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Transcultural Psychiatry
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Orthostatic Panic Attacks Among Vietnamese Refugees

Devon E. Hinton

Harvard Medical School, devon_hinton{at}hms.harvard.edu

Ladson Hinton

University of California, Davis

Minh Tran

Arbour Counseling Center, Lowell, MA

Men Nguyen

Arbour Counseling Center, Lowell, MA

Lim Nguyen

North Suffolk Counseling Center, East Boston, MA

Curtis Hsia

Azusa Pacific University

Mark H. Pollack

Harvard Medical School

Viewed historically and cross-culturally, orthostatic-induced dizziness, i.e., dizziness caused by standing up from a sitting or a lying position, forms a key aspect of many syndromes: irritable heart (American Civil War), effort syndrome (World War I and World War II), chronic fatigue syndrome (contemporary USA), Gulf War syndrome (contemporary USA), and orthostatic dysregulation (contemporary Japan). Among Vietnamese refugees attending a psychiatric clinic, this study documents a high rate of orthostatic panic (OP), as well as certain processes seemingly generating these panic attacks, viz., flashbacks and culturally specific catastrophic cognitions. Case examples are used to demonstrate OP's phenomenology and relevance to clinical care. To illustrate the mechanisms producing OP, we adduce the multiplex model of panic generation. Culturally appropriate care of Vietnamese refugees should include assessment and treatment of OP.

Key Words: cross-cultural psychiatry • orthostatic hypotension • panic attacks • post-traumatic stress disorder • Vietnamese refugees

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Transcultural Psychiatry, Vol. 44, No. 4, 515-544 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1363461507081640
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