windigo psychosis
a severe culture-bound syndrome occurring among northern Algonquin Indians living in Canada and the northeastern United States. The syndrome is characterized by delusions of becoming possessed by a flesh-eating monster (the windigo) and is manifested in symptoms including depression, violence, a compulsive desire for human flesh, and sometimes actual cannibalism. The psychosis is also known by numerous variant names and spellings, among them whitiko, wihtigo, wihtiko, witigo, witiko, and wittigo.