''Shenkui'' ( zh, t=腎虧, s=肾亏, p=shènkuī) is a
traditional Chinese medicinal term in which the individual suffers withdrawal-like symptoms including chills, nausea, and even flu-like symptoms with anxiety, believed to be caused by an orgasm and loss of semen. The symptoms can last weeks to months after a single orgasm.
In
traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medicine, alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. A large share of its claims are pseudoscientific, with the majority of treatments having no robust evidence ...
, the kidney (shen) is the reservoir of vital essence in semen (
ching
Ching may refer to:
People
* Ching, a unisex given name
** Ching He Huang, a food writer and TV chef
** Ching Hammill (1902–1925), American football player
** Ching Johnson (1898–1979), Canadian National Hockey League player
** Willis August ...
) and k’uei signifies deficiency.
Shenkui or shen-k'uei is one of several Chinese culture-bound syndromes locally ascribed to getting stuck in yang and the needing of yin to rebalance
yang
Yang may refer to:
* Yang, in yin and yang, one half of the two symbolic polarities in Chinese philosophy
* Korean yang, former unit of currency of Korea from 1892 to 1902
* YANG, a data modeling language for the NETCONF network configuration p ...
(
Chinese
Chinese may refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China.
**'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...
: 陽). Semen is believed to be lost through sexual activity or masturbation,
nocturnal emission
A wet dream, sex dream, or sleep orgasm, is a spontaneous occurrence of sexual arousal during sleep that includes ejaculation (nocturnal emission) and orgasm for a male, and vaginal lubrication and/or orgasm for a female.
Context
Nocturnal e ...
s, "white urine" which is believed to
contain semen, or other mechanisms. Symptoms within the Chinese diagnostic system include chills, dizziness, backache, tiredness, weakness, insomnia, frequent dreams, and complaints of sexual dysfunction (such as premature ejaculation or impotence). From an ethnopsychiatric perspective, additional symptoms are preoccupation with sexual performance, potential semen loss, and bodily complaints.
Signs and symptoms
Symptoms include:
[Wen Jung-Kwang, Wang Ching-Lun. Shen-k'uei syndrome: a culture-specific sexual neurosis in Taiwan. In: Kleinman A, Lin Tsung-yi, eds. Normal and abnormal behavior in Chinese cultures. Dordrecht, Reidel, 1981: 357- 369.]
* Withdrawal symptoms
* Brain fog
* Chills
* Dizziness
* Backache
* Tiredness
* Weakness
* Insomnia
* Frequent dreams
* Sexual dysfunctions; premature ejaculation or impotence.
Origin
Chinese folk beliefs hold that the
yin (
Chinese
Chinese may refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China.
**'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...
: 陰) represents femininity, slowness, coldness, wetness, passivity, water, the moon, and night-time; and that yang represents masculinity, speediness, dryness, heat, aggressivity, fire, the sun, and daytime.
It is believed that loss of yang would result in an abundance of yin, and severe shenkui can result in death.
Informal or incomplete education about
sexual health
Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is a field of research, health care, and social activism that explores the health of an individual's reproductive system and sexual well-being during all stages of their life. Sexual and reproductive healt ...
in China leaves a lot of room for folk beliefs to thrive. Often, advertisements support such beliefs to encourage use of traditional medicines. In Chinese folk beliefs, loss of semen leads to imbalance in the body, causing aches,
soreness
Pain is a distressing feeling often caused by intense or damaging stimuli. The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with ...
, and
erectile dysfunction
Erectile dysfunction (ED), also referred to as impotence, is a form of sexual dysfunction in males characterized by the persistent or recurring inability to achieve or maintain a Human penis, penile erection with sufficient rigidity and durat ...
.
Treatment
Many people who believe they suffer from shenkui seek out traditional medicinal cures thought to restore balance to yin and yang. An affected person may also go to a medical clinic that specializes in Western sexual health. If no medical problems are found, therapy may be used to help deal with stress, or anxiety medicines may be used.
See also
*
Postorgasmic illness syndrome
Postorgasmic illness syndrome (POIS) is a syndrome involving chronic physical and cognitive symptoms following orgasm. The symptoms usually onset within seconds, minutes, or hours, and last for up to a week. The cause and prevalence are unknown; ...
*
Cross-cultural psychiatry
Cross-cultural psychiatry (also known as ethnopsychiatry or transcultural psychiatry or cultural psychiatry) is a branch of psychiatry concerned with the cultural context of mental disorders and the challenges of addressing ethnic diversity in psy ...
*
Koro Koro may refer to:
Geography
*Koro Island, a Fijian island
* Koro Sea, in the Pacific Ocean
* Koro, Ivory Coast
*Koro, Mali
*Koro, Wisconsin, United States, an unincorporated community
Languages
*Koro language (India), an endangered language spok ...
*
Dhat syndrome
Dhat syndrome (Sanskrit: धातु दोष, IAST: Dhātu doṣa) is a condition found in the cultures of South Asia (including Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka) in which male patients report that they suffer from premature eja ...
References
{{Reflist
Culture-bound syndromes
Traditional Chinese medicine
Sexual health