Мiryachit: A Culture-Specific Startle Syndrome in the Saami People

Miryachit is perhaps the most complex and least understood of the culture-specific startle syndromes that include latah and the jumping Frenchmen of Maine.

We carried out a field study to evaluate startle-induced paroxysms in the Saami to determine if it is still endemic and, if so, to contrast it with the available descriptions most of which are in Russian.

Saami families in the Kola Peninsula, who reported a history of miryachit, were interviewed and examined.

Miryachit was still present in the Saami population. It most commonly began in middle age, in women with a family history of miryachit. In response to being startled the subjects exhibit coprophenomena and peculiar automatisms, lose self-control, and can attack bystanders and sometimes endanger themselves as a result of reckless behavior. Echophenomena were not seen or reported. Behaviors resembled those of miryachit described in Siberia and have similarities to jumping disease and latah. It was of interest that the individuals with miryachit were considered to have clairvoyant powers in the community and to be highly suggestible. Miryachit (miryachenie) was distinct from piblokto, another type of "Arctic hysteria," associated with fatigue and withdrawal prior to a dissociative, "frenzied" state.

The study confirms that miryachit phenomenon was observed in the Saami on the Kola Peninsula, and its manifestations are similar to the historical descriptions from Siberia over 80 years ago. Automatic obedience is waning; however, peculiar startle responses persist in predisposed individuals, particularly in descendants of those who were known to have miryachit.