Originally Posted by Assembled from various academic papers and abstracts:
"They occurred in all indigenous groups in Sarawak, excluding the Chinese, such as Malay, Sea Dayak, Land Dayak, Kayan, Punan and Melanau at frequencies more or less following the proportion of these groups in the total population."
"The pengamok [person running amok] is almost always a man between the ages of 20 and 45"
"The classical four stages were largely present: (a) brooding and withdrawal, (b) homicidal paroxysm, (c) continuation of homicidal behaviour until killed, restrained or falling into stupor of exhaustion, (d) complete or partial amnesia. While in 14 no motive could be ascertained, insult, jealousy and paranoid ideation was present in the others. Both family history of mental illness and personal psychiatric history were predominant."
"[the perpetrator] might suffer from amok after a loss of social status or another major life change."
"Amok attacks involved an average of 10 victims and ended when the individual was subdued or “put down” by his fellow tribesmen, and frequently killed in the process"
"In the majority of contemporary cases, the slayings are sudden and unprovoked and committed by individuals with a history of mental illness. News media, witnesses, and police reports describe the attackers as being odd or angry persons, suggesting personality pathology or a paranoid disorder; or brooding and suffering from an acute loss, indicating a possible depressive disorder."
"The more common form, beramok, was associated with a personal loss and preceded by a period of depressed mood and brooding; while the infrequent form, amok, was associated with rage, a perceived insult, or vendetta preceding the attack."
"Preventing episodes of amok requires early recognition of susceptible individuals and prompt treatment of the underlying psychopathologic condition. Medical intervention is virtually impossible once an individual is running amok, and the outcome of his or her violent behavior is no different today than it was 200 years ago before the advent of modern psychiatric diagnosis and treatment. The first step in intervention is identifying those individuals whose psychiatric conditions or psychosocial stressors predispose them to running amok. Identification entails assessing patients for risk factors that are known to be related to violent behavior."
"Viewing amok from this new perspective dispels the commonly held perception that episodes of mass violence are random and unpredictable, and thus not preventable. Characterizing amok as the end result of a psychiatric condition reveals that, like suicidal behavior, there are risk factors that can be used to assess a patient's potential for amok and for planning treatment."