Management approaches to Dhat syndrome: A review

Abstract

Dhat syndrome is a culture-bound syndrome with pathologicalconcerns about losing vitality through the passage of ‘Dhat’,which is considered equivalent to semen. It is typically diagnosedin young adult males but also found in females in various agegroups. A PUBMED search performed with keywords of 'Dhatsyndrome’ & ‘Semen-loss’ with the Boolean operator ‘OR’yielded 86 articles across various types. Non-English articles andnon-relevant articles were excluded. Various studies havedescribed and discussed the historical perspectives, evolution,phenomenology, and clinical profile, but few studies haveactually focused on the management aspects of Dhat syndrome.There is a paucity of interventional research in this area, andexisting literature has wide variability in the reports due toheterogeneous samples and methodologies. Individualized plans,patient-centered and integrated approaches combiningpsychotherapeutic and pharmacological management have beensuggested as beneficial by many reviews and research outcomescompared to any methods alone. More interventional and clinicaltrials are needed to standardize the management approaches.