833 Glossary of Cultural
Concepts of Distress
Ataque de nervios
Ataque de nervios  (“attack of nerves”) is a syndrome among individuals of Latino descent,
characterized by symptoms of intense emotio nal upset, including acut e anxiety, anger, or
grief; screaming and shouting uncontrollably; a ttacks of crying; tremblin g; heat in the chest
rising into the head; and becomi ng verbally and physically ag gressive. Dissociative experi-
ences (e.g., depersonalization, derealization, am nesia), seizure-like or fainting episodes, and
suicidal gestures are prominent in some ataques  but absent in others. A general feature of an
ataque de nervios  is a sense of being out of control. Attacks frequently occur as a direct result
of a stressful event relating to the family, such as news of the death of a close relative, con-
flicts with a spouse or childr en, or witnessing an accident involving a family member. For a
minority of individuals, no partic ular social event triggers their ataques;  instead, their vul-
nerability to losing control comes from the accumulated experience of suffering.
No one-to-one relationship  has been found between ataque  and any specific psychiatric dis-
order, although several disorders, including pani c disorder, other specif ied or unspecified dis-
sociative disorder, and conversion diso rder, have symptomatic overlap with ataque .
In community samples, ataque  is associated with suicidal  ideation, disability, and out-
patient psychiatric utilization, after adjustment for psychiatric diagnoses, traumatic expo-
sure, and other covariates. However, some ataques represent normative expressions of