Bouffee delirante

Bouffée délirante is a culture-bound syndrome in West Africa and Haiti of a sudden outburst of aggression, confusion and psychomotor excitement, possibly including visual or auditory hallucinations and paranoia. Bouffée délirante is a culture-bound syndrome in West Africa and Haiti of a sudden outburst of aggression, confusion and psychomotor excitement, possibly including visual or auditory hallucinations and paranoia. Bouffée délirante is a French term that was introduced in 1886 by Valentin Magnan meaning short-lived psychosis. He used it to describe transient psychotic or psychosis reactions. Bouffée délirante reactions are sudden attacks of brief duration with paranoid delusions and often concomitant hallucinations, typically precipitated by an intense fear of magical persecution through sorcery or witchcraft. In the ICD-10, Bouffée déliriante is classified as a subtype of either Acute polymorphic psychotic disorder without symptoms of schizophrenia (F23.0) or Acute polymorphic psychotic disorder with symptoms of schizophrenia (F23.1).'Bouffée délirante' literally means a 'delirious flash'.