Objective: To review the characteristics of psychogenic movement disorders in Yakutia.

Background: At the beginning of the 20th century, the conditions known as “meryacheniye” and “kliukushestvo” were widespread in Yakutia. According to historical descriptions, these states primarily affected women, often occurring in church settings, and were characterized by sobbing, lamenting, imitation of animal sounds, hiccupping, and psychomotor agitation. A.A. Tokarsky described “meryacheniye” as manifesting with convulsive twitching, autonomic dysfunction (palpitations, abdominal pain, nausea, a sensation of a “lump in the throat,” discomfort in the urogenital region), irritability or mood disturbances, echolalia and echopraxia (pathological mimicry), coprolalia (involuntary utterance of obscene words), singing, seizure-like episodes (described as resembling a “hysterical arch”), and psychomotor restlessness.

Method: Archives and historical reviews were analyzed and compared with contemporary perspectives on movement disorders.

Results: According to various sources, similar syndromes have been observed in other ethnic groups, such as pibloktoq and uqamairineq (among Arctic Indigenous peoples), Jumping Frenchmen of Maine (Maine, USA), latah (Southeast Asia), and amok (Central America). Additionally, parallels can be drawn with Saint Vitus’ Dance. From a historical perspective, the prevalence of these phenomena correlates with psychiatric risk factors, including “revolutionary neuroses” (associated with the 1905–1907 Russian Revolution, as well as the February and October Revolutions), rapid sociocultural changes, and forced cultural migration.

Conclusion: The phenomenon of “meryacheniye” in Yakutia may be interpreted within the framework of functional neurological disorder (conversion disorder) with distinct ethnocultural characteristics.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/the-phenomena-of-meryacheniye-and-kliukushestvo-in-yakutia-in-the-20th-century/