Djinnati syndrome as the first manifestation of temporal lobe epilepsy: A case report

Abstract

Culture-bound syndromes are a group of abnormal behavior patterns occurring only in definite cultural groups. As a form of culture-bound syndromes, possession trance is known as the “replacement of personal identity customary sense by a new identity.” Djinnati syndrome is a possession state restricted to specific areas of Iranian and Pakistani Baluchestan. Preceding studies suggested that complex behavioral manifestations of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) were likely to contain dissociative states symptoms. Nonetheless, people in numerous developing countries hold a belief that Jinn possession causes epilepsy even in quite well-educated people. The aims of the present report are to describe a patient who presented Djinnati syndrome as the very first manifestation of TLE and address the feasible detrimental impacts of cultural misconceptions on diagnosing and treating epileptic seizures.