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


4: J Nerv Ment Dis. 1992 Jun;180(6):386-91. Related Articles, Links

Hwa-byung. A community study of Korean Americans.

Lin KM, Lau JK, Yamamoto J, Zheng YP, Kim HS, Cho KH, Nakasaki G.

One hundred nine Korean American community subjects were interviewed regarding their experiences with hwa-byung (HB), a Korean folk illness label commonly used by Koreans with a myriad of physiological and psychological complaints. During these interviews, standard instruments were also used to assess their depressive and somatic symptoms. The results indicated that a relatively high proportion (12%) of the subjects labeled themselves as having suffered from HB. While no apparent sociodemographic differences were found between HB and non-HB subjects, significantly more HB subjects fulfilled the diagnosis of DSM-III major depression and also had previous diagnoses of depression. The HB subjects also had significantly higher scores for the total, depressive, and somatic subscales and 16 of the 20 individual items of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale. These data confirm previous observations of substantial overlap between HB and DSM-III major depression among Koreans and Korean Americans, and suggest that HB may be a culturally patterned way of expression for Koreans experiencing major depression and related conditions. The clinical and theoretical implications of these findings are also discussed.

PMID: 1593273 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


5: Am J Psychiatry. 1983 Sep;140(9):1267-9. Related Articles, Links

Is Hwa-Byung really Gahsum-Ari, and is it culture-bound?

[No authors listed]

Publication Types:

* Letter


PMID: 6614257 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


6: Am J Psychiatry. 1983 Jan;140(1):105-7. Related Articles, Links

Hwa-Byung: a Korean culture-bound syndrome?

Lin KM.

The author reports three cases of Hwa-Byung, a Korean folk illness ordinarily understood by patients and families to be a physical affliction despite the fact that its manifestations include both physiological and psychological symptoms. In addition, the patient often recognizes interpersonal conflicts and anger as precipitating factors. In the three cases reported, the patients also identified an epigastric mass that was not present on physical examination. Symptoms were accompanied by a fear of impending death that was not easily dispelled by medical reassurance. The author discusses the role of depression in the symptom formation of Hwa-Byung as well as the treatment implications.

Publication Types:

* Case Reports


PMID: 6847969 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]