Scientists have studied a rare mental illness in which a person considers himself a ghost, and have found ways to treat it. The 35-year-old Warren McKinley, who was in a terrible car accident, after which the man was convinced that he had become a ghost that did not go to heaven and was stuck on Earth like a walking dead, helped scientists to investigate this problem.
In the past, a perfectly adequate and healthy man, a soldier with two children, sincerely believed that he was killed in a car collision. As a result of these speculations, he stopped eating, did not talk to anyone and spent all the time in complete solitude.
As it turned out, the accident brought Warren more negative consequences than anticipated. In addition to a broken back and pelvis, the man also suffered a brain injury, hitting a tree hard. Only a year and a half later, Warren realized that he was still alive, and the thought that he was a ghost is a delusion, a mental disorder known as Cotard syndrome. As it turned out, this syndrome is a consequence of dysfunction in those areas of the brain that are responsible for the sense of reality. As a result of such dysfunctions, patients are convinced that they are dead, or that some part of their body is missing. The earliest illusory disease, doctors consider glass mania, which is gaining momentum over time. Sufferers of this disease sincerely believe that they are made of glass and may die at any moment.
Experts suggest eliminating Cotard's syndrome and other mental delirium with antidepressants, antipsychotic drugs and drugs that stabilize the patients' mood. Warren McKinley's cure began with specialized treatment at the Headley Court Military Rehabilitation Center. If the patient does not undergo treatment, he is in danger of death.
