A culturally distinctive phobia in Japan, that resembles social phobia. The term refers to an individual’s intense fear that his or her body, its parts, or its functions displease, embarrass, or are offensive to other people.
Taijin Kyofusho syndrome (TKS) is a culture-bound psychiatric syndrome distinctive to Japan that in some ways resembles social phobia defined in the DSM-TV (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 1994). This disorder resembles social anxiety reaction. TKS is a cultural variation of social anxiety and is a function of how given cultures shape the way in which its members define and construe the self as the object of social threat. This syndrome is included in the official Japanese diagnostic system for mental disorders.
A culture-bound syndrome in Japan in which a person becomes fearful that he or she is offensive to others. In the West it is considered a form of social anxiety disorder.