Last Updated on December 16, 2021 by
Below I will show you a list of 9 types of rare psychological syndromes that children, adolescents, adults and elderly people may suffer from.
Rare Psychological Syndromes
Undoubtedly, the human mind is very complex and science has not yet been able to determine exactly how it works or why certain disorders appear.
The strangest psychological syndromes
Many of the psychological disorders that we will see next, are cataloged by the scientific community as delusions.
Delusions are generally very extravagant beliefs, which despite being false and rare, are held true. He who suffers delirium is really very convinced of what he believes true and defends his “reasons” with vehemence.
The delusions and syndromes that follow are the strangest in the world, and many of them continue to be a mystery to this day.
1-Delirio de Capgras
Who suffers from this syndrome believes that there is an impostor who is identical to him and who poses as him in front of the whole world. But only he knows that that person is not identical with himself in all aspects.
Another curious feature of this disorder is that the imposter is a person who maintains a close family bond with the person who suffers it.
In the delirium of Capgras, the patient begins to avoid that relative and suffers when both must be in the same room.
Scientists maintain that one of the things that the patient has lost is just the awareness of the bond that unites them. He sees him as a true stranger.
When this problem has been diagnosed, a psychiatric treatment is absolutely necessary.
After the first stage of care, the treatment integrates psychological assistance. The antidepressant, anti-psychotic plus cognitive therapy medications have shown very good results. However , the disease does not disappear completely.
2-Clinical lycanthropy
Also known as licomania or therianthropy, this syndrome can be familiar, because it has a certain relationship with the legend of the werewolf.
Whether it is a legend or not, there are people who believe they are a wolf.
There are also people who believe that they have been possessed by other animals such as cats or hyenas.
3-Othello Syndrome
Perhaps you have heard of a play by Shakespeare in which the protagonist, called Othello, kills his wife out of jealousy.
In effect, in the Othello Syndrome, the disturbed person feels jealousy of his partner with such intensity that he can kill her.
Although there is no evidence of infidelity, or even if there is no reason to suspect, the person suffering from this disorder experiences strong obsessive thoughts.
Othello syndrome is classified psychiatrically as a delirium, and often this disorder is part of a chronic delusional disorder , a paranoia or a schizophrenia.
The person does not stop questioning and persecuting his partner and even comes to think that if there is some small thing that has changed in the home, for example, a piece of furniture that has been moved slightly, the patient believes that the lover of his partner He has moved it, and therefore it is proof of his infidelity.
In general, this syndrome occurs in patients without significant psychiatric history and occurs more in men than in women.
In most treatments, the psychopharmaceuticals provided are similar to those prescribed for schizophrenics.
4-Insertion of Thought
This type of disorder is a problem in what psychologists and psychiatrists call “ego autonomy.” The person is convinced that his thoughts are not his, but someone else’s.
On certain occasions, especially when the patient acts incoherently or inadequately, the person says they have no idea where those thoughts come from. Believe that surely someone else has put them in your head, because they are not your own thoughts.
This picture is typical of schizophrenia, and is treated with anti-psychotic medications.
The affected person must rigorously follow a very controlled treatment, as he can acquire a profile of very aggressive behavior.
5-Jerusalem Syndrome
Clinically, this syndrome is cataloged as a psychosis with aspects of delirium.
It usually happens after the person visits the city of Jerusalem. The patient begins to become obsessed with this city, experiences symptoms of anxiety, begins to wear a toga, sings religious hymns, recites verses from the Bible and can even preach in public, believing that he is a prophet.
Others believe that they are embodying Moses, the Virgin Mary or other biblical characters.
A peculiar aspect of this syndrome is that it can affect both Christians and Jews. In the case of Christians, those who suffer the disorder tend to embody characters from the New Testament, while Jews with Jerusalem syndrome believe incarnating someone from the old testament.
6-Cotard syndrome
In 1880 Jules Cotard described in detail this strange psychiatric syndrome. The person, who is alive and healthy, believes that she is dead.
Those who suffer from this disorder are perceived as dead and believe that their tissues are slowly deteriorating. Even though they see that nothing is really happening with their body, they do not have real awareness of it.
Among the numerous symptoms, stand out the one to believe that they are running out of blood and the one to think that there are worms degrading their body, that are hidden under their skin.
This syndrome appears suddenly and is installed permanently. There are different degrees of the disease. It usually accompanies schizophrenia, although medications that treat the latter are not enough to dissipate the symptoms of Cotard syndrome.
One of the treatments that has been shown to be most effective for this disorder is electroconvulsive therapy. The electric shock that the patient receives causes a significant increase in the blood supply in certain parts of the brain. The basal ganglia and the frontal cortex have been shown to be very sensitive areas in this type of disorders.
Those who suffer from Cotard syndrome, reach one of the last stages of the disease with acute insomnia, and very strong ideas of suicide. From
there the importance of being diagnosed and make appropriate treatment.
7-Ekbom syndrome
In this case, people consider that all the time they are being infected by parasites. Imaginary parasites can “be” on their skin, underneath it, or at home, stalking permanently.
Those who suffer from it come to consult the hospital indicating that they are full of parasites. Many times the patient continually moves his legs because the parasites are moving on his skin.
To a lesser extent he also moves his arms, believing that the parasites are bothering him. This syndrome significantly affects sleep and rest hours.
8-Reduplicative paramnesia
In this case the cause of the disorder is quite clear, because it is associated with a brain disorder. The area specifically involved are the frontal lobes and the right cerebral hemisphere .
The person suffering from reduplicative paramnesia is in a certain physical space, and believes that this space is also duplicated in another place, that there are two identical places in different spaces.
That is why it is called reduplicative paramnesia. The person thinks that the places have been replicated or duplicated, due to a failure in the correct identification of a certain site.
Apparently, when the person returns to a certain place evokes certain memories of that site but fails to be aware that it is the same place, so he believes that it is another physical space, exactly the same as the one he remembers.
9-Alice in Wonderland Syndrome
The name honors the famous novel by Lewis Carroll , because those who suffer suffer an alteration in the perception of time and space.
There are many professionals who say that it is not a mental disorder, although there is no clear consensus. For some reason, which has not yet been determined with precision, those affected see objects of a different size than they really are.
Also Read: Behavioral Cognitive Therapy: Characteristics and 5 Techniques
In the same way, they have difficulties to determine in what physical space they are. They can ensure for example that they are inside a room when in fact they are outdoors.
The treatments for this type of problems are usually multidisciplinary, and usually involve different psychoactive medications in combination with psychological therapies.
Although they are strange psychological syndromes, you may know some case.
