Abstract
Objective: Dreams about male sexual organs, specifically the penis, very often precipitate the beginning of latah. Once the latah has started, usually the dream does not reoccur. There are no studies about this phenomena until now. The aim of this study is to get the frequency of dreams about male sexual organs precipitating latah among a group of females with latah.
Hypothesis: Dreams about male sexual organs prior to the beginning of latah is more often found in groups of females with latah compared with females with no latah.
Method: DSM-IV criteria was used to diagnose latah. Thirty-two females with latah and thirty-two controls, aged between 18–55, were interviewed about their dreams about male sexual organs.
Result: Thirty one cases (96.8%) from the latah group declared that they had had dreams about male sexual organs prior to the start of their latah. There was no report about such dreams among the control group. The dream about male sexual organs is significantly higher in the latah group (X2 = 56.3, p = 0.00003 compared with the control group). Fourteen cases (43.7%) from the latah group had history of latah in their families while only one of the control group (3.1%) had a latah history in their family. The presence of history of latah in the family is significantly higher among the latah group compared with the control group (X2 = 12.54, p = 0.0004)
Conclusion: Dreams about male sexual organs prior to the beginning of latah is significantly higher among females with latah compared with the control group. History of latah among families is also significantly higher among females with latah compared with the control group.
Suggestion: A bigger sample is needed to prove that dreams about male sexual organs is a pathognomonic sign among females with latah. Other questions also need to be answered, like: is latah only represented among women or also among men? Do male persons with latah dream about female sex organs? If males with latah dream about male sexual organs prior to the beginning of latah, do they have homosexual tendencies?