https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Puppy_pregnancy_syndromePuppy pregnancy syndrome - Revision history2026-11-07T07:34:56ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Puppy_pregnancy_syndrome&diff=527302&oldid=prevVetaPmc978: Created New Pg2026-05-05T07:14:59Z<p>Created New Pg</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Culture-bound psychosomatic illness}}'''Puppy pregnancy syndrome''' ('''PPS''') is a [[psychosomatic]] illness in humans brought on by [[mass hysteria]]. Individuals suffering from PPS believe that shortly after being bitten by a dog, puppies are conceived within their abdomen.<ref name="Welle" /> This is said to be especially likely if the dog is [[Sexual arousal|sexually excited]] at the time of the attack.<ref name="Scientific">{{Cite web |last=Bering |first=Jesse |date=November 15, 2011 |title=Puppy Pregnancy Syndrome: Men Who Think They Are Pregnant with Dogs |url=http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/bering-in-mind/2011/11/15/puppy-pregnancy-syndrome-men-who-are-pregnant-with-dogs/ |access-date=March 26, 2013 |publisher=Scientific American}}</ref> Victims are said to bark like dogs and have reported being able to see the puppies inside them when looking at water or hear them growling in their abdomen.<ref name="Welle" /><ref name="Scientific" /><ref name="Radio">{{cite news |last=Achin |first=Kurt |date=March 26, 2012 |title=Bizarre Medical Myth Persists In Rural India |newspaper=Voice of America |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/bizarre-medical-myth-persists-in-rural-india-143818636/179310.html |access-date=March 26, 2013}}</ref> It is believed that the victims will eventually die – especially men, who will give birth to their puppies through the [[human penis|penis]].<ref name="Scientific" /><ref name="Radio" /> [[Witch doctors]] offer oral cures, which they claim will dissolve the puppies, allowing them to pass through the [[Human digestive system|digestive system]] and be [[Excretion|excreted]] "without the knowledge of the patient".<ref name="Welle" /><ref name="Scientific" /> The syndrome is thought to be localized in villages in several states of [[India]]. Some psychiatrists believe that PPS meets the criteria for a [[Culture-bound syndrome|culture-bound disorder]].<br />
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== Epidemiology ==<br />
The syndrome is thought to be localized in villages in several states of [[India]], including [[Assam]], [[Bihar]], [[Chhattisgarh]], [[Jharkhand]], [[Odisha]], and [[West Bengal]], and has been reported by tens of thousands of individuals.<ref name="Welle">{{cite news | title = Medicine challenges Indian superstition | newspaper = Deutsche Welle World | date = December 31, 2012 | access-date = March 26, 2013|first=Shaikh Azizur |last=Rahman|url=http://www.dw.de/medicine-challenges-indian-superstition/a-16489334 }}</ref> It is far more prevalent in areas with little access to education.<ref name="Welle" /> Some psychiatrists believe that PPS meets the criteria for a [[Culture-bound syndrome|culture-bound disorder]].<ref name="Scientific" /><br />
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== Education ==<br />
Doctors in India have tried to educate the public that this condition is impossible and a superstition.<ref name="Radio" /> Believing the condition may be dangerous, as a person may have become infected with [[rabies]] after a bite, and seeking witch doctor treatment can delay medical treatment.<ref name="Welle" /> Most sufferers are referred to [[psychiatric treatment|psychiatric service]]s, but in some instances patients fail to take anti-rabies medication before symptom onset, thinking that they are pregnant with a puppy and that folk medicine will cure them.<ref name="Welle" /><ref name="Scientific" /> This misbelief is further compounded by witch doctors who state that their medicine will fail if sufferers seek standard treatment.<ref name="Welle" /><br />
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==See also==<br />
*[[Clinical lycanthropy]]<br />
*[[Delusional parasitosis]]<br />
*[[Superstition in India]]<br />
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==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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==Further reading==<br />
*{{cite journal|last1=Chowdhury|first1=A.N..|last2=Mukherjee|first2= Himadri |last3= Ghosh|first3= Kumar Kanti|last4= Chowdhury|first4= Shyamali|title=Puppy pregnancy in humans: a culture-bound disorder in rural West Bengal, India|journal=The International Journal of Social Psychiatry|date=March 2003|volume=49|issue=1|pages=35–42|pmid=12793514|doi=10.1177/0020764003049001536|s2cid=35796771}}<br />
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{{Superstitions}}<br />
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[[Category:Canid attacks]]<br />
[[Category:Culture-bound syndromes]]<br />
[[Category:Dogs]]<br />
[[Category:Mass psychogenic illness in Asia]]<br />
[[Category:Psychopathological syndromes]]<br />
[[Category:Superstitions of India]]</div>VetaPmc978