Bangangut

"Bangangut" is a term that refers to the "death sleep" or “dreams of death” among the Hmong, an ethnic group in the East and Southeast Asia. When experiencing severe stress, the Hmong are said to be unable to wake up from their nightmares. Most often, the cause of death is “heart attack” but they believe that it is the “bangangut” which caused the heart condition. The Hmong people are mainly located in Southern China, Vietnam, and Laos and some of them have been relocated to the U.S. as refugees. There have been accounts of “bangangut” due to the combination of loss, shame, and stress involved in the relocations.