In addition to autism, depression and schizophrenia, a person can have a wide variety of conditions and syndromes. For example, some people in Japan suffer from the so-called "Paris syndrome" - they feel anxiety at the sight of the French. Stockholm Syndrome is generally not recognized as a mental illness, although the state when the victim feels sympathy for his kidnapper and even puts himself in his place is clearly not normal. Depending on age, hereditary predispositions and even national trait, many syndromes are distinguished in people, of which not all fall under the medical classification. Let's analyze the most interesting of them.
Diogenes syndrome
People in this state are distinguished by self-neglect, they experience apathy and are socially withdrawn. At the same time, they often lack a sense of shame, therefore pathological accumulators are obtained from such people. The more a person isolates himself from society, the more rubbish accumulates in his home, and someone even begins to change appearance due to neglect of basic hygiene. Moreover, such people are not always beggars - sometimes Diogenes syndrome is found in wealthy men and women who fear spending money. They don’t want to buy something new and therefore don’t throw away the old one.
The room of a person with Diogenes syndrome.
Doctors came to the conclusion that this syndrome occurs due to disturbances in the work of the anterior cingulate gyrus and the insular lobe of the brain. As a rule, it is these parts that are responsible for human decision making. The disease often occurs against a background of severe depression and dementia. It occurs mainly in the elderly; its prevalence in the world is about 3%. Medicines can relieve some of the symptoms of the syndrome, but full recovery is possible only with active social work.
Dorian Gray Syndrome
Promotional video:
This state was named in honor of the protagonist of Oscar Wilde's novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray". Accordingly, the symptoms in patients are the same as in him - a panic fear of aging. Therefore, people in this state buy up a lot of cosmetics and do various plastic surgeries for themselves, which allow them to look younger. Sometimes they compensate for aging by buying fashionable youth clothing, even if it does not suit them.
These people are obsessed with their youth.
Despite the fact that Dorian Gray syndrome is characterized by narcissism and self-love, in some cases this condition can be dangerous, since the slightest disturbance in appearance can lead to depression of a person and even to suicide attempts. Most often, this condition occurs in public people, actors and musicians, for whom their physical appearance is important.
Stendhal's syndrome
One of the most unusual syndromes is characterized by the onset of hallucinations when looking at art in museums and art galleries.
Art can sometimes be destructive.
It can also appear in a person with excessive impressionability - for example, if he saw an unusual natural phenomenon, an animal or a very beautiful person. Among the signs of Stendhal's syndrome, not only hallucinations are observed, but also fainting, hysteria, destructive behavior, loss of orientation in space. Also, in such people, the heart begins to beat strongly and against this background, tachycardia occurs.
For the first time, Stendhal's syndrome was described in 1979 in tourists who visited Florence. Some of them, while in museums and art galleries, suddenly tried to tear down a painting or destroy an exhibit. It is very rare, however, just in case, the staff of the museums in Florence are instructed on how to work with such people.
Moebius Syndrome
Unlike the previous described conditions, this syndrome can be seen immediately, since the person does not have any facial expressions. It is a congenital anomaly that occurs due to abnormal development of several cranial nerves and facial nerve palsy. Therefore, it seems as if people with Moebius syndrome constantly wear a mask: they cannot smile or make a displeased grimace. It can also be difficult for these people to swallow.
A married couple with Moebius syndrome in both.
The syndrome was first described by the German neuropathologist Paul Moebius in 1892. According to his research, this syndrome occurs in 10 children out of one million. Since the condition is not very common, doctors cannot fully study it and achieve full recovery. However, in the early stages, the symptoms of the disease can be reduced through therapy and drugs. By the way, people with Moebius syndrome most often do not suffer from mental disabilities, they become doctors and even scientists and lead a lifestyle familiar to most.
Asperger's Syndrome
Another little-studied state in which a person becomes withdrawn and does not know how to recognize other people's emotions. He begins to experience difficulties in interacting with other people, he does not want to communicate again. Such a person, as a rule, is focused on his own interests and is often fixated on any one task. The syndrome is not a disease or any serious abnormality, therefore, many researchers argue that this syndrome should not be considered as a disorder, but attributed to the individual characteristics of a person.
A person with Asperger's Syndrome is antisocial but can be brilliant.
Until now, no biochemical, hormonal or genetic markers have been found that would unambiguously accompany this condition. Nor can it be detected when scanning the brain. And as a treatment, scientists offer social therapy aimed at expanding the circle of communication with other people.
At the same time, due to the attention to detail, dedication and scrupulousness, such children often turn out to be geniuses of their work.
Savant syndrome
If you watched the movie "Rain Man", then you know what people are capable of in this state. Such people can have a phenomenal memory, they develop aptitude for music, art, architecture and the exact sciences. For example, a person with savant syndrome can recite an entire book by heart or name the day of the week that falls on May 20, 2050. Typically, these people are called "computers" because of their incredible ability to calculate.
Kim Peek, a man with a phenomenal memory.
But not everything is as rosy as we would like. Savant syndrome appears for a reason: it usually occurs in patients with autism and other mental illnesses, as well as due to severe head injuries. Therefore, such people often have poorly developed other skills and are considered mentally retarded.
Paris syndrome
At the beginning of the article, many probably did not believe that there is such a condition as the fear of the French. Nevertheless, the Paris syndrome was indeed identified in the 80s of the last century by a Japanese psychiatrist who was working in France at the time. He noticed that some tourists from Japan, while in Paris, begin to behave inappropriately, experience culture shock from the behavior of local residents and suffer from unjustified expectations. As a result, the Japanese develop hallucinations, illusions of persecution, anxiety, and even nausea and tachycardia. The same has been seen with some Chinese tourists.
See Paris and die? Some may take it literally.
Why is this happening? The fact is that many Japanese know Paris only from books and romantic films. And when they find themselves in this city themselves, they see that not all French people are so beautiful and graceful, there are no more intellectuals there than in any other country. For the disciplined Japanese, this comes as a real shock. Therefore, in the Japanese embassies there is a 24-hour hotline to help people suffering from Paris syndrome.
Stockholm syndrome
It would seem, how can a person sympathize with his captor? Nevertheless, such cases do occur. The syndrome got its name after taking hostages in a bank in Stockholm in 1976. Then the criminal Jan Erik Ulsson held hostages for six days and secured the release of his former cellmate Clark Olofsson, who also came to "help" him at the bank. As a result of a competent special operation of the police, all the hostages were eventually released. At the same time, the majority said that they were not afraid of criminals who wanted to rob a bank, but the police themselves.
Jan Erik Ulsson after the bank robbery (center).
Do you think that's the end of it? But no. Accomplice Clark Olofsson, using the testimony of witnesses in the bank, was able to prove that he did not help the criminal at all, but, on the contrary, tried to free the hostages. The court acquitted him on all counts and released him. The main robber was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but in prison he continued to correspond with some of the victims, receiving rave reviews from them.
The FBI later investigated the syndrome and concluded that of the 1200 hostage attempts, 8% of the cases did indeed show Stockholm syndrome. The researchers concluded that sometimes the mutual sympathy between the victim and the invader reduces the risk of death of the hostages and increases the chances of the hostages being released.
Cotard syndrome
This is one of the strangest mental disorders, even more mysterious than Tourette's. People with Cotard syndrome declare themselves dead, with loss of blood or internal organs.
These people think they are dead.
Therefore, this condition is often referred to as walking dead syndrome.
Patients with Cotard syndrome are usually asocial, permanently depressed and suicidal. Neurologists consider this syndrome a symptom of incipient schizophrenia. They hypothesize that the onset of this syndrome is due to gaps between the areas of the brain that are responsible for recognizing faces and the areas that associate emotions with this recognition. Due to the fact that the condition is extremely rare, it is little studied, and there is no way to treat it 100%.
Manager syndrome
But this condition, perhaps, is one of the most common today, and most likely met in many readers. The manager's syndrome occurs against the background of chronic stress and leads to the depletion of not only physical, but also emotional resources of a person. Most often, it leads to the fulfillment of overwhelming tasks, great responsibility and emotional stress. All of this together leads to chronic stress.
As such, the concept of "manager's syndrome" does not exist in the international classification of diseases. For its treatment, mainly drugs are used that help to cope with stress. In some cases, strong sedatives are prescribed. However, here it is more often necessary to deal not with signs and symptoms, but with the very reason - for example, talk to the boss or change jobs to a calmer one.
These are just a few of the syndromes that occur in humans. All of them have two things in common: scientists cannot agree on why they arise, and in most cases there is no 100% cure for them. Since many syndromes are rarely observed, it is not possible to study them.
Alexander Bogdanov