According to the World Health Organization,
more than 450
million people worldwide had a mental health problem in 2001. When we
talk of mental disorders, we think about phobias, OCD, schizophrenia,
and so on and so forth.
However,
there are a few other disorders that you
may have never heard about and these are actually quite weird in nature.
In fact, you will probably be shocked to know that such behaviors exist
and are also classified as mental disorders.
Let's take a look at some of the weirdest mental disorders right here.
Alice-in-Wonderland Syndrome
If you loved the book, you will love this disorder? You guessed it right. This one is named after the famous
novel written by Lewis Carroll. Also known as Todd's syndrome, people with this
mental health condition believe that the shape and size of their body has been
altered.
The
condition is often diagnosed in childhood and most
children grow out of it in their teens. Sufferers of this condition
think that
people or animals are smaller than they are in reality. They may also
think
that certain parts of their body are not in proportion to the other
parts. Isn't this exactly how Alice used to feel in the book?
The Walking Corpse Syndrome
Do you believe that you are dead or your body is decomposing?
If you like zombie movies and wish you could be one too,
wish for this strange mental disorder. Cotard's Delusion, nicknamed as the
Walking Corpse Syndrome, is a rare disorder in which a person believes that he
or she does not exist. The individual believes that he is actually dead.
The disorder was first described by Jules Cotard in 1880 as ‘délire des negations’ or negative deliriums. People with
this disorder have a distorted reality and truly believe that they are dead.
They may report that their blood or the organs of their body have been removed
or that they are decomposing. Now, that makes for an interesting movie on the
walking dead, don't you think?
Lycanthropy
If you like werewolves, this is the one you want. This strange psychological disorder will turn you into a
werewolf! Or at least that is what you think when you have this disorder. People
with lycanthropy believe that they can turn themselves into wolves whenever
they want to. In fact, they often believe that they are wolves.
If
you don't like wolves, you can turn into any other animal of your
choice. People may think that they are an elephant, leopard, snake, or
any other
animal. They may go and take a walk in the woods as the animal of their
choice.
They feel completely safe and at home in the forest and insist that this
is where they belong and not in society.
Capgras Delusion
Would
you recognize your mother if she walked into the room right now?
Probably yes. However, imagine that your mother just walks into the room
and you
look at her only to find that this is not your mother. You just wonder
who this
woman is. This is what Capgras Delusion is is all about.
People suffering from
the disorder believe that their parents, or their spouse, or their friend has
been replaced by an impostor. So, you think this is not my mother but an impostor trying to harm you!
The strange part about this disorder is that sometimes the
person is able to recognize everyone else except that one person who is really
close to him or her. So, you may recognize your parents and your children but
not your spouse.
Scientists
believe that this disorder occurs because of a breakdown of
normal face perception.So, the individual is just not able to recognize a
familiar person. You may try to convince them that what they are
thinking is wrong, but they won't believe you.
Fregoli Delusion
Quite
similar to Capgras delusion, people with this strange mental disorder
believe that different people are actually only just one person.
Referred to as the delusion of doubles, sufferers of this condition
usually believe that they are being persecuted by
one single person who keeps on changing his or her disguise and
appearing as a
different person each time.
So,
a person may believe that he is being followed by a
single person, who keeps on taking the form of someone he knows
personally. He may see a friend, a colleague, a shopkeeper, all
different people. However, he thinks that all these three people are
actually one single individual who wants to harm him.
It is believed that Fregoli delusion occurs due to a brain
lesion. Just like Capgras Delusion, this one is also believed to be a breakdown
of normal face perception.
Stendhal Syndrome
So, do you like being surrounded by beautiful pieces of art?
Do you feel so overwhelmed by beautiful pieces of art that you feel dizzy and
your heart begins to beat rapidly? If yes, then you may just have the Stendhal
syndrome.
This bizarre psychological disorder is named after the 19th
century French author, Stendhal. Apparently, Stendhal (real name: Henri-Marie
Beyle) was so overwhelmed on his trip to Florence
in 1817 that he experienced symptoms such as palpitations and faintness.
In 1979, Italian psychiatrist Graziella Magherini observed
more than 100 cases of tourists visiting the beautiful city of Florence and experiencing dizziness and
fainting while enjoying Florentine art. This is when the syndrome was named as
Stendhal syndrome.
Autophagia
Feel like eating yourself up? You may just have
autophagia. Although not an official mental disorder, autophagia involves
biting or chewing one's body parts. An individual with this condition feels a
sense of tension followed by an impulse to perform the act. The person feels a
sense of pleasure or gratification while committing the act and does not at all
regret harming himself. So, are you getting an urge to chew up your hands, or your legs?
Exploding Head Syndrome
It
is fun being at a heavy metal rock concert. However, would you like to
hear extremely loud noises right inside your head? You will probably not
enjoy that. Patients with exploding head syndrome have auditory
hallucinations
and hear loud noises in their head. These sounds can be in the form of
bombs
exploding, guns being fired, or cymbals crashing together.
The sound is quite loud but not painful. These sounds are
usually experienced at the onset of sleep or within the first one to two hours
of falling asleep. Sounds may be accompanied by bright flashes and the person
may experience fear and anxiety just before the attack happens.
Stockholm Syndrome
Kidnapping
is a crime and a traumatic experience. People who are kept as hostages
end up having nightmares forever and hate their kidnappers with all
their hearts.
However, imagine that someone gets kidnapped, is made to go through
all forms of torture, and yet he defends his abductor with all his heart. Do you find this weird? Referred
to as capture bonding, the victim in such cases feels sympathetic towards her
captors without recognizing the danger she is in.
The disorder is named after a bank robbery in Stockholm, Sweden,
where several bank employees were taken as hostages. The bank employees
actually became emotionally attached to their captors and even defended them
after being freed after a six-day ordeal.
There is also an opposite form of Stockholm syndrome. This
is the Lima
syndrome, where the abductor develops sympathy for his hostages.
Munchausen Syndrome
Most
of us have used fake illnesses as an excuse to get out of school or
office work. Some of us have faked illnesses to get some attention or
sympathy from others, especially our loved ones. However, we usually
don't go to the extent of using
dangerous measures to do this. This is what Munchausen syndrome is all
about.
Munchausen syndrome is a psychiatric factitious disorder in
which individuals feign illness or trauma to gain attention and sympathy. These
people have a history of hospitalization and this is why it is often referred
to as hospital addiction syndrome. People with this disorder often have good
knowledge about medicine and medical practices and know exactly what to do to
gain some attention from doctors and nurses.
© Copyright 2014, Roohi Khan
