When a SP appears, it typically stays around for only a several
minutes and it disappears rather quickly. However, there are cases where the
episodes last for hours, or even days or weeks. If its appearance takes a form of
stormy and violent behaviors, it tends to last for a shorter period. In this
case, the SP consumes a lot of mental energy and they literally cannot
"stay up" for a long time. If it is in a state of somnambulism or
fugue, without heightened physical or mental activities, it tends to last for a
longer period. The former states is approximated to episodes seen typically in
a cultural-bound syndrome, such as amok, characterized by sudden and violent
behaviors. Let us refer to its description in Wiki.
Running amok, … is "an episode of sudden mass assault against people or objects usually by a single individual following a period of brooding that has traditionally been regarded as occurring especially in Malay culture but is now increasingly viewed as psychopathological behavior occurring worldwide in numerous countries and cultures"(Wikipedia, “amok”).The latter conditions is close to a prolonged state of fugue, where an individual takes a long trip without overt destination or purpose in his/her mind.
