Culture shock is an experience a person may have when one moves to a cultural environment which is different from one's own; it is also the personal disorientation a person may feel when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life due to immigration or a visit to a new country, a move between social environments, or simply transition to another type of life. One of the most common causes of culture shock involves individuals in a foreign environment. Culture shock can be described as consisting of at least one of four distinct phases: honeymoon, negotiation, adjustment, and adaptation.

Common problems include: information overload, language barrier, generation gap, technology gap, skill interdependence, formulation dependency, homesickness (cultural), infinite regress (homesickness), boredom (job dependency), response ability (cultural skill set). There is no true way to entirely prevent culture shock, as individuals in any society are personally affected by cultural contrasts differently.

The presentation of shock is variable with some people having only minimal symptoms such as confusion and weakness. While the general signs for all types of shock are low blood pressure, decreased urine output, and confusion, these may not always be present. While a fast heart rate is common, those on β-blockers, those who are athletic and in 30% of cases of those with shock due to intra abdominal bleeding may have a normal or slow heart rate. Specific subtypes of shock may have additional symptoms.

During the early stages of World War I, soldiers from the British Expeditionary Force began to report medical symptoms after combat, including tinnitus, amnesia, headaches, dizziness, tremors, and hypersensitivity to noise. While these symptoms resembled those that would be expected after a physical wound to the brain, many of those reporting sick showed no signs of head wounds. By December 1914 as many as 10% of British officers and 4% of enlisted men were suffering from "nervous and mental shock".

The term "shell shock" came into use to reflect an assumed link between the symptoms and the effects of explosions from artillery shells. The term was first published in 1915 in an article in "The Lancet" by Charles Myers. Some 60–80% of shell shock cases displayed acute neurasthenia, while 10% displayed what would now be termed symptoms of conversion disorder, including mutism and fugue.

The number of shell shock cases grew during 1915 and 1916 but it remained poorly understood medically and psychologically. Some doctors held the view that it was a result of hidden physical damage to the brain, with the shock waves from bursting shells creating a cerebral lesion that caused the symptoms and could potentially prove fatal. Another explanation was that shell shock resulted from poisoning by the carbon monoxide formed by explosions.

At the same time an alternative view developed describing shell shock as an emotional, rather than a physical, injury. Evidence for this point of view was provided by the fact that an increasing proportion of men suffering shell shock symptoms had not been exposed to artillery fire. Since the symptoms appeared in men who had no proximity to an exploding shell, the physical explanation was clearly unsatisfactory.

In spite of this evidence, the British Army continued to try to differentiate those whose symptoms followed explosive exposure from others. In 1915 the British Army in France was instructed that:

However, it often proved difficult to identify which cases were which, as the information on whether a casualty had been close to a shell explosion or not was rarely provided.

Hypovolemia is a direct loss of effective circulating blood volume leading to:

- A rapid, weak, thready pulse due to decreased blood flow combined with tachycardia

- Cool, clammy skin due to vasoconstriction and stimulation of vasoconstriction

- Rapid and shallow breathing due to sympathetic nervous system stimulation and acidosis

- Hypothermia due to decreased perfusion and evaporation of sweat

- Thirst and dry mouth, due to fluid depletion

- Cold and mottled skin (Livedo reticularis), especially extremities, due to insufficient perfusion of the skin

The severity of hemorrhagic shock can be graded on a 1–4 scale on the physical signs. This approximates to the effective loss of blood volume. The "shock index" (heart rate divided by systolic blood pressure) is a stronger predictor of the impact of blood loss than heart rate and blood pressure alone. This relationship has not been well established in pregnancy-related bleeding.

Shell shock is a phrase coined in World War I to describe the type of posttraumatic stress disorder many soldiers were afflicted with during the war (before PTSD itself was a term).

It is reaction to the intensity of the bombardment and fighting that produced a helplessness appearing variously as panic and being scared, or flight, an inability to reason, sleep, walk or talk.

During the War, the concept of shell shock was ill-defined. Cases of 'shell shock' could be interpreted as either a physical or psychological injury, or simply as a lack of moral fibre. The term "shell shock" is still used by the Veterans Administration to describe certain parts of PTSD but mostly it has entered into popular imagination and memory, and is often identified as the signature injury of the War.

In World War II and thereafter, diagnosis of 'shell shock' was replaced by that of combat stress reaction, a similar but not identical response to the trauma of warfare and bombardment.

Electrical injury is a physiological reaction caused by electric current passing through the (human) body. Electric shock occurs upon contact of a (human) body part with any source of electricity that causes a sufficient magnitude of current to pass through the victim's flesh, viscera or hair. Physical contact with energized wiring or devices is the most common cause of an electric shock. In cases of exposure to high voltages, such as on a power transmission tower, physical contact with energized wiring or objects may not be necessary to cause electric shock, as the voltage may be sufficient to "jump" the air gap between the electrical device and the victim.

The injury related to electric shock depends on the magnitude of the current. Very small currents may be imperceptible or produce a light tingling sensation. A shock caused by low current that would normally be harmless could startle an individual and cause injury due to suddenly jerking away from the source of electricity, resulting in one striking a stationary object, dropping an object being held or falling. Stronger currents may cause some degree of discomfort or pain, while more intense currents may induce involuntary muscle contractions, preventing the victim from breaking free of the source of electricity. Still larger currents usually result in tissue damage and may trigger fibrillation of the heart or cardiac arrest, any of which may ultimately be fatal. If death results from an electric shock the cause of death is generally referred to as electrocution.

Current can cause interference with nervous control, especially over the heart and lungs. Repeated or severe electric shock which does not lead to death has been shown to cause neuropathy. Recent research has found that functional differences in neural activation during spatial working memory and implicit learning oculomotor tasks have been identified in electrical shock victims.

When the current path is through the head, it appears that, with sufficient current applied, loss of consciousness almost always occurs swiftly. (This is borne out by some limited self-experimentation by early designers of the electric chair and by research from the field of animal husbandry, where electric stunning has been extensively studied).

Culture shock is a subcategory of a more universal construct called transition shock. Transition shock is a state of loss and disorientation predicated by a change in one's familiar environment that requires adjustment. There are many symptoms of transition shock, including:

- Anger

- Boredom

- Compulsive eating/drinking/weight gain

- Desire for home and old friends

- Excessive concern over cleanliness

- Excessive sleep

- Feelings of helplessness and withdrawal

- Getting "stuck" on one thing

- Glazed stare

- Homesickness

- Hostility towards host nationals

- Impulsivity

- Irritability

- Mood swings

- Physiological stress reactions

- Stereotyping host nationals

- Suicidal or fatalistic thoughts

- Withdrawal

The most common stress reactions include:

- The slowing of reaction time

- Slowness of thought

- Difficulty prioritizing tasks

- Difficulty initiating routine tasks

- Preoccupation with minor issues and familiar tasks

- Indecision and lack of concentration

- Loss of initiative with fatigue

- Exhaustion

Septic shock is a serious medical condition that occurs when sepsis, which is organ injury or damage in response to infection, leads to dangerously low blood pressure and abnormalities in cellular metabolism.

The primary infection is most commonly caused by bacteria, but also may be by fungi, viruses or parasites. It may be located in any part of the body, but most commonly in the lungs, brain, urinary tract, skin or abdominal organs. It can cause multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (formerly known as multiple organ failure) and death.

Frequently, people with septic shock are cared for in intensive care units. It most commonly affects children, immunocompromised individuals, and the elderly, as their immune systems cannot deal with infection so effectively as those of healthy adults. The mortality rate from septic shock is approximately 25–50%.

Combat stress reaction symptoms align with the symptoms also found in psychological trauma, which is closely related to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). CSR differs from PTSD (among other things) in that a PTSD diagnosis requires a duration of symptoms over one month, which CSR does not.

Septic shock is a subclass of distributive shock, a condition in which abnormal distribution of blood flow in the smallest blood vessels results in inadequate blood supply to the body tissues, resulting in ischemia and organ dysfunction. Septic shock refers specifically to distributive shock due to sepsis as a result of infection.

Septic shock may be defined as sepsis-induced low blood pressure that persists despite treatment with intravenous fluids. Low blood pressure reduces tissue perfusion pressure, causing the tissue hypoxia that is characteristic of shock. Cytokines released in a large scale inflammatory response result in massive vasodilation, increased capillary permeability, decreased systemic vascular resistance, and low blood pressure. Finally, in an attempt to offset decreased blood pressure, ventricular dilatation and myocardial dysfunction occur.

Septic shock may be regarded as a stage of SIRS (Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome), in which sepsis, severe sepsis and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) represent different stages of a pathophysiological process. If an organism cannot cope with an infection, it may lead to a systemic response - sepsis, which may further progress to severe sepsis, septic shock, organ failure, and eventually, result in death.

Symptoms of toxic shock syndrome vary depending on the underlying cause. TSS resulting from infection with the bacterium "Staphylococcus aureus" typically manifests in otherwise healthy individuals via signs and symptoms including high fever, accompanied by low blood pressure, malaise and confusion, which can rapidly progress to stupor, coma, and multiple organ failure. The characteristic rash, often seen early in the course of illness, resembles a sunburn, and can involve any region of the body including the lips, mouth, eyes, palms and soles. In patients who survive the initial phase of the infection, the rash desquamates, or peels off, after 10–14 days.

In contrast, TSS caused by the bacterium "Streptococcus pyogenes", or TSLS, typically presents in people with pre-existing skin infections with the bacteria. These individuals often experience severe pain at the site of the skin infection, followed by rapid progression of symptoms as described above for TSS. In contrast to TSS caused by "Staphylococcus", streptococcal TSS less often involves a sunburn-like rash.

Distributive shock is a medical condition in which abnormal distribution of blood flow in the smallest blood vessels results in inadequate supply of blood to the body's tissues and organs. It is one of four categories of shock, a condition where there is not enough oxygen-carrying blood to meet the metabolic needs of the cells which make up the body's tissues and organs. Distributive shock is different from the other three categories of shock in that it occurs even though the output of the heart is at or above a normal level. The most common cause is sepsis leading to type of distributive shock called septic shock, a condition that can be fatal.

The "DSM-IV" specifies that ASD must be accompanied by the presence of dissociative symptoms, which largely differentiates it from PTSD.

Dissociative symptoms include a sense of numbing or detachment from emotional reactions, a sense of physical detachment, such as seeing oneself from another perspective, decreased awareness of one’s surroundings, the perception that one’s environment is unreal or dreamlike, and the inability to recall critical aspects of the traumatic event (dissociative amnesia).

In addition to the characteristic dissociative symptoms, ASD shares many of the symptoms with PTSD, including:

- the experience or witnessing of a threatening event that resulted in intense fear or horror

- the re-experiencing of the event by means of flashbacks, recurrent thoughts or dreams, and distress when reminded of the event

- the avoidance of stimuli that serve as reminders of the event, such as feelings, thoughts, places, individuals, and activities

- anxiety, including restlessness, difficulty sleeping and concentrating, and hypervigilance

- a significant disruption in normal social or work functioning

Symptoms include:

- Dizziness

- Backache

- Tiredness

- Weakness

- Insomnia

- Frequent dreams

- Sexual dysfunctions; premature ejaculation or impotence.

The term ASR was first used to describe the symptoms of soldiers during World War I and II, and it was therefore also termed combat stress reaction (CSR). Approximately 20% of U.S. troops displayed symptoms of CSR during WWII, and it was assumed to be a temporary response of healthy individuals to witnessing or experiencing traumatic events. Symptoms include depression, anxiety, withdrawal, confusion, paranoia and sympathetic hyperactivity.

The APA officially included the term ASD in the "DSM-IV" in 1994, and prior to that, symptomatic individuals within the first month of trauma were diagnosed with adjustment disorder. According to the "DSM IV", ASR refers to the symptoms experienced right after exposure to a traumatic event, up until 48 hours after it. In contrast, ASD is defined by symptoms experienced after 48 hours of the event, up until one month past the event. Symptoms experienced for longer than one month are consistent with a diagnosis of PTSD.

Neurogenic shock is a distributive type of shock resulting in low blood pressure, occasionally with a slowed heart rate, that is attributed to the disruption of the autonomic pathways within the spinal cord. It can occur after damage to the central nervous system such as spinal cord injury. Low blood pressure occurs due to decreased systemic vascular resistance resulting in pooling of blood within the extremities lacking sympathetic tone. The slowed heart rate results from unopposed vagal activity and has been found to be exacerbated by hypoxia and endobronchial suction.

Neurogenic shock can be a potentially devastating complication, leading to organ dysfunction and death if not promptly recognized and treated. It is not to be confused with spinal shock, which is not circulatory in nature.

Latah, from Southeast Asia, is a condition in which abnormal behaviors result from a person experiencing a sudden shock. When surprised, the affected person typically engages in such behaviors as screaming, cursing, dancing type movements, and uncontrollable laughter, and will typically mimic the words or actions of those around them. Physical symptoms include an increased heart rate and profuse sweating, but no clear physiological source has been identified.

Latah is considered a culture-specific startle disorder that was historically regarded as personal difference rather than an illness.

Similar conditions have been recorded within other cultures and locations. For example, there are the so-called Jumping Frenchmen of Maine, the women of the Ainu people of Japan ("imu"), the Siberian ("miryachit"), and the Filipino and Thai peoples; however, the connection among these syndromes is controversial.

Anti-Chinese sentiment in Japan has been present since the Tokugawa period. Anti-Chinese sentiments in Japan have been on a sharp rise since 2002. According to Pew Global Attitude Project (2008), unfavorable view of China was 84%, unfavorable view of Chinese people was 73%.

Piblokto is an abrupt dissociative episode with four phases: social withdrawal, excitement, convulsions and stupor, and recovery.

Paris syndrome (, , "Pari shōkōgun") is a transient mental disorder exhibited by some individuals when visiting or going on vacation to Paris, as a result of extreme shock derived from their discovery that Paris is not what they had expected it to be. The syndrome is characterized by a number of psychiatric symptoms such as acute delusional states, hallucinations, feelings of persecution (perceptions of being a victim of prejudice, aggression, or hostility from others), derealization, depersonalization, anxiety, and also psychosomatic manifestations such as dizziness, tachycardia, sweating, and others, such as vomiting. Similar syndromes include Jerusalem syndrome and Stendhal syndrome. The condition is commonly viewed as a severe form of culture shock. It is particularly noted among Japanese travelers.

Shenkui is a culture bound syndrome native to China in which the individual suffers somatic symptoms with anxiety, believed to be caused by a loss of semen. And in Traditional Chinese Medicine, shen (kidney) is the reservoir of vital essence in semen (ching) and k’uei signifies deficiency. In simplified Chinese it is called 肾亏, Traditional Chinese 腎虧, and in pinyin Shènkuī.

Shenkui or shen-k'uei is one of several Chinese culture-bound syndromes locally ascribed to loss (or fear of loss) of Yang (Chinese: 陽) . In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shenkui is believed to result from a deficiency in yang, obtained through the loss of semen. Semen is believed to be "lost" through excessive sexual activity or masturbation, nocturnal emissions, "white urine" which is believed to contain semen, or other mechanisms. Symptoms within the Chinese diagnostic system include dizziness, backache, tiredness, weakness, insomnia, frequent dreams, and complaints of sexual dysfunction (such as premature ejaculation or impotence). From an ethnopsychiatric perspective, additional symptoms are preoccupation with sexual performance, potential semen loss, and bodily complaints which may be taken as symptoms of lost yang.

Losing semen reduces Yang, causing an unbalance in the body. Nocturnal emissions, too much intercourse, and masturbation resulting in ejaculation lower the levels of semen, causing loss of Yang. Somatic symptoms may include body soreness, aches, lack of energy, fatigue, and possibly problems in sexual performance.

A person suffering form Shenkui may endure body aches, dizziness, tiredness, inability to sleep, and sexual dysfunction, all for which no physical cause can explain.

The passing of semen too often is avoided because it is believed to be crucial to a person’s health and safety. It is believed to be life-threatening if too much semen is lost.

"Chinese martial artists that remained celibate through years and years of extensive training were believed to be most powerful, therefore maintaining the power of one’s vital essence."

Toxic shock syndrome (TSS) is a condition caused by bacterial toxins. Symptoms may include fever, rash, skin peeling, and low blood pressure. There may also be symptoms related to the specific underlying infection such as mastitis, osteomyelitis, necrotising fasciitis, or pneumonia.

TSS is caused by bacteria of either the "Streptococcus pyogenes" or "Staphylococcus aureus" type. Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS) is sometimes referred to as toxic shock-like syndrome (TSLS). The underlying mechanism involves the production of superantigens during an invasive streptococcus infection or a localized staphylococcus infection. Risk factors for the staphylococcal type include the use of very absorbent tampons and skin lesions in young children. Diagnosis is typically based on symptoms.

Treatment includes antibiotics, incision and drainage of any abscesses, and possibly intravenous immunoglobulin. The need for rapid removal of infected tissue via surgery in those with a streptococcal cause while commonly recommended is poorly supported by the evidence. Some recommend delaying surgical debridement. The overall risk of death in streptococcal disease is about 50% while in staphylococcal disease it is around 5%. Death may occur within 2 days.

In the United States streptococcal TSS occurs in about 3 per 100,000 per year while staphylococcal TSS occurs in about 0.5 per 100,000 per year. The condition is more common in the developing world. It was first described in 1927. Due to the association with very absorbent tampons, these products were removed from sale.

In addition to sepsis, distributive shock can be caused by systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) due to conditions other than infection such as pancreatitis, burns or trauma. Other causes include, toxic shock syndrome (TSS), anaphylaxis (a sudden, severe allergic reaction), adrenal insufficiency, reactions to drugs or toxins, heavy metal poisoning, hepatic (liver) insufficiency and damage to the central nervous system. Causes of adrenal insufficiency leading to distributive shock include acute worsening of chronic adrenal insufficiency, destruction or removal of the adrenal glands, suppression of adrenal gland function due to exogenous steroids, hypopituitarism and metabolic failure of hormone production.