Just about everyone reading this has likely heard of psychological maladies like obsessive-compulsive disorder and schizophrenia. Conditions such as anxiety disorders and depression are everyday terms. However, there are some strange mental illnesses that you’ve probably never heard of.

Some of these are location-specific and only affect people visiting a place. Others affect anybody but are just as weird. Imagine a disorder that makes a person believe they do not exist, that their house is a clone, or that they are outside their own bodies. You might be surprised that some of these disorders even exist.

10 Jerusalem Syndrome

Jerusalem syndrome is a mental disorder that affects tourists who visit Jerusalem. Sufferers believe they are Biblical characters or are somehow related or affiliated to Jesus.

In one instance, an Irish woman went to a hospital, claiming she was about to give birth to Baby Jesus, even though she wasn’t pregnant. Another man from Canada thought he was Samson and tried to destroy a wall. An Austrian man asked chefs at the hotel in which he was staying to prepare him the Last Supper.

There have also been reports of tourists thinking they are Biblical characters like King Solomon. Others suddenly start giving sermons or just shout on the streets. One notorious case involved a British man who planned to get himself killed by Satan in order to trigger the end of the world.

The syndrome affects about 50 tourists every year, but those are just the ones that are documented. Authorities believe that many more cases actually occur. Interestingly, most sufferers recover from the disorder the moment they leave Jerusalem.^[1]

9 Stendhal Syndrome

Stendhal syndrome (also called Florence syndrome or hyperkulturemia) is a psychosomatic disorder that can affect people visiting art galleries. Sufferers become so overwhelmed by the beauty of the exhibited artworks that they suddenly develop symptoms.

Their hearts beat faster, and they become dizzy and confused. Some behave like lunatics, hallucinate, or even faint. Some sufferers do not need to be in an art gallery for the syndrome to occur. They will exhibit the symptoms when they are in any beautiful environment.

Stendhal syndrome was first noted by author Henri-Marie Beyle (who wrote under the pseudonym “Stendhal”) in his 1817 book Naples and Florence: A Journey from Milan to Reggio. Beyle wrote that he became so overwhelmed by the beautiful ceiling frescoes at the Santa Croce Cathedral in Florence, Italy, that he exhibited some symptoms of the disorder now named after him.^[2]

8 Fregoli Delusion

The Fregoli delusion is a psychological disorder that makes a person believe that other people are actually the same person in disguise. Someone with the Fregoli delusion will say that the differences in others’ clothing and looks are just an elaborate disguise to make the sufferer think the others aren’t the same person.

The disorder is named after Leopoldo Fregoli, an Italian actor known for doing many impersonations. It was first observed in an unnamed patient who believed everybody was one of two actresses called Sarah Bernhardt and Robine. The patient was so convinced that she attacked a stranger she believed was Robine.

It is very difficult or even impossible to convince people exhibiting the Fregoli delusion that they are suffering from a disorder. One ten-year-old sufferer believed everybody he saw was his father in disguise. When somebody pointed out that the nurse could not be his father because she was a woman, he said his father was clever enough to disguise himself and claimed that the doctors could not detect it.^[3]

7 Clinical Lycanthropy

Clinical lycanthropy is a mental disorder that makes people think they are turning into animals, most notably wolves. To adjust to their supposed transformation, clinical lycanthropy sufferers will usually grunt like animals and attempt using their fingers like claws. They will complain of hair growing on their arms and will sometimes mistake their reflection in a mirror for an animal’s.

The first case report was published in 1852, when a man thought he had turned into a werewolf. He believed he was covered in hair and had grown sharp, wolf-like teeth. Both were untrue. He insisted on eating raw meat but did not eat it when it was served because he only wanted rotten meat.

Thankfully, clinical lycanthropy is rare. Only 13 cases of people believing they are wolves have been reported since 1850. However, it jumps to 56 when we consider other cases involving people who thought they’d turned into other animals. Doctors believe some cases have been missed, since psychiatrists will misdiagnose clinical lycanthropy as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or psychotic depression.^[4]

6 Cotard Delusion

Cotard delusion is a mental disorder that makes sufferers think they are dead. They’ll believe they are not in control of their bodies and may even assume they are already rotting. However, some sufferers know they are alive but will wrongly believe that some parts of their bodies are dead or do not even exist.

Cotard delusion is often caused by a traumatic incident like an accident or fainting. Sufferers believe they actually died during the incident. And they will often believe they cannot die again since they are already dead. The disorder was first observed in an unnamed Frenchwoman only identified as Mademoiselle X (depicted above).

In 1880, Mademoiselle X visited Doctor Jules Cotard and complained that she thought she was dead. Doctor Cotard took interest in her disorder and studied it extensively. He called her condition “the Delirium of Negation,” but it would later take his name. Mademoiselle X ultimately died of starvation, as she refused to eat due to the false belief that she did not have a stomach, nervous system, or torso.^[5]

5 Folie A Deux

Folie a deux (French for “madness of two”) is a psychological condition in which the delusions of one person essentially spread to others. Folie a deux can also be called “folie a trois” when it affects three people, “folie a quatre” when it affects four people, or “folie en famille” when it affects an entire family.

Folie a deux was first documented in the 19th century, when a couple named Michael and Margaret thought someone was sneaking into their home and wearing their shoes. They believed this so much that they started convincing themselves that somebody was truly sneaking in.

In another case, three sisters believed some parts of the Bible were wrong and that God wanted them to live in a house that belonged to somebody else. They were arrested after vandalizing the home and held in a cell, where they stripped themselves naked and sang worship songs.

In one recent case that happened in 2016, a couple fled town with their three children over the erroneous belief that somebody was trying to kill them. Two of the three children also believed the story, making it a folie a quatre.^[6]

4 Reduplicative Paramnesia

Reduplicative paramnesia is a rare mental disorder that makes sufferers think their house or another building has been cloned. Sometimes, they believe their house has been disguised to look like another building. Many sufferers believe the hospital in which they are receiving treatment is actually their disguised home.

Sometimes, sufferers wrongly assume something has been taken away from their homes and taken somewhere else. One woman who had a temporal lobe stroke suffered from the disorder after her discharge from the hospital. She claimed that some furniture had been taken from her home to the hospital.^[7]

3 Factitious Disorder

Factitious disorder (aka factitious disorder imposed on self or Munchausen syndrome) motivates people to fake illnesses. Sufferers will often go to extreme lengths to make people think they are truly sick. They will readily add foreign substances like blood to their urine samples and add heat to a thermometer to make people think they have a fever.

In extreme cases, sufferers will injure themselves and even undergo surgery for nonexistent conditions. They usually understand that they’re not sick, but they don’t understand why they are pretending to be sick. Even when they do, they just cannot stop pretending to be sick, even when challenged with evidence proving they’re not ill.

Factitious disorder imposed on another (also referred to as Munchausen syndrome by proxy) is a subcategory of factitious disorder. It involves a person claiming another person is sick. Most of the time, it is usually a parent saying a child is sick. This is just as dangerous, since the parent could injure the child just to prove they are truly sick.^[8]

2 Delusional Parasitosis

Delusional parasitosis is a mental disorder that makes a person think their skin is infected with parasites and animals like lice, fleas, worms, and spiders.

Sufferers will usually scratch their skin until they become injured. More desperate patients will use dangerous substances on their skin just to get rid of the creatures. They’ll even take skin and hair samples and put them under microscopic slides before presenting them to the doctor.

Those affected are so convinced of their delusion that they will confidently explain how the creatures entered their bodies. In some instances, they will even claim that the parasites have crept from their bodies and into their homes.

Delusional parasitosis often affects elderly people and is more common in women than men. It is usually the result of an underlying illness, like an anxiety disorder that makes the sufferer afraid of getting sick. In rarer instances, it is caused by other conditions like schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Sometimes, it is just the sufferer being paranoid or could be the result of drug abuse or alcohol withdrawal.^[9] Delusional parasitosis can sometimes become folie a deux when a person believes they are suffering from the disorder because their partner is suffering from it. The situation is worsened when the partner reinforces their belief that the nonexistent creatures are really there.

1 Depersonalization-Derealization Disorder

Sufferers of depersonalization-derealization disorder (aka depersonalization disorder) think they are outside their bodies. It can also occur when a person believes the things they see around them do not really exist. Sometimes, they even think their memory does not belong to them.

Some sufferers believe they are floating above their bodies. Others understand they are inside their bodies but will usually consider themselves as more robot than human, since they assume they do not have any control over their actions. They will usually feel that their heads are covered with soft materials like cotton and assume their body parts are bigger or smaller than they appear.

Depersonalization-derealization disorder is more common in people who’ve been through traumatic experiences and can last anywhere from hours to months. Sufferers often have troubled relationships, since they are usually more concerned about their supposed nonexistence than with interacting with their families and friends. They will frequently check themselves and the things around them to confirm that they truly exist.^[10]

Humans are the product of millions of intricate processes that shape their lives from the moment of conception until their last breath. Most of the time these processes go on without a hitch, but other times they go awry. This list compiles some of the rarest and most bizarre disorders that afflict both infants and adults.

10 Epidermolysis

Known as an incredibly rare birth defect, epidermolysis (also known as the Butterfly Disease) causes the skin to basically slough off when disturbed. Because of the skin’s fragility, it’s common for sufferers to be covered in painful blisters and open wounds. These wounds frequently become infected, filling with pus and mucus. The skin is so sensitive that even something as simple as a temperature change can cause debilitating damage.

Children that suffer from the Butterfly Disease tend to look like burn victims because of their bodies’ inability to produce collagen. If this disease doesn’t already sound horrible enough, the disorder isn’t exclusive to only the body’s outside tissue. Places like the mouth, esophagus, and stomach can be infected too, which keeps many sufferers from being able to eat and function properly. The disease is hereditary, but affects only about one in 50,000 babies. Aside from the obvious symptoms of epidermolysis, not much is known about the disorder and there is currently no cure for it.

9 Ectopia Cordis

Every one in 100,000 babies are born with the birth defect known as ectopia cordis, where the baby’s heart is basically born outside the body. One of the oddest things about those who suffer from the disease is their appearance. In this disease, the functional, beating heart develops outside the chest cavity and is therefore prey to any number of risks and dangers.

Unfortunately, many sufferers don’t have very long life expectancies, if they are even born at all. There is one miracle case of a man known as Christopher Wall, who was able to live and function properly with the condition for an incredible 33 years. Most cases of ectopia cordis can be diagnosed prior to birth via ultrasound, though some cases do slip past. There is unfortunately no cure and no possibility for surgery due to the delicate nature of the heart.

8 Hydrocephalus

Translated as “water on the brain,” hydrocephalus is a condition where cerebrospinal fluid accumulates in the ventricles of the brain. With the increase of fluid, the pressure on the brain and skull is increased as well. This usually results in skull enlargement, mental retardation, seizures, and tunnel vision. There have been several treatments developed to decrease the amount of fluid in the brain, though there is still no way to cure it completely.

In India, an extreme case of hydrocephalus has been reported in a girl named Roona Begum, whose head has swollen to 94 centimeters (37 in) in circumference. Just for reference, the circumference of an average baby’s skull is about 35.5 centimeters (14 in). Her head got to the point where she could barely move, because she was carrying an extra five liters of fluid in her head.

She was being taken care of in a two-room hut in India by her 18-year-old father, who was making a little more than $2 a day. Her head had grown so large she was unable to see because her eyelids had stretched so far upwards. Thankfully, over $60,000 has since been raised for Roona to receive the necessary surgery to release the liquid in her head.

7 Uner Tan Syndrome

Uner Tan syndrome is a rather recent and rare disorder that was first seen in a case study of the Ulas family in Turkey. There have been some critics of the disorder, who claim that it’s not medically valid. Despite that, the symptoms of the Ulas family can’t seem to be explained. It was named after evolutionary biologist Uner Tan, who claimed this disorder to be one of evolutionary origins. Those afflicted with this disease tend to crawl on all fours like an animal, speak in grunts, and suffer from severe mental retardation. It’s also thought that people with Uner Tan syndrome actually suffer from cerebellar ataxia, though their sustained tendency to walk on all fours doesn’t fit the symptomology.

Another odd aspect of those who suffer from Uner Tan syndrome is that it affects the whole family unit, and they seem to have adapted unnaturally well to walking on all fours. All four families that suffer from the syndrome can be found in Turkey, and there is still research being done to learn more about the disorder. A documentary was also filmed for BBC in 2006 known as The Family That Walks on All Fours to show their story to the public.

6 Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome

Lesch-Nyhan syndrome in and of itself isn’t particularly remarkable, but the behaviors that it causes in those who are afflicted make it a very interesting disease. Lesch-Nyhan syndrome is a hereditary disorder with no known cure that’s characterized by a build-up of uric acid in all bodily fluids. This build-up leads to gout, bad muscle control, and kidney problems. Motor disturbances similar to those experienced by people with Huntington’s disease are also seen in people who suffer from this disorder.

But the most remarkable behavior is the uncontrollable acts of self-mutilation that it causes. This behavior isn’t apparent in all cases of Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, but it is very common and behaviors range from head banging to severe forms of nail, finger, and lip biting. Sometimes the self-injurious behavior becomes so bad that patients must have their nails or teeth removed for their own safety.

People with Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome have also been observed gouging out their own eyes and scratching or hitting their faces. Thankfully, this is a very rare disorder that effect only one in about every 380,000 live births. With the correct restraint, precautions, and treatments, Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome can be controlled reasonably well.

5 Hypohidrotic Ectodermal Dysplasia

Also known as the vampire disorder, people who suffer from Hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia often have pointed teeth, making them look eerily similar to the blood-sucking creatures of fiction. This disorder can also affect hair, skin, and nails. Severe cases of HED are characterized by thin, pale bodies with dark circles under and around the eyes, pointed or missing teeth, no hair, and signs of premature aging.

Most people who suffer from HED must constantly manage and check their body temperature, while remaining out of the sunlight and heat for long periods of time due to their lack of sweat glands. This is the most common form of ectodermal dysplasia, affecting one in every 17,000 people, including actor Michael Berryman.

4 Lamellar Ichthyosis

Lamellar ichthyosis is a rare birth defect that causes babies to shed their skins like a reptile. When the babies with this disorder are first born, they are covered in a shiny, smooth skin known as a collodion membrane, which they later shed—leaving behind their actual skin, which is scaly and cracked. Risk of infection, dehydration, or hypothermia is high in babies with this disorder because of their lack of a protective outer layer and normal sweat glands.

The scales—which closely resemble those of fish—tend to increase as the child grows older and cluster around places like the armpits and groin. While this doesn’t seem to put the baby in any sort of pain, it can have lasting psychological effect on the child due to their bright red, scaly skin. The disorder can also cause ectropion in the sufferer, which is the outward turning of the lips and eyelids.

While this is a very rare skin disease, an even rarer form of it, known as bathing suit icthyosis, is showing up in people in South Africa. So far there have been less than 20 known cases. In bathing suit icthyosis, sufferers develop the same scaly lesions, though instead of appearing in the soft joints like the armpits, genitals, or elbows, they appear on much larger parts of the body, like the stomach, back, and head. There’s no known cure for this hereditary disorder, and more research is still being done to try and treat it.

3 Harlequin Ichthyosis

Harlequin ichthyosis, the most severe form of ichthyosis, is when the keratin layer of the baby’s skin hardens and cracks. Most of the infant’s limbs may also be contracted or missing completely. This can also happen to the ears, nose, eyes, and penis. Because of the large scales of cracked skin, much of the baby’s range of motion is limited. There’s usually a very grim prognosis for those that are diagnosed with harlequin ichthyosis due to complications with infections that develop in the fissures.

If the infants don’t die from infection or their inability to move, they usually succumb to dehydration or respiratory failure. In some rare cases, there are sufferers that make it past infancy, which is a feat in and of itself. A girl named Hunter Steinitz has made it to the remarkable age of 18 with this disease, though every day is a battle. She must constantly keep her skin moisturized with oils to decrease the cracking, and there is no cure for this hereditary condition.

2 Polymelia

Polymelia is a bizarre disorder in which the sufferer is born with an unusual number of limbs. There have been cases of these limbs being useful as well as non-functioning. Polymelia can occur for a number of reasons, including the incorrect splitting of limbs or the reabsorbance of a conjoined twin back into the body. Now, an extra arm or leg here and there may not seem like anything to get particularly excited about, but it’s the more extreme cases of polymelia that make it such a fascinatingly bizarre disorder.

In Pakistan there was a case of a baby born with six legs, which was the result of a parasitic twin. Polymelia can result in an unusual number of any extremity—including the penis, in some cases—and proves to be a hassle for most sufferers. There are surgeries to remove the extra limbs, but some people find that their extra extremities—especially fingers—are actually quite useful. This condition can also be found in several types of animals.

1 Pseudomamma

Pseudomamma is basically when breast tissue develops in places other than the breast. This will usually occur along the milk line or other spots of the abdomen. In rare cases, however, pseudomamma will occur on stranger parts of the body—like the face. Recently, a very odd case of pseudomamma surfaced when a 22-year-old girl went to the doctor complaining of an odd growth on the bottom of her foot. Upon closer examination, the doctors found the growth to be a nipple, complete with an areola, hair, eccrine, and sebaceous glands.

Most growths have no negative effects on their hosts, though they are usually removed for aesthetic purposes. Not all cases of pseudomamma are present at birth, and some develop randomly over a lifetime.

Shelby is an undergraduate at Arizona State University studying psychology, biology, criminal justice and medicinal biochemistry. She is constantly fascinated by the mysteries of the world around her. She hopes to go on to medical school once she graduates to be able to search for and solve these mysteries.

You’d think a single disease would hit the whole world equally—we’re all human, after all. But some cultures have very specific disorders associated with them, with symptoms and consequences generally not extending outside of their particular country or ethnicity.

10 Retired Husband Syndrome

Japan is famous for its work ethic, with many spending long hours at the office and devoting all their waking hours to their careers. Couples neglect their marriages in favor of business, and once the man retires, all sorts of problems follow.

Once couples have no careers to focus on, forcing them to spend more time together, spouses find they don’t really know each other. Arguments pile up—especially after trips to celebrate retirement. In the last 10 years, the divorce rate in Japan has risen 27 percent, and it’s expected to keep climbing as more approach retirement age.

Many men, unable to transition from the work world to home life, treat their wives like coworkers or servants. Most husbands’ social groups are tied to their workplace and vanish once they retire. Many women can’t cope with the disruption—the husband is suddenly home 24/7 and tries to take charge of her life. These women suffer from stress and health problems like ulcers, rashes, difficulty sleeping, and even slurred speech patterns.

Adding to the issue, households no longer follow their traditional setup. Earlier, many retired couples would live with their children. Now, many of the younger generation stay unmarried longer, keeping them from helping their parents adjust to the transition with the help of children and grandchildren. It’s such a problem now that therapists and psychologists specialize in treating affected women, and thousands of support groups assist men with relationships post-retirement.

9 New World Syndrome

The industrialized world, particularly the United States, enjoys sedentary pastimes like watching TV and playing video games. Food, meanwhile, is high in fat and calories. While there’s more than that to the American lifestyle, that’s the stuff that gets exported, that’s the stuff that’s popular, and that’s the stuff that’s causing a weird, culture-bound disorder called New World Syndrome.

Places like Micronesia and other islands throughout the South Pacific were long ignorant of American delights like Spam and Oreos. Originally, the native people ate a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and freshly caught fish. When pirates discovered the islands in the early 20th century, they brought with them alcohol and infectious diseases. Then when a prosperous mining industry sprang up in the decades that followed, the islands suddenly imported fatty foods and were exposed to Western life.

The result was a massive spike in diabetes and heart disease. Some islanders suffer their first heart attacks in their twenties. By the time they’re in their late fifties, most consider themselves old. Around 85 percent of the population is classified as obese.

Interestingly, New World Syndrome has also introduced the idea that it’s very possible—and common—for people to be both obese and malnourished. The World Health Organization estimates the number who suffer from both at 1.1 billion.

8 Latah

Latah is a rare disorder from Malaysia. Meaning “nervous,” latah is characterized by an exaggerated reaction to sudden noises or other startling stimuli. Case studies describe individuals with uncontrollable movements ranging from gestures to cursing, singing, and dancing.

Sufferers also become unable to resist doing what they’re told. One case study tells of a woman who would hit other people on command, eat normally inedible objects, and react to dangers that were clearly not in the room. Another patient tried breast-feeding a hat when told that it was her hungry baby. Once the episode passes, the afflicted return to their natural personalities and are unable to explain their previous actions.

Just what causes latah hasn’t been confirmed. It may be genetic, but this is difficult to determine because many sufferers lack family records. Superstition says latah is caused by witchcraft or tickling a child too much when they’re young. The most commonly afflicted are post-menopausal women, although younger women and men can also develop latah. There is no outward manifestation of the disease, and those who develop it are physically normal.

7 Fire Sickness

Hwabyung (“fire sickness”) is unique to Korea and is characterized by burning, heavy sensations in a person’s chest. Other symptoms include insomnia, muscle pains, heart palpitations, weight loss, and blurred vision. It can ultimately turn into severe depression.

The disease happens most commonly in middle-aged women, occurring when they find themselves angry often but can’t express that anger. They focus anger inward instead of dealing with it, and when situations don’t change, that anger manifests itself in physical and mental ways.

Psychologists blame a combination of cultural and historical factors. Traditionally, Koreans have suffered massive unrest and political upheaval. For many, all that’s left is for them to bear it. Korean citizens who emigrate are also commonly afflicted with hwabyung, often finding a new life in another country as stressful as the situations they have left behind.

According to Korean folk beliefs, anger is fire. Keeping that fire inside means that it builds up in the body, disrupting the natural state of balance and causing an endless cycle of helplessness and depression.

6 Dhat Syndrome

Dhat syndrome hits young men living in the Indian subcontinent, most commonly Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan. The syndrome describes a psychological concern that the body is losing semen, through urine or other unusual discharges. Symptoms include fatigue, difficulty concentrating, exhaustion, loss of appetite—and sexual dysfunction.

Those suffering from Dhat syndrome believe that they are losing a vital part of themselves. The concern comes from the philosophy of Ayurveda, which lists substances in the body as crucial to maintaining balance and well-being. These substances are blood, fat, flesh, bone marrow, chyle, and semen, with semen being the most important. All other fluids and substances in the body are thought to go through stages in which they transform, and at the end, they become semen, the key to a long, healthy life. Losing semen means something is very wrong.

Sufferers believe it a physical condition, but those treating it refer patients to psychiatrists. Without proper treatment, depression sets in.

5 Pa-Leng And Pa-Feng

Pa-leng and pa-feng strike Chinese individuals and immigrants who practice ideas connected with yin and yang. Classified as anxiety disorders, pa-leng is an extreme fear of the cold, while pa-feng is an overwhelming fear of the wind.

Both disorders are rooted in the idea that for the body to maintain balance, it needs a balance of temperature. Wind and cold both take valuable heat from the body, disrupting that natural balance. Wind is believed to bring with it disease; if a person feels fine in the morning and suddenly comes down with an illness, people often link it to the presence of wind.

Cold and wind are both associated with the yin, and individuals suffering from this disorder will go to great measures to preserve body heat, or yang. They may overdress in heavy clothing, avoid drafts, or even eat only hot foods. The person will also begin to suffer the consequences of an imbalance in their yin and yang, such as headaches, dizziness, stomach pains, and coughing.

4 Scrupulosity

Scrupulosity hurts the most devoutly religious, and it’s often associated with Catholicism (although sufferers can come from all faiths). People suffering from scrupulosity believe that they are in a constant state of sin. No matter what they do, they anger God.

Usually, individuals agonize over a single idea, such as following a biblical verse to the letter, avoiding any sort of blasphemous thoughts, or remaining pure—all while ignoring major ideas like the Commandments. More than just viewing themselves as sinners, they suffer from the debilitating idea that they are unworthy, to the point where they cannot come to peace with anything that they do.

Scrupulosity is classified as an obsessive-compulsive disorder, and it can result in self-chastisement or self-sacrifice to cleanse oneself of sin. Sufferers damage their social relationships by constantly seeking reinforcement from friends and family. Doctors treat it in much the same way as other obsessive-compulsive disorders—with behavioral therapy and sometimes medication—along with assistance from religious leaders.

3 Sudden Unexpected Death Syndrome

Sudden unexpected death syndrome is prevalent throughout Southeast Asia, and it’s terrifyingly exactly what its name suggests. Healthy men—most not yet approaching middle age—go to sleep at night and never wake up. Most are found dead after crying out in the middle of the night.

According to folklore, these mysterious deaths are caused by a visiting spirit that kills men in their sleep. In Thailand, the spirit is said to be that of a widowed woman, stealing the souls of living men. In Japan, it’s known as pok-kuri. In Vietnam and Laos, it’s called tsob tsuang. In the Philippines, it’s bangungot or batibat.

References to the mysterious deaths date back at least to the turn of the 20th century, but only recently have scientists been able to associate the phenomenon with spikes in electrocardiograms. The ECG irregularity is shaped like a shark’s fin and is known as the “Brugada Sign” after cardiologists Pedro and Josep Brugada. Those who die from SUDS have no other health problems, save this weird spike in heartbeat.

A review of unexplained deaths in Manila between 1948 and 1982 revealed that most victims were about 33 years old, most died at around 3:00 AM, and the majority of deaths occurred in December and January. The factors combine to create a pattern weirdly different from other deaths in the same region.

2 Tabanka

Tabanka is the name given to an extreme form of heartbreak suffered by men in Trinidad. Historically, tabanka struck those who lost their significant other to a rival, but more recently, the definition has been extended to cover unrequited love. In most cases, someone suffering from tabanka loses interest in the world, goes without eating, and suffers from stomach pains and insomnia.

While that might just sound like normal heartbreak, sufferers from tabanka often move down a very dark path. Many drink heavily to forget their pain, which can lead to worsening depression and ultimately suicide.

Part of the problem with tabanka is that sufferers hide the condition, fearing mockery from peers. The general consensus is that those suffering from it should just move on. Men and women deride tabanka equally. Women suffer from it far more rarely than men, however, partially because they start out by accepting the high likelihood of losing a partner to another woman.

1 Zar Possession

According to the belief system of Ethiopian Jews, Adam and Eve had 30 children. Worried that the most beautiful of her children would attract the envy of God, Eve hid 15 of them in the Garden of Eden. God, of course, saw this, and as punishment, He made all 15 children invisible. The other 15 became the ancestors of the human race, while the 15 invisible children became the zar, spirits that haunt and hunt their worldly siblings.

Individuals diagnosed as possessed by the zar (but actually suffering from any of several conditions) first begin to suffer from headaches and fatigue. This spirit possession often happens alongside a traumatic or stressful life event, particularly a shift in relationship status, struggles with infertility, or major changes in a social circle.

If attempts at exorcising the zar aren’t successful, the individual might call on a cult healer. The healer puts them into a trance, during which time they talk to the spirit. Rather than fighting, the host and spirit form an understanding relationship. In exchange for a life free from the ill effects of spirit possession, the patient makes a promise to the spirit. This can be anything from eating particular foods to associating with certain people or dressing a certain way.

In Western countries, there’s been an explosion in neurological diseases—including early-onset dementia—that can’t be explained by longer life spans. It turns out that some brain disorders have such bizarre symptoms that they’re sometimes mistaken for psychiatric conditions.

10Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis

For many patients, anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis—a recently discovered autoimmune disease that causes the brain to swell—initially presents psychiatric symptoms such as hallucinations, violent outbursts, and delusions. Patients appear to be possessed by demons, and most of them will develop seizures and involuntary movements within a few days.

But the neurological symptoms may be subtle and easy to miss. Dr. Souhel Najjar, an anti-NMDA expert, believes that as many as 90 percent of these cases have been misdiagnosed. “There could be people in comas right now, or people stuck in psych wards, that have this disease and aren’t being treated properly,” said Emily Gavigan—an anti-NMDA patient—to CBS Eyewitness News.

One 24-year-old woman, Susannah Cahalan, spent over $1 million in hospital care with top doctors, but they repeatedly misdiagnosed her condition. She had seizures and hallucinations—grunting like an animal, she would kick and punch people. She thought newscasters were discussing her on TV. Then Dr. Najjar entered the scene and asked her to draw a clock face. When she drew all the numbers on one side, Dr. Najjar knew she had inflammation on the right side of her brain. Susannah was treated just in time to save her from a coma and death.

Although Susannah recovered with no brain damage, not everyone is so lucky. Even with treatment, approximately 7 percent of patients die, and others are left with mild to severe brain damage. Anti-NMDA can be treated with immunotherapy, but there’s no cure—only remission. A relapse requires more treatment.

Anti-NMDA has spurred Dr. Najjar to investigate other presumed psychiatric illnesses—such as bipolar disease, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and schizophrenia—to see if they, too, are actually physical illnesses caused by inflammation of the brain.

9Othello Syndrome

Othello syndrome (OS) is named after the Shakespearean character Othello, who killed his wife, Desdemona, because he believed that she was having an affair. OS patients develop the same stubborn delusions of suspicion and jealousy toward their spouses and constantly accuse them of infidelity. Some patients even have hallucinations of their spouse having sex with someone else.

OS usually begins around age 68, with about 77 percent of patients having a neurological disease affecting one of the brain’s frontal lobes—usually the right one. Sometimes, OS is brought on by the use of dopamine therapy for Parkinson’s disease. If that’s the cause, then reducing or stopping the medication may alleviate the symptoms of OS.

In Lewy body dementia (LBD), the symptoms of OS may continue (or even start) after the death of a spouse. LBD includes Parkinson’s disease and dementia caused by protein deposits—called Lewy bodies—in the nerve cells of your brain.

One 42-year-old man, who was being treated with dopamine agonists for Parkinson’s, began to insist on having frequent sex with his wife. Accusing her of infidelity, he obsessively stared at his driveway because he was convinced that a fictional lover was going to pick her up and have sex with her somewhere else. He lost thousands of dollars to sudden gambling impulses and couldn’t control his spending habit, either.

Also like Othello, OS patients can become dangerously violent. Men with OS have tried to strangle their wives or start fights with neighborhood men suspected of being their wives’ lovers.

8Sensory Desynchronization

“PH”—a retired pilot in his sixties—was the first confirmed patient with sensory desynchronization, where a person hears voices before people speak. For PH, life is like watching a movie with the sound and picture out of sync. He even hears his own voice before he feels his mouth move. Brain scans revealed one lesion in his midbrain and another in his brain stem. Both of these parts are associated with hearing, movement, and timing.

Scientists believe our brains process sight and sound at different rates to compensate for the different speeds at which light and sound travel. For most of us, our brains do the work when syncing voices with lip movement. But for PH, there’s now a quarter-second delay between hearing a voice and seeing someone’s mouth move. To sync them up, scientists played clips of people whose voice sounded 210 milliseconds before their lips moved.

No one knows how the human brain is able to unify our perceptions of sight and sound. But it does mean that each of us has more than one clock in our brain. If these clocks don’t work together correctly, the soundtrack to our lives may go out of sync with our visual reality.

7Ecstatic Epileptic Seizures

An ecstatic epileptic seizure—or ecstatic aura if it occurs in the first moments of a seizure—was described by the famous epileptic novelist, Fyodor Dostoevsky: “I would experience such joy as would be inconceivable in ordinary life . . . I would feel the most complete harmony in myself and in the whole world and this feeling was so strong and sweet that for a few seconds of such bliss I would give 10 or more years of my life, even my whole life perhaps.”

A 53-year-old female teacher described her ecstatic seizure by saying, “The feeling was almost out of this world. This led to a feeling of complete serenity, total peace, no worries; it felt beautiful, everything was great . . . Maybe the closest sensation that I know would be an orgasm, but what I felt was not at all sexual . . . it was almost religious.” She went on to say that she no longer fears death and sees the world more vibrantly than she did before.

Some scientists believe ecstatic seizures explain what happens during near-death experiences. No one knows for sure what’s going on there, but researchers do know that ecstatic seizures only happen to about 1–2 percent of temporal lobe epilepsy patients. All these patients report a heightened sense of well-being and enhanced self-awareness. Some also report holding on to a moment in time, feeling serene and blissful yet sometimes overloaded by the intensity of what’s happening.

Often, these seizures start in one of the brain’s temporal lobes. Some neurologists believe that the insular cortex—which is under the temporal lobe—is really where the activity occurs. Unlike the temporal lobes, the anterior insula is supposed to be linked to our feelings—both good and bad.

6Misophonia

Sufferers of misophonia fly into rages at small noises that most of us disregard or don’t notice: gum chewing, soup slurping, and soft footsteps, among others. Their hearts pound, their fists clench, and their bodies seem to explode with uncontrollable fury or anxiety. Unlike hyperacusis patients—who perceive all sounds as unbearably loud—misophonia patients are fine with loud noises. It’s the soft ones they can’t stand.

Misophonia usually starts during late childhood or in the early teenage years. Over time, the condition gets worse and patients acquire more trigger sounds—even breathing can set some people off. Sufferers don’t outgrow the condition. As a patient named Adah Siganoff said, “It’s all about the reaction. The rage. The anger. Not being able to stop it. For people with this disorder, the sound is like 200 people pulling their fingernails down a chalkboard at the same time. It’s that same intensity and it’s very overwhelming.”

Many of these patients have been misdiagnosed with psychiatric conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder. But some doctors are beginning to recognize misophonia as a neurological disease that may be caused by faulty brain wiring in the area that causes emotions. Many other doctors still don’t believe in misophonia—for now, treatment options are limited and largely ineffective. Most patients have to cope as best they can by eating alone or by releasing tension through screaming. Some people use earplugs to block out the sounds.

5Developmental Topographical Disorientation

Imagine getting lost every day—even in your own home—and you may have some idea how Sharon Roseman of Littleton, Colorado feels. Now in her sixties, Sharon has struggled with developmental topographical disorientation (DTD) since she was five years old. DTD is a rare neurological illness that leaves a person unable to orient herself or navigate anywhere. When Sharon couldn’t recognize her house as a little girl, her mother warned, “Don’t tell anybody because they’ll say you’re a witch and they’ll burn you.”

Sharon complied, not even telling her husband about her condition. It got so bad that she would have trouble finding her children at night when they cried. When she drives a car, curved streets and angles leave her disorientated as do oceans, lakes, and swimming pools. As Sharon described the experience, “It’s almost as if somebody picks up the entire world, turns it, and sets it back down.”

When Sharon first sought medical help at age 29, she saw a psychologist. But he couldn’t treat her disorientation. She was later told she might have a brain tumor or possibly epilepsy. This, too, turned out to be false. Then she met Guiseppe Iaria, a neuroscience professor at the University of Calgary. Dr. Iaria had published the first paper about DTD in 2008, and thus he knew exactly what Sharon was going through.

Doctors aren’t sure exactly what happens to a DTD patient’s brain. Scans don’t reveal any atrophied or shriveled areas. But Jeffrey Taube, a professor from Dartmouth College, believes that the mapping processes in different areas of a DTD brain aren’t communicating with each other properly, and that their internal compasses have short-circuited.

Currently, there’s no cure for DTD. Until then, Sharon is simply relieved that she can finally explain her condition to others without being called crazy or a witch.

4Musical Hallucinations

A woman simply identified as “Sylvia” heard a piano playing outside her house one day. But there was no piano—Sylvia was actually experiencing a musical hallucination. These sound real enough to convince the patient that a live band or choir is in an adjoining room. Over time, Sylvia’s hallucinations became almost constant, featuring long melodies from classical composers like Rachmaninoff.

Psychiatric conditions like depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and schizophrenia can cause musical hallucinations. But in most cases, it’s not psychosis. It’s simply an older person with a hearing impairment whose brain incorrectly predicts what they’re hearing. At least, that’s the theory of doctors who’ve studied Sylvia and other patients like her.

Sylvia eventually discovered that listening to real music would briefly stop the hallucinations. By imaging her brain both when live music was playing and when it was not, doctors were able to identify which regions showed stronger activity as the hallucinations got louder. Based on these studies, doctors now believe that our brains only hear one actual note or chord. It will then predict the following notes based on past experience. If our brains predict incorrectly, the next actual sound will cause our brains to make an entirely new prediction to minimize errors.

When someone has a hearing impairment, the brain receives fewer sound inputs and makes more prediction errors. As the mistakes increase in number, they begin to feel and sound very real to the patient. Doctors believe patients are most likely to hallucinate music because it’s organized and thus easier for the brain to predict than random noise.

3Huntington’s Disease

Caused by a mutation in the Huntingtin gene, Huntington’s disease (HD) is a rare inherited disorder that breaks down nerve cells in the brain over time, affecting a patient’s behavior and movement. Musician Woody Guthrie died of the disease after being misdiagnosed for years. So far, there is no cure.

Some people, like Katharine Moser, get tested young to find out if they have the genetic defect that causes HD—which usually doesn’t manifest until middle age. Sadly, many HD patients are afraid to admit they have the disease—both because they don’t want to face it and because they’re afraid of discrimination in the workplace and elsewhere. As Ms. Moser’s mother said, “Nobody has compassion. People look at you like you’re strange, and ‘What’s wrong with you?’ ”

Katharine Moser had seen the ravages of the disease on her grandfather when she was younger. His body jerked involuntarily, and he would have violent outbursts. One time, he entered the kitchen without any clothes on except for the underwear on his head.

In its early stages, HD symptoms vary among patients. Generally, though, the younger the patient when symptoms begin, the faster HD progresses. Mood swings are an early symptom. The HD sufferer may become depressed, irritable, apathetic, or angry. HD may also impact a person’s memory, judgment, and learning ability. Over time, their intellect will be increasingly affected.

For other patients, the first signs are uncontrollable movements in the face, feet, fingers, or trunk. There may also be balance or clumsiness problems. Over time, basic functions such as eating, speaking, and walking will decline. For now, death is the inevitable outcome.

2Frontotemporal Dementia

While Alzheimer’s begins with memory loss that later gives way to behavioral problems, Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) does just the opposite. By first killing nerve cells in the frontal lobes, FTD begins with behavioral problems. Then, as the damage spreads around the brain, the patient’s memory fades. Over time, Alzheimer’s and FTD present almost exactly the same way.

FTD often strikes victims 45–65 years old—younger than Alzheimer’s usually does. The behavioral variant known as bvFTD has early symptoms that mimic psychiatric conditions the most. Physically, FTD results in atrophy of the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. But as with all forms of dementia, it robs its victims of their lives, loves, and dignity. As one family member said, “Being a caregiver in this disease is a grieving process while the person is still alive.”

Barbara Whitmarsh, a former scientist at the National Institutes of Health, was married for three decades and had six children with her husband, John. Eventually, though, John noticed severe changes in his wife that were caused by her FTD. He said, “Her ability to feel empathy, her personality, it just disappeared over a period of time.” She also gained 15 kilograms (30 lb) in one year.

With bvFTD, patients may develop abnormal appetites for sweets. They’re also prone to violent outbursts, loss of inhibitions, and poor emotional judgment. They can become hyperactive, hypersexual, and impulsive. But perhaps the hardest symptom for families to cope with is the patient’s loss of feeling for the people around them. What’s worse—FTD patients typically don’t recognize the changes in their behavior.

Barbara Whitmarsh no longer recognizes her family members and speaks only rarely. She’s been confined to a locked nursing home, where she never stops moving.

1McLeod Syndrome

Caused by an inherited mutation in the XK gene, McLeod syndrome is a neurological disease that typically starts in midlife and only affects about 150 men in the world. Half the patients have seizures, while other symptoms include muscle weakness and atrophy, involuntary jerking of the legs and arms, grimacing, and vocalizations like grunting and mental deterioration.

But it’s the odd changes in behavior that may cause doctors to mistake McLeod syndrome for a psychiatric disease. Some of the early symptoms are depression, anxiety, and severe emotional instability—including a lack of self-restraint. There is no cure, but treatments can address symptoms.

According to Southern Methodist University researchers, McLeod syndrome may have been the real reason King Henry VIII of England beheaded two of his six wives. Initially, Henry VIII was strong, athletic, and generous. At around 40 years of age, he began to experience weakness and atrophy in his legs that eventually caused immobility. He also descended into psychotic paranoia, ultimately beheading his wives.

McLeod syndrome is specific to the Kell blood group, which may also explain the difficult pregnancies of Henry VIII’s wives and mistresses. They were pregnant with at least 11 of his children, but only four lived past infancy. If Henry VIII carried the Kell antigen in his blood, and his women didn’t, then they would only be able to have a healthy first child before losing every one thereafter.

+Alien Hand Syndrome

The corpus callosum is a band of nerve fibers that lets the right and left hemispheres of the brain communicate with each other. Sometimes, a surgeon must cut the callosum of an epilepsy patient’s brain in order to help stop seizures. Most patients recover normally from this procedure. But some end up with the two halves of their brain operating independently of one another. Quite possibly, they’ll end up waging war on each other, like an alien has taken control of one side of the body. This, appropriately enough, is known as alien hand syndrome (AHS).

Nobel prize-winning scientist Roger Sperry filmed an AHS patient arranging blocks to match a pattern on a picture. The patient’s left hand—which was controlled by the right half of the brain—did a good job. The right hand, though, couldn’t do it. What’s more—when the left hand attempted to help the right, they started fighting with each other like a couple of squabbling kids.

Karen Byrne’s epilepsy was cured by cutting her corpus callosum. But one day, her doctor noticed her left hand was opening her shirt buttons with Karen being completely unaware of it. After rebuttoning her shirt with her right hand, her left hand began to undress her again.

Sometimes, an alien hand will punch or slap the patient. Or, if a patient’s legs decide to go in different directions, that person will end up walking around in circles as the two brain halves engage in a power struggle. Luckily, Karen’s doctors have finally found a way to control her symptoms with medication.

Today’s pets are often taken care of with the same level of involvement that people once reserved for their children or grandchildren. We fuss over diet, activity, training, and health care for our pets to make sure that they have the best lives possible. This is the movement that has led to many referring to themselves as pet parents,^[1] rather than pet owners. Experts suggest that the root of this change is twofold. Young adults are having fewer children, while aging baby boomers are becoming empty-nesters. Both groups are filling the void where children would be with new pets.

But the drive for better pet health care has brought an issue to light that was previously unknown to the population at large: Pets need mental health care. Our animals, be they mammal or otherwise, can suffer from myriad mental illnesses and disorders just like we do. Pets also take medication, have therapy, and recover just like we do. As more of us are realizing how important it is to treat our pets’ mental health, it is more important than ever to ask what is causing the distress in the first place. Between our hectic lives and loud modern environment, we may be more responsible than we’d like to admit.

10 Pica

Most dog owners have a hilarious story about how their dog chewed up something important, like homework, or infeasible, like a chunk of drywall, and many cat owners know that it’s impossible for their feline companion to resist a nibble of any plastic bag left out for even one second. What people don’t tend to realize is the extreme cost of this behavior, in both actual money and danger to pets. When an animal eats something that isn’t food, it’s called pica. In cats, it is sometimes known as wool-sucking behavior due to a habit that Oriental breeds and too-early-weaned cats have of nursing on anything soft and fuzzy, usually wool. In dogs, it’s often known as eating your homework.

Regardless of the terminology, pica can range from a minor inconvenience to a life-threatening disorder. Despite the wild tales of garbage-eating dogs and yarn-slurping cats, a small mammal’s digestive tract isn’t that ironclad. Cats especially suffer from obstructions when they eat random objects off of the floor, and the procedures to fix it can set owners back several thousand dollars. And the surgery to remove a hairpin or slipper from a treasured pet’s intestines won’t fix the behavior, so owners might find themselves right back at the emergency vet’s as soon as the pet has healed if they don’t seek mental health treatment. When pica is caused by a nutritional deficiency or dental problem, it is fairly easy to treat. However, pica is often due to boredom or separation anxiety. When this is the case, it can be harder to treat, but more time and play can sometimes solve it. But some pets eat nonfood items compulsively,^[2] and that can often only be treated by locking the items away and cleaning a little more obsessively.

9 Binge Eating

It’s difficult to know if our animal companions suffer from eating disorders as we do, since we can’t easily confirm the mental and emotional drive behind a pet’s eating habits. What we can know is that some animals eat rarely, such as when a pig suffers from thin sow syndrome, and some eat to excess, such as dogs that can eat 16 percent of their body weight per feeding if allowed.^[3] Cats and dogs can suffer from overeating and binge eating, but the problem extends to even more exotic animals. Binge eating in humans is sometimes studied by attempting to recreate the disordered behaviors in rats and mice, with reasonable success. Most animals want to eat and will stuff themselves if allowed. Veterinarians warn about the dangers of overeating in virtually all small pets, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, rodents, rabbits, and hedgehogs.

But many people, professionals and laymen alike, note that you rarely see an overweight animal in the wild. Animals without enough excitement in their lives will often fall back on food for their entertainment, and food-seeking behavior is a necessary adaptation for animals that would have to catch their own meals in the wild. Cats left to their own devices, like those kept on farms, tend to keep themselves busy chasing prey. So treatment for binge eating in pets tends to focus on more exercise, more entertainment, and less food. The last item tends to be the hardest for many owners. When our cute dogs and cats beg for food, it’s hard to deny them. We don’t call them puppy dog eyes for nothing. But professionals suggest diverting a pet’s attention to some kind of activity instead. A bored pet will often literally jump at the chance to play and forget all about the treats.

8 Trichotillomania

Hairballs are a common problem for those who keep cats. Grooming is important for felines, and a lot of fur can end up swallowed in the process. Hairballs are normal, though, and cats that produce them are rarely in any danger. It’s only when a pet starts to groom so obsessively that their fur becomes patchy and their skin irritated that owners should worry. Trichotillomania, “trich” for short, is a compulsive disorder that causes sufferers to pluck their hair uncontrollably and for non-cosmetic reasons. In animals, this is often called over-grooming, and it is most often a response to stress. For most mammals, dogs and cats included, grooming behaviors release calming endorphins.^[4] Many a human has a bath bomb collection for the same reason. Obsessive grooming, like trich, is a calming habit that becomes too much. In some extreme cases, a pet may leave themselves virtually bald by over-grooming.

In cats and dogs, licking tends to happen in places that are easily reached. This can be paws but is more often a place that is harder to spot, like the thighs and underbelly. In rodents, trich is known as barbering and results in bald patches, nibbled whiskers, and irritation both physical and mental. Dominant mice will groom submissive mice normally, but the submissive mice get the worst of it when the dominant mouse experiences extreme stress. Often, a group of healthy mice will be shipped somewhere and arrive with all but one or two balding and annoyed. Even hairless creatures, like birds, exhibit feather-destructive behaviors. No one knows why a bird starts to pluck itself, if the behavior exists in the wild, or how to fix it. Even well-enriched birds in an ideal environment will develop trich. This is true of humans as well and may hint at genetic origins. For many, helping with trich is a matter of adjusting the environment until the behavior calms down and hoping that it goes away and stays away.

7 Autism

Autism spectrum disorder is not so often considered an illness anymore. Many consider autism to be a perfectly normal facet of human psychology that is misconstrued to be a disorder, while others contend that the difficulties faced by autistic individuals justify the disorder classification. Outside of this hotly contested point, the question that some animal researchers have is whether or not dogs can be said to have autism. When a dog whips around in circles to chase its tail, it’s adorable. However, it’s also a repetitive behavior that resembles the spinning and other repetitive motions that autistic people exhibit. And not all dogs chase their tails. It’s linked to certain breeds and certain genetic lines, particularly Bull Terriers, which are the go-to breed for exploring possible canine autism.^[5]

This breed is known for its quirky behaviors, including obsessive tail-chasing, chewing, and playing. They also have more breed-specific oddities. “Trancing” occurs when the dogs come to a slow-motion stop in the midst of play to stare off into the middle distance. “Ghost-walking” or “moon-walking” is a sort of gliding motion that they take on when sneaking under shrubbery. And Bull Terrier lovers affectionately refer to a particular gait where the butt is tucked under and the dog wildly runs as “Hucklebutting.” Obsessive tail-chasing seems to be the best marker to follow when determining whether or not a Bull Terrier may exhibit autism-like traits. Tail-chasing disproportionately affects males and is correlated with partial seizures, skin conditions, gastrointestinal issues, and fixations. As far as behavior goes, this subset tends to be less social with other dogs and humans as well.

Nicholas Dodman, a veterinary behaviorist at Tufts University, has studied children with autism alongside Bull Terriers to determine whether or not this theory holds water. Two blood chemicals associated with autism, neurotensin and corticotropin-releasing hormone, were tested between children with autism, Bull Terriers, and a control group. The chemicals were higher in both the children and dogs, lending a little more weight to the study of autism in animals. Researchers like Dodman are hoping that research into canine autism can help give insight into human autism.

6 Depression

Unlike many other disorders, depression is fairly well-documented in nonhuman animals. Those that have been scientifically shown to suffer depression are nonhuman primates and rats, most likely because these are common test subjects and are observed very regularly. However, many zoo animals show signs of the illness, like lethargy, compulsive behaviors, disrupted appetite, lack of sexual interest, and self-harm. And many veterinarians will prescribe antidepressant medication for dogs that show similar symptoms. But vets are also clear that we don’t really know if our animal companions suffer from depression in the same ways that we do, because we can’t ask them to describe their experience. We can only observe our pets and make our best guesses.

The first course of action for a depressed pet is to eliminate the possibility of an underlying medical condition.^[6] Both depression and physical illnesses can cause unhappiness, withdrawal from social interaction, and other odd behaviors. Once a physical problem is ruled out, a vet may prescribe medication for a cat or dog depending on the duration and severity of the depression. Professionals will also make inquiries about the pet’s environment and events that have recently taken place. The death of a companion is a common cause of depression in dogs. But it is unusual for a dog’s depression to be chronic, so most treatment is focused on alleviating the harmful symptoms until the issue resolves itself. For cats, depression isn’t so much of a concern. Vets agree that cats are much less likely to suffer depression than dogs. A cat’s difficulties in life are much more likely to result in anxiety.

5 Anxiety

Stress is a normal reaction for animals when their environment becomes dangerous. When food is uncertain, noise levels are too high to hear predators approaching, or one finds themselves trapped in a small box, stress tells animals that it’s time to act. These responses can be triggered in a pet’s domestic life. Vacuums, strangers, and missing human companions can make a pet stressed, but some pets will experience far more stress than others. Ultimately, it is the habit of anticipating fear and stress that makes anxiety, which is suspected to be the underlying cause of many mental health concerns in animals. For cats, that means trembling, hiding, aggression, loud vocalizations, and an aversion to the litter box.^[7] For dogs, it’s usually about the same. In birds, signs can include self-mutilation and stress bars appearing near the base of feathers. In rodents, handling anxiety is a well-documented problem that often skews scientific study.

As with many pet mental disorders, a vet will first rule out physical concerns. This prevents unnecessary treatments and, more importantly, catches anything serious early. Once that’s ruled out, a vet will work with the family to find out what is causing the stress and anxiety. If the stressful situation can be avoided entirely, that could solve the problem. That isn’t always possible. Vacuums have to run, vets have to be visited, and various things will happen outside the window that will upset and fascinate our pets. The next option is to train and condition the pet to be less fearful. This can involve training the pet to stay focused on their human, incremental exposure therapy, or using other methods to calm the pet. When a pet can remain calm during a stressful event, they can start to break the negative association. Sometimes, medication will be used to achieve that calm, but other products, like a thundershirt (a vest that makes the animal feel more secure), can help to break the cycle of anxiety.

4 Sleep Disorders

Both cats and dogs can suffer from a few different sleep disorders. Narcolepsy can cause pets to collapse into a deep sleep, sleep apnea can destroy sleep quality and collapse airways, and REM behavior disorder can cause dogs to get up and run into walls in their sleep. Some fear that their pet suffers from night terrors, but this is most often a misidentified seizure disorder. Insomnia is by far the more debatable sleep disorder in pets than in humans. Cat owners often describe their cats as insomniacs, but this often stems from a misunderstanding of the cat sleep cycle. Cats are crepuscular, meaning that they are most active around sunset and sunrise. Some owners think that their cat should sleep at night and become concerned when that doesn’t happen, while others think that cats are nocturnal and fret over how much nighttime sleep their feline gets. In dogs, insomnia is rare but does occur. Both cats and dogs can benefit from getting more activity during the day and can be trained to calm down near bedtime. Insomnia is a bigger concern in older pets. If cognitive dysfunction affects an aging cat or dog, insomnia often develops, along with several other mental illnesses like depression and anxiety.

For smaller and more exotic pets, the issue is more complex. Research suggests that sleep tied to light cycles, or circadian sleep, may go back in evolution to fish. When zebrafish were altered to cause narcolepsy, the fish developed nighttime insomnia instead. But the fish only engaged in napping when left in a dark room, suggesting that light exposure affects them strongly. It’s thought that true sleep, which cycles through different levels of brain activity throughout, developed in a common ancestor of reptiles, birds, and mammals that lived 300 million years ago.

Treatment of sleep disorders varies.^[8] Narcolepsy is incurable but manageable. Sleep apnea may require surgery to fix an obstructed airway. Melatonin, acupuncture, and herbal medicines can help with insomnia, but vets will also sometimes prescribe a special diet high in omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants. In older pets experiencing cognitive dysfunction, that will be treated in the hopes that other issues clear up along the way.

3 Alzheimer’s Disease

While aging can contribute to many other mental illnesses in pets, it can also bring its own specific concerns. Many pet owners will shrug off their companion’s strange behavior, especially as the animal ages, but sudden changes are a serious matter for older pets. It is normal for pets to slow down as they age and lose their sight or hearing. However, their mental capacity should not decline significantly. This can signal that a pet has cognitive dysfunction syndrome, or CDS, the sort of dementia that is particular to cats and dogs and which closely resembles Alzheimer’s in humans.^[9] Pets with this disorder may forget well-established routines, wander aimlessly and restlessly, become aggressive, or get lost easily. They may also forget people that they have lived with their whole lives and react as if those people are strangers.

What is extraordinary about CDS in cats and dogs is that Alzheimer’s-like diseases don’t appear in many animals. Scientists have long been frustrated by the lack of dementia symptoms in rodents and nonhuman primates. Researchers think this suggests that cognitive impairment may be a side effect of the long lives that our pets now experience. Since our animals enjoy better diets, environments, and medical care, they often live as long as they possibly can. Wild animals tend to be picked off quickly when they experience even minor impairments, such as bad hips or teeth. Any wild primate or rodent that did develop dementia would likely die before anyone took notice. One animal that may suffer dementia symptoms along with cats, dogs, and humans is the horse. Later in life, many horses begin to show the signs, but the MRI that could confirm the condition is expensive, and the anesthesia is dangerous to the horse. Many owners don’t want to go through the expense or risk their beloved horse for research purposes.

Treatment for CDS is focused on slowing the progression with diet and exercise. The supplement SAM-e is often prescribed in humans and animals for cognitive degeneration. It is also prescribed for managing pain, healing spinal cord damage, and to treat osteoporosis. Specially formulated diets that include antioxidants and fatty acids can help pets’ bodies fight off the onset. Similar to humans with early-stage Alzheimer’s, vets suggest that pets suffering from CDS get more mental stimulation and exercise. Whatever the treatment plan may be, it needs to be started early. Some pets will have a rapid onset and will lose much of their memory and function before their owners take notice of the problem.

2 OCD

Obsessive-compulsive disorder tends to be oversimplified in casual conversation. If someone likes things a certain way or cleans a little more than usual, people may label them as “OCD.” Cats also get this reputation for their meticulous bathing habits and finicky preferences. But, just as with people, OCD has much more to do with obsessions and compulsions than with quirkiness. In fact, OCD sometimes expresses itself in a way that makes things less neat and clean. For cats, it often leads to illnesses like trich and pica that are anything but tidy. OCD cats may also engage in loud, repetitive yowling and pacing. They may also rip apart our furniture and stop using their litter box. In dogs, the symptoms are much the same. But, like autism, some dog breeds are more prone to OCD than others. About 28 percent of US Dobermans have the disorder, and a study of their brains has shown similarities with brain scans of humans with OCD.^[10]

Treatment for OCD pets is like most mental health treatment. Vets first rule out other causes and then look closely at the behavior and environment it takes place in. OCD involves training humans as much as it does pets. Many owners will attempt to punish the behaviors, which increases the anxiety at the heart of the disorder and may make things worse. A hostile or unpredictable environment will make a pet more anxious. Confinement is a bad idea as well, since pets with OCD often get worked up when they feel trapped. Paradoxically, attention, treats, and play during an episode will also reinforce the behavior. The best approach is to remain calm, remove anything harmful to the pet, and observe covertly. Owners can often find the best way to help their pet just by watching and taking in the episode without reacting. Careful observation can often help people realize what it is that their pet needs to feel more comfortable and calm.

1 PTSD

Service pets are often recommended for people who suffer from PTSD and can be a huge help in their recovery. PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, is a response to a traumatic event in which serious harm was threatened or sustained by an individual. It features panic attacks, flashbacks, and other anxiety symptoms. Some people will go through terrible events and emerge unscathed, while others may go through a relatively minor event and come out with PTSD. There’s nothing unusual about this; it simply has to do with the way each individual processes stress. For pets, it is the same. Cats and dogs can develop PTSD from being abandoned at a shelter or during massive natural disasters. Dogs in particular often get it after military or police service.^[11] These dogs are often introduced to stimuli like gunfire and explosions in a controlled training environment, but the difference between training and reality is vast.

PTSD or similar disorders appear throughout the animal kingdom. Abandoned birds, especially parrots, show signs of the disorder. They pace, repeat haunting phrases, and call for missing family members. These birds are sometimes employed to give company and comfort to people who suffer PTSD. Rats have been exposed to traumatic events in laboratories to produce PTSD-like symptoms so that the disorder can be studied more thoroughly. Those with PTSD-like symptoms perform tasks more poorly than their more resilient or less traumatized peers, even after time has passed since the original event.

To help pets with PTSD, it is necessary to seek the help of a professional. Therapy is invaluable for helping pets learn to process their trauma and training them to respond to it appropriately. A tricyclic anti-depressant is often prescribed to ease distress, but it is also critical to give pets with PTSD a safe, secluded retreat where they can rest without worry. Play and attention are good passive therapies, but only if owners can keep calm and patient with their pet. Any anger or scolding can cause massive setbacks. However, with patience and therapy, pets tend to recover from PTSD well.

Renee is an Atlanta-based graphic designer and writer.

Mental disorders reflect the anxieties of the era. A study of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) reflects a constantly shifting view, where once commonly accepted mental disorders are relegated to the dustbin of history. If the past is any indicator, our picture of the mind and its illnesses will soon too become obsolete.

10Male Hysteria

Hysteria has a slew of nervous symptoms that cannot be attributed to a physical cause. Despite men being just as prone to breakdowns as women, societal and political pressures stood in the way of diagnosis. However, in 18th- and 19th-century Britain, it became fashionable for men to develop “nervous” issues. It was an issue of class, where sensitivity was seen as sophistication that elevated the bourgeois above the working people.

In the early 20th century, male hysteria morphed into “shell shock.” This reflected a changing perception of the disease, losing its feminine connotations. This new form of male hysteria was made honorable. In the 1980s, “shell shock” gave way to PTSD—post-traumatic stress disorder. The progression has been a slow shift from the feminine stigma associated with the disease.

9Dysaesthesia Aethiopica

In the mid-1800s, mental health professionals fabricated disorders to justify slavery. Dysaesthesia aethiopica was defined by mischief caused by “stupidness of mind and insensibility of the nerves.” The afflicted were believed to wander about at night, sleep all day, raise disturbances, and “break, waste, and destroy everything they handle.” Doctors also claimed this “disease peculiar to negroes” came with physical symptoms in the form of lesions, which were always present in the afflicted.

Sociologists and psychologists manufactured this disease to scientifically prove that black men were incapable of handling freedom. The cure for dysaesthesia aethiopica was slavery. These quacks claimed the disorder was more common among free blacks than those in bondage. The only slaves afflicted were ones who lived lifestyle—with diet, drinks, and exercise—like their free brethren, or those “that have not got some white person to direct and take care of them.”

8The Vapors

In the Victorian era, psychologists claimed one-quarter of women suffered from “the vapors.” The term derived from ancient Greek medical theories based on the four humors of the body. The vapors were caused by an imbalance. Humors in the spleen rose through the body to affect the mind. Women were more likely to catch the disease based on “irregularities” in their anatomy. Symptoms include anxiety, depression, fainting, tremors, and bloating.

Women of independent mind were often diagnosed with the vapors. Suffragettes were particularly vulnerable. Given the wide range of symptoms, vapors diagnosis often impeded the identification of more serious medical conditions like depression, infections, and cancer. In the modern day, the folksy term is used as a joke. For example, it has been used by Colin Powell and journalists Peggy Noonan and Claire Berlinski to cast opponents in a foolish light.

7Homosexuality

Until the mid-1980s, homosexuality was considered a mental disorder. By the end of the 19th century, homosexuality shifted from sin and crime to the territory of mental health professionals. However, experts were never in agreement about its classification. Some viewed homosexuality as a degenerative sickness. Others thought it was inborn and not a disease. Freud even considered bisexuality to be humans’ innate state. None of these assessments were based on empirical testing but rather on observations of homosexual patients.

Beginning in the 1970s, mental health experts shifted their views on homosexuality due to the mounting evidence and shifting cultural views. In 1974, a vote was held to amend homosexuality’s place in the DSM. By 1980, the only entry was for “ego-dystonic homosexuality.” This meant the homosexual tendencies were not in line with the person’s self-perception. Many criticized this decision. By 1986, homosexuality was completely removed from the DSM.

6Dementia Praecox

In 1893, Emil Kraepelin launched the first attempt to develop a categorization system for mental illness. He divided psychological disorders into just two categories: circular insanity and dementia praecox. Circular insanity was marked by a host of mood disturbances but could be treated. Dementia praecox was an incurable, irreversible mental deterioration beginning during youth. Some of the symptoms included “atrophy of the emotions” and “shun of the will.” The prognosis was hopeless.

Professionals likely gave this label to all “bad prognosis madness.” In the late 1920s, dementia praecox fell out of favor. Eugene Bleuler’s “schizophrenia” became the preferred diagnosis for inexplicable madness. Schizophrenia had hope. Bleuler viewed dementia, hallucinations, delusions, and flat affect as secondary symptoms. By 1952, dementia praecox officially vanished from the psychological lexicon when the first edition of the DSM was published.

5Lunacy

For millennia, people thought full moons made people crazy. Aristotle claimed the brain was the “moistest” organ, and therefore most susceptible to the tidal influences. This “lunar lunacy effect” remained popular in the Western world throughout the Middle Ages. Many still cling to the belief that full moons cause an increase in hospital visits, homicides, suicides, and traffic accidents. In 2007, UK police introduced full moon units to deal with the associated increase in crime.

Little evidence shows a connection between moon phases and madness. The gravitational influence of the Moon the same across moon phases, and it only affects open water. However, there may have once been a kernel of truth to lunar lunacy. Before modern illumination, moonlight would have had a more significant effect on sleep patterns. Full moons may have led to sleep deprivation, which is known to trigger erratic behavior in bipolar sufferers.

4Neurasthenia

In 1869, physician George Miller Beard developed a diagnostic profile for a mental disorder that appeared custom designed for America’s leading families. The symptoms of neurasthenia—or nervous exhaustion—included migraines, fatigue, depression, and digestive problems. Beard saw “American nervousness” as a result of fast-paced urban life. The cure was to flee the city. Women were encouraged to rest, while men were encouraged to engage in vigorous activity in the outdoors.

By the early 20th century, this mental disorder became a status symbol. It spread from the elite downward, penetrating every level of society. “American nervousness” even spread to Europe, China, and Japan. The stigma of the disorder was removed by reassurance that it was physical in origin and not the result of mental weakness. By 1930, neurasthenia virtually disappeared from psychology. However, many of the symptoms are still present in modern illnesses like clinical depression and chronic fatigue syndrome.

3Moral Insanity

First described in 1835 by physician J.C. Prichard, moral insanity is a disease of the conscience. This mental disorder is defined by a “morbid perversion” of the emotions, habits, and impulses without any defect of intellect or reasoning.

Moral insanity continued to be diagnosed until 1881, when it was used in the trial of Charles Guiteau, who assassinated President James Garfield. One physician claimed the assassin suffered from this bygone disorder. Another labeled Guiteau an “imbecile.” In 1888, “psychopathic inferiority” began being used in place of moral insanity. Many consider moral insanity the forerunner of the modern psychopathic and anti-social personality disorders. However, experts are not even in agreement about that.

2Inadequate Personality Disorder

Inadequate personality disorder sufferers exhibit poor judgment, social instability, and lack of physical and emotional stamina. They appear poorly adapted for their environment without any real physical or intellectual defects. Patients have dim or nonexistent views of themselves in the world. Some sufferers cannot maintain minimal self-sufficiency and are often dependent on family members. The disorder was dropped from the DSM III in 1980.

There is strong evidence to link inadequate personality disorder with frontal lobe syndrome. In 1848, railroad foreman Phineas Gage took a spike to the front of his skull. His personality rapidly changed, becoming childish, erratic, and irresponsible. He ended his days as a circus sideshow performer. Frontal lobotomies, once used to treat violent psychiatric patients, also resulted in reduced creativity, spontaneity, and social effectiveness.

1Gender Identity Disorder

In 2012, the DSM removed “gender identity disorder.” This obsolete diagnosis meant that transgender people were considered mentally ill. This had long been considered stigmatizing by gender rights activists. By removing the categorization, there is no longer anything pathological about having a transgender identity.

Gender identity disorder was replaced with “gender dysphoria.” This new categorization only focuses on those who are distressed with their gender identity. While some consider this to be a significant change, others are less impressed. Supporters claim that gender dysphoria was left in the DSM in case transgender people need access to health care. Some do not think enough headway has been made. However, it is hard to argue that things are not progressing. In the 1990s, transgender people with grouped with pedophiles by the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Abraham Rinquist is the executive director of the Winooski, Vermont, branch of the Helen Hartness Flanders Folklore Society. He is the coauthor of Codex Exotica and Song-Catcher: The Adventures of Blackwater Jukebox.

These days, many new alleged disorders, health scares, and other psychological ailments seem to have been largely aided and abetted in their spread around the world by the Internet’s current viral culture. People will tell you that what you eat is killing you, what you breathe is killing you, and even Wi-Fi and drinking water will damage you forever.

Looking to take advantage of people’s fears, hucksters have used these scares to dramatize made-up disorders. Sometimes, they even create health scams themselves to sell products and make money off the gullible general public.

10 Some People Falsely Believe That Wi-Fi Is Dangerous Or That They Have A Specific Intolerance

A growing number of people claim to have electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS). These individuals believe that the radiation and other radio waves from Wi-Fi and mobile phones are causing them to be sick on a regular basis. Some have even petitioned governments to give them disability for it.

In France and Sweden, a few people have managed to get benefits for this fictitious disorder. The problem is that many of these people are being falsely legitimized because a couple of countries are confused by reports from the World Health Organization (WHO).

The WHO verified that EHS was real. But they also said that the electromagnetic part should be removed^[1] because there isn’t a shred of evidence that Wi-Fi or other similar signals are actually causing any kind of specific disorder or symptoms. In fact, the people who constantly claim to have this disorder always have symptoms that are very common—such as headaches, nausea, or a feeling of being unwell—and can be attributed to almost anything.

On top of that, studies have shown that EHS is likely to be an example of the “nocebo effect.” This occurs when someone comes to believe that something is dangerous for him. Before long, he will convince himself that it is making him sick. Then his body reacts in the opposite way it would to a placebo and sickens him for real.

While the jury is still out on whether there are any long-term repercussions from constantly talking on a mobile phone, most researchers believe that any effects are slight and that your Wi-Fi itself is not something to seriously worry about.

9 Gluten Sensitivity Is Probably The Most Overhyped ‘Disease’ Ever

It has become incredibly trendy these days to take gluten out of your diet entirely, citing claims that it somehow makes you feel sick, tired, or weak without any actual evidence to back it up. Many of these individuals don’t bother to go to a doctor to see if they actually have celiac disease or a wheat allergy. Still, some claim to have a sensitivity even though there is no way to actually test for such a thing.

Lately, some news sites have declared that research has proved the existence of gluten intolerance, but it did no such thing. Research has shown that some people who don’t test positive for a wheat allergy or celiac disease still claim to have some symptoms when eating gluten. But there are a lot of factors going on.

To begin with, our old friend the nocebo effect returns. Many people have been persuaded that gluten is bad for everyone, despite this being entirely untrue. So they psychologically convince their bodies that gluten is bad and make themselves sick.

Doctors have also suspected that irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) may have a lot to do with this. Researchers performed a double-blind study with IBS sufferers who were supposedly gluten intolerant and found that gluten was not a reliable trigger any more than a placebo.

The researchers believe that wheat and a lot of different foods can be tough on the tummies of people with IBS. These patients are just sensitive to almost everything, but gluten itself is a protein and not the culprit here.

If you think you have issues with gluten, doctors recommend that you go for an official diagnosis first. There could be many non-gluten things causing your symptoms, and you could delay a proper diagnosis by thinking you have solved the issue on your own.^[2]

The truth is that a lot of people who claim that they have a sensitivity to gluten probably just have sensitive stomachs in general.

8 Your Body Does Not Need Its ‘Energies’ To Be Balanced

These days, many people talk about their energies and the energies of those around them. They suggest that others have “negative energy” and that they have “positive energy.” They believe that this is not just people reacting to the emotions of others but some kind of actual intangible energy field that humans have around them—an aura, if you will.

This belief has led to an industry of fraudsters who claim that they practice something called Reiki. A Reiki practitioner believes that he can bring out the energy of his own body and use it to influence the energy field of someone else to help that person for the better.

Some have even claimed that they can perform this allegedly amazing feat from a distance. These practitioners implement their energy-based healing from many miles away without ever meeting their “patients.”

Here’s the truth: While it is often put forth in scientific-sounding language, Reiki is utter gibberish that is meant to confuse those who don’t understand the words being used. Your body has no special energy field, and it doesn’t emit any magnetic force.^[3]

You have energy to perform tasks, but that does not create a specific energy field. It is just a measure of how much your body is able to accomplish in a given time. Whenever someone starts talking about the electromagnetism or heat emanating from your body and how they can use that to balance your energies, you know that you are talking to a fraudster or, at the very least, someone who is extremely delusional.

7 Halitosis Is A Made-Up Disease Imagined By Listerine To Sell More Product

Some of you may have heard of the condition known as halitosis (aka bad breath). Most people take this for granted as a serious problem these days and will often have various levels of social anxiety about having potential bad breath.

In fact, some individuals have worried enough to go to doctors about the issue. Many keep their Listerine handy and even some breath mints to avoid such an embarrassing problem. However, not long ago, people didn’t worry about bad breath. As it doesn’t cause pain or any life-threatening symptoms, they figured it couldn’t be considered a real disease. And they were right. It isn’t.

During its early days, the company that made Listerine, which has been around since the late 1800s, was selling a decent amount of product to sterilize wounds, especially in the mouth. But they felt that they were not selling enough. So they made up the term “halitosis”^[4] and started a marketing blitz to play on people’s insecurities.

It worked beautifully. People were so convinced by Listerine’s ploy that almost no one will be caught with bad breath anymore. Unfortunately for Listerine’s profits, a lot of people these days just carry some breath mints and brush their teeth regularly.

6 ‘Detoxing’ Your Body Is Not A Real Thing—It Is Pushed By People Trying To Sell Useless Products

In health aisles and on health blogs, you will often see detox supplements or detox diets meant to quickly flush all the toxins out of your body so that you are clean and ready to go.

These products and the people who push them sound very alarming about the buildup of bad things in your body and suggest that what you are drinking or eating to detox is nothing more than the precious elixir of life itself. And you can have as much as you need—for a price.

As you may have guessed, their statements are not true. Perhaps one day, laws will become stricter and these fraudsters will get what they deserve.

There are a few major problems with their claims. First, they don’t understand what “detox” means. A detox^[5] is used by medical professionals to get an addict to a point where he is safely off a drug. Addicts are often tapered off drugs so that the effects of quitting cold turkey don’t kill them, which can happen with some drugs.

It has absolutely nothing to do with cleaning out your insides. When discussing detox diets or supplements, the toxins to which people refer are totally nonspecific and don’t even exist. The truth is that your body constantly flushes anything poisonous out of you on its own. A good example of this is when your body slowly works the alcohol out of your system by using your liver.

More importantly, if you really think your body is not getting the toxins out and you are becoming severely ill, then you may have something serious like organ failure and you should see a doctor immediately. A detox drink will not save you.

5 Vaginal Douching Is Completely Unnecessary

Vaginal douching is fairly common among women but actually has a rather short history. It only started to see widespread use in the last couple of centuries. At first, it was meant almost entirely as a method of birth control. Often, this meant vinegar or even chemicals would be used, which could be quite dangerous.

Over time, the purpose moved away from birth control and became more about dealing with cleaning or odors. Lysol also heavily advertised in the early 1900s, suggesting that women should be using it to clean themselves. Although people eventually realized that it was a bad idea to apply Lysol to human skin, many women had become convinced that using products to clean their vaginas was something that should be done on a regular basis.

However, the truth is that vaginas are self-cleaning and do not need any special products. On top of that, douching could upset the careful chemical balance and lead to an increased risk of infections and other complications.

Doctors simply do not recommend doing this at all.^[6] But it is an uphill battle to convince people otherwise because so many women have been douching for generations and passing the habit on to their offspring.

4 Hucksters Are Playing Up The Dangers Of Fluoride And Trying To Sell People Special Water Filters

Fluoride is one of the most controversial substances on the planet. It was made famous in popular culture with movies like Dr. Strangelove. The main character wanted to launch a nuclear attack because he felt the communists were poisoning our precious bodily fluids with fluoride and he had to stop them.

Many people today feel similarly and think that fluoride is an incredibly dangerous substance that should never have been put anywhere near our drinking water. They cite bogus studies or reviews which claim that fluoride damages children’s growing brains, causes cancer, and more.

However, these alleged tests never hold up to scrutiny. The oft-cited research that claims neurological damage results from fluoride was simply a review of tests in China. We know that China has many different factors impacting the quality of their drinking water, not just fluoride.

Despite heavy testing all over the world, there is no evidence that fluoride is harmful.^[7] The worst it can do is create small, purely cosmetic white spots on your teeth if you have too much over time.

However, there are people who try to make a buck on fluoride fears and they will defend the claims of harm until the end. Some sites even charge exorbitant sums to sell people special water filters that supposedly remove all of that evil fluoride.

3 Depression Is A Very Real Disease, But The Majority Of Those Diagnosed Do Not Actually Fit The Bill

Depression and major depressive disorder are absolutely real. There is more than enough scientific evidence to prove it—we are not arguing that. The issue is that many of the individuals diagnosed with depression do not fit the criteria properly.

In a study at Johns Hopkins, they took a look at nearly 6,000 people who had previously been diagnosed with depression and found that less than 60 percent of them truly qualified as having major depressive disorder.^[8] Even worse, antidepressant use in the United States rose by 400 percent in about 20 years, with over 10 percent of the teenage-and-up population taking antidepressants of some kind.

Although depression does exist, many people are given drugs that could make them worse while not helping with their real issues. When someone who doesn’t qualify as having depression feels sad, it is likely because life is difficult. These people may need to talk with a counselor. But taking unneeded drugs could harm the chemical balance of their brains over time.

The reason for this is serotonin syndrome and the main way that depression is treated. Most antidepressants help you produce more serotonin, which is a feel-good chemical in your brain. Those with depression have trouble producing this.

However, if you have too much serotonin in your system over time or at once, it can actually damage your ability to properly produce it. Excessive serotonin can also cause seizures in extreme cases.

Although extreme reactions are only likely to happen if you overdose, taking antidepressants over time when you don’t need them cannot be good for your chemical balance. You are basically tipping the scales in the wrong direction.

2 Trypophobia Is Not An Official Disorder And Is Very Played Up By Peer Pressure

Recently, a ridiculous new condition known as trypophobia has arisen on the web. While no one seems to have found a way to profit from it yet, you can bet someone will try as soon as they figure out a way. If nothing else, some web administrators have received decent traffic from making a huge deal about this supposed condition.

Trypophobia is the alleged fear of clustered holes. Some people claim that these holes freak them out and make them feel a horrible sense of revulsion. Supposedly, their skin gets itchy or they feel panicky or nauseous when looking at clustered holes. However, there is little reason to believe that this is a real condition.

No professional psychologist or doctor of any kind recognizes this phobia or condition. The handful of studies that have been performed were on a small scale and hardly conclusive of anything solid.

Carol Mathews, a psychiatrist at the University of California, talked to NPR about the phenomenon. She believes that it isn’t a true fear but simply a combination of priming, disgust, and people’s good old “me too” social attitudes (aka peer pressure).^[9]

Trypophobia pictures are nearly always shown with images that most people would find disgusting whether the pictures had clustered holes or not. This primes the brain—along with being told that trypophobia is a thing—to feel disgust or revulsion when you look at other such images.

Mathews also pointed out that many of these pictures, such as those of sliced cantaloupes, might gross out any of us if we look at them too long. But that doesn’t mean we actually have a condition or an instinctual revulsion. Disgust is not the same thing as fear.

1 Showering On A Daily Basis Can Be Bad For Your Health—It Is More About Smell And Expectations

Showering daily, sometimes more than once a day, or at least once a week is a habit ingrained so deeply in so many individuals in modern societies that the idea of not doing it is utterly foreign. Many people just cannot imagine a life without regular showers or baths.

They spend a lot of money on shampoos and conditioners over the years. However, there is some reason to believe that the shampoo and conditioner companies are really selling you a big, fat load of social insecurity while happily taking your money to the bank.

There appears to be no scientific basis for believing that showering is good for your health in the slightest. In fact, all evidence, while not as strong as some would like, points to the contrary.

The research suggests that showers are actually bad for you because they constantly kill off healthy skin bacteria and mess with the delicate microbial balance that keeps you safe from diseases and other problems.^[10] Frequent bathing was not widespread until the more modern world emerged. Even then, the kinds of shampoos that we use now became common only recently.

In most people’s eyes, there was never any real need to shower so often until clever marketers convinced people that their natural odor was socially unacceptable. These marketers wanted to sell shampoos and other products like deodorant, so they created an industry that is now worth billions of dollars a year.

We aren’t saying that you should simply skip showers in today’s world. But showering with mostly water unless you really feel the need to remove a smell could at least cut down on how much you are harming your body’s balance of skin bacteria.

Most media attention focuses on illnesses that affect large swaths of people—the epidemics and pandemics. But, as strange as it sounds, there are certain ailments and mental disorders that only affect members of a particular tribe or region.

Even in Western medicine, many of these illnesses and disorders lack any tangible cause, explanation, or treatment. Most of the affected tribesmen attribute these ailments to a spirit, curse, or witch.

10 Uppgivenhetssyndrom

Uppgivenhetssyndrom is a bizarre illness that only affects refugee children from former Soviet or Yugoslav states who now live in Sweden. The children suddenly develop the illness whenever they realize that their family is about to be deported to their original country. The kids exhibit coma-like symptoms and refuse to move, talk, or eat. They just remain in their beds as if they were dead.

In a well-documented case, one of two sisters from Kosovo lost her ability to walk a day after hearing that her family was about to be deported. The other sister soon joined her, and they remained in the coma-like state for two years. Children in this condition only return to their normal selves when the Swedish government reverses the deportation notice and allows their family to stay in the country. Even so, the children take months to recover.

In another well-documented case, a boy spent three extra months in bed after his family had a deportation notice reversed and was granted a residency permit. He opened his eyes and sat up but needed support to straighten his head.^[1]

9 Amafufunyana

Amafufunyana is a disease unique to the Zulus and the Xhosas of South Africa. It often involves a person’s stomach speaking a language that the person doesn’t understand.

Among the Xhosas, for instance, there are claims that the stomach speaks Zulu. The stomach also delivers threats and dishes out orders to the victim. One woman’s stomach told her that she would never have a child. It also threatened to afflict her with seizures and kill her. Another girl was told to jump in front of a moving car.

Sufferers often experience nightmares, fatigue, and sleep difficulties. They also become angry, highly agitated, and prone to suicide. Sometimes, they even start talking in another voice.

Native healers believe that the disease is the result of a curse. The person responsible for the curse supposedly takes ants from a dead person’s grave, makes it into poison, and feeds it to the would-be victim. Once eaten, the victim begins to hear his stomach talking.

Between 1981 and 1983, amafufunyana affected over 400 schoolchildren in South Africa. The pupils suffered swollen stomachs and started running about, kicking chairs and desks. Their stomachs reportedly spoke Zulu, saying they were sent to possess the children.^[2]

Three women were blamed for the incident. Two fled, but the last was caught and almost killed by the angry children. The children were arrested and charged with assault. But they behaved so erratically in court that the case was adjourned five times.

8 Running Amok

In English, the phrase “(to) run amok” refers to the act of behaving in a wild and unruly manner. Or rather, it means “to go crazy.” The phrase is actually from “running amok,” an illness peculiar to the natives of Malaysia, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. A person suffering from “running amok” exhibits violent and unpredictable behaviors and may even commit suicide.

Running amok has been documented for about 200 years and is regarded as a mental disorder in Western medicine. It is believed to be a consequence of the isolation of the native tribes and is compounded by their spiritual beliefs. However, natives believe that it is caused by a spirit taking over the body.^[3]

The only cure for running amok is to kill the victim. This is dangerous because the victim will also attempt to murder the person trying to kill him. Another treatment is to just let the patient be. If he does not commit suicide, he could recover. However, the patient often develops amnesia and cannot remember all that happened.

7 Hikikomori

Hikikomori is a mental disease peculiar to Japanese youths. It means “withdrawal” or “pulling in” and kicks in when the youth withdraws from everyone and locks himself up in his home for months, doing almost nothing other than thinking. Some young people even exhibit traits of obsessive-compulsive disorder and repeatedly clean their rooms or cut themselves. Most victims are at least 25 years old, and 80 percent are male.

Sociologists believe that hikikomori is caused by Western influence on the Japanese labor market. Ideally, Japanese students get jobs immediately after graduating from college and remain there for the rest of their lives. However, some break this cycle and get jobs after high school or do not get jobs immediately after graduating from college. When this happens, they find it difficult to return to the same level as their colleagues who did not break the cycle.

A study sponsored by the Japanese government revealed that 236,000 Japanese suffered from hikikomori in 2010. The government does not really understand the disease. It funded research that only caused more confusion because it couldn’t even give a proper definition of the disease. The lack of classification means that victims do not get effective treatment.^[4]

6 Wendigo Psychosis

Wendigo psychosis is a mental disorder that causes the victim to develop a taste for human flesh. It is supposedly unique to northeastern Native American tribes. We say “supposedly” because the disorder lacks any concrete documentation, causing some to believe that it was made up. Some anthropologists believe that Wendigo psychosis was a general name for mental illness.

No one has ever seen a person suffering from Wendigo psychosis who was actually eating someone. In the early 1900s, missionary J.E. Saindon met a woman suffering from the disorder. The woman had no interest in eating flesh. But she avoided strangers because she was afraid that she would kill them. The only reason she wanted to kill strangers was because she feared the same strangers also wanted to kill her.

Other accounts of Wendigo psychosis are mostly controversial. One is about a man who reportedly killed and ate members of his family after the death of his eldest son. Another is about a man called Jack Fiddler who was tried and executed for curing someone with the disorder. By cure, we mean he killed the person.^[5]

5 Hwa-byung

Hwa-byung (“fire disease”) is specific to Koreans. It refers to the boiling emotions felt by a person suppressing his anger. As a result, it is also called “suppressed anger syndrome.” Koreans believe hwa-byung lasts from the time a person starts suppressing his anger until he reacts when he can’t take it anymore. At that point, the person tends to engage in long, detailed talks.

Sufferers often complain of a boiling sensation in their chests or bodies. They also become dizzy, depressed, angry, weak, irritated, paranoid, and fatigued. In addition, they suffer from headaches and blurred vision.

Hwa-byung is common among poor Koreans and Korean women between the ages of 40–50. The women often develop the disorder due to childlessness or pressures put on them by their in-laws. These women also experience hwa-byung when they discover their husbands are cheating on them.^[6]

4 Pibloktoq

Pibloktoq is also called “Arctic hysteria.” It was first detected in 1892 and is peculiar to the Inuit tribe living in the Arctic region. Sufferers often become agitated, shouting and tearing off their clothes before running naked in the freezing temperatures. This continues for hours until they collapse and sleep it off. They have recovered by the time they wake up.

The Inuit believe that pibloktoq is the result of someone becoming possessed by a spirit. In fact, they rate the illness positively since the victim could receive revelations from those spirits. As a result, victims are often left alone unless they endanger themselves.

Researchers believe that pibloktoq is caused by several factors, including the fat of animals eaten by the Inuit and a lack of vitamin A. The extremely cold weather is also considered to be a possible factor. European sailors stranded in the Arctic region in the 19th century suffered from the illness, and so do the sled dogs of the Inuit.^[7]

3 Wild Pig Syndrome

Wild pig syndrome (aka the wild man syndrome) is exclusive to the young men of the Gururumba tribe of New Guinea. Sufferers suddenly become aggressive and behave irrationally, stealing anything they can lay their hands on and shooting arrows at random people. After a few days of continuous display of irrational behavior, the sufferer runs into the bush. There, he recovers and returns as a normal person.^[8]

Members of the Gururumba tribe believe that wild pig syndrome is caused by the bite of the ghost of a dead person. The irrational actions exhibited by the victim prove that he is incapable of coping with the frustrations of life and is unable to control his behavior.

2 Grisi Siknis

Grisi siknis is a mental disorder that occurs among the Miskito population of Nicaragua. Sufferers often remain in a coma-like state until they suddenly burst into a fit of rage. During this fit, they use weapons to fight off unseen enemies and try to flee from the community with their eyes closed. They also become exceptionally agitated and require up to four people to hold them down.

Grisi siknis often affects groups of tribesmen at once. In one incident, 60 people in one community suffered from the malady at the same time. In Western medicine, grisi siknis is believed to be a form of mass hysteria and is often treated with anticonvulsant drugs and antidepressants, which never work.^[9]

Members of the Miskito tribe believe that grisi siknis is the aftereffect of a curse and often turn to traditional healers for treatment. Investigations conducted after an outbreak in the 1950s concluded that it is just hallucinations. Apparently, someone deliberately added hallucinogenic drugs into the tribe’s water supply.

1 Shenkui

Shenkui is an illness peculiar to the Chinese. It is described as the loss or the fear of the loss of male energy, which the Chinese call yang. Sufferers believe that they’re becoming deficient in yang and masculinity by losing their semen. Supposedly, this happens by masturbating, having excessive sex, experiencing wet dreams, or passing white urine.

Sometimes, the kidney takes the blame. In Chinese traditional medicine, the kidney is believed to be responsible for turning blood into semen. As a result, a shortage of semen is sometimes attributed to a weak kidney.

To avoid losing their yang, Chinese men develop pa-leng and pa-feng, the phobias for cold and wind, respectively. To combat the problem, these men wear warm clothing and eat hot food.^[10]

We’ve all heard of plenty of medical conditions, medical and mental disorders and illnesses throughout our lives, we may very well have friends or family members dealing with them, or, for a lot of us, we’ve become familiarised with them through mainstream media such as films and television. What many of us don’t realise, however, is that the depiction of these conditions is often wildly flawed and leads to serious misunderstandings. While we could list many more, this article talks about ten examples of just that.

Top 10 Disturbing Films Featuring Sociopaths

10 Amnesia

The scene where a character is knocked out, traumatised, or otherwise injured and wakes up remembering nothing is not one that’s new to many of us, it’s a trope nearly as old as media itself, yet it’s really more of a plot device than something that paints an accurate picture of this very complex and multifaceted condition.

While, yes, this clichéd scenario may happen, it’s not nearly as common as films would have you believe and it’s not the only type of amnesia, though certainly a lot more heavily featured than anterograde amnesia – the inability to form new memories – and transient global amnesia, a sadly misunderstood condition that causes confusion and agitation in patients. Alongside this, a physical injury being the cause of retrograde amnesia, the one we know so well, while certainly possible, isn’t always the case and it’s usually more gradual and varying than it’s portrayed, though certainly still very serious.^[1]

9 Narcolepsy

Narcolepsy, often portrayed simply as a mysterious disorder that makes people fall asleep randomly, is another condition that’s heavily used in fiction and just as misunderstood because of it.

Narcolepsy, in reality, is another very complex condition with a neurological cause and symptoms that may vary wildly. While, yes, it may make people fall asleep randomly during the day, it’s a lot more than that. Common symptoms of the disorder are sometimes extreme daytime sleepiness, sleep paralysis, potential hallucinations, and, in some patients, cataplexy, the sudden loss of the ability to control their muscles, it may be triggered by intense emotions or reactions and it usually lasts for a few minutes, during which the person going through it is actually awake.

Some of these symptoms are thankfully treatable, even though the condition itself sadly isn’t there yet, and people who have serious narcoleptic symptoms are usually a lot more careful to manage them as best as possible than they are in any film you may see about this condition, even aside from the often vastly different symptoms.^[2]

8 Sociopathy and Psychopathy / ASPD

Veering off towards the topic of misunderstood mental disorders, sociopathy and psychopathy, more formally recognised as ASPD, or Antisocial Personality Disorder, is an extremely demonised condition that, while certainly requires care, understanding, and perhaps caution around individuals who have the disorder, isn’t necessarily something that turns people into criminals or serial killers and it’s absolutely one of the mental disorders that could really use some more accurate representation in popculture.

While it is true that people with this disorder may lie, manipulate, and commit crimes and immoral acts, ASPD, like all mental conditions, exists on a large spectrum and many people who have it lead completely normal lives and aren’t out to harm people. Caution may be advised, but certainly also needed are understanding and proper care.^[3]

7 Schizophrenia

Staying on track with mental disorders, schizophrenia may just be the most misunderstood out of any of them, both in media and in real life.
A serious condition that’s often confused with Dissociative Identity Disorder, having multiple personalities, is an entirely different condition in reality and also vastly differs from the way films and television also somewhat demonise it and portray it in various horrible ways – schizophrenia driving people to commit homicide, people who just mumble to themselves and can’t function, reality is, as usual, not like that.

People with schizophrenia experience a variety of symptims, though typically hallucinations, delusions, and disordered thinking, the widely portrayed “voices in one’s head” phenomenon is sometimes a symptom of it as well, but rather than a violent mental illness that leaves people without control, people suffering from it are generally harmless and don’t pose more of a threat than anybody else. Like many others on this list, schizophrenia and the people living with it don’t deserve baseless fear, they deserve respect, care, and a better understanding of the condition as a whole.^[4]

6 Brain Injuries

Traumatic brain injury is another condition that may range from mild to severe, this time with a physical cause, and simply put, it really is just the injury of someone’s brain tissue. Films often connect this to amnesia as well, and while memory and concentration problems are potential symptoms, they don’t usually align with a complete memory loss.

Often, in media, brain injuries are thrown around as a term to explain any change in a character’s psyche and behaviour and it’s usually portrayed as more mental than physical, in reality, however, physical symptoms such as headaches, vomiting, nausea, loss of consciousness or a very dazed feeling, dizziness, trouble speaking and forming words, increased sensitivity to sensory input such as light and audio, and trouble performing everyday tasks are the general symptoms, certainly not as mysterious as TV would have you believe.^[5]

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5 Autism

Autism is something nearly everyone’s heard about but few have understood properly. Another spectrum disorder, symptoms of autism do vary from person to person, though all are categorised as some form of neurodiverse behaviour, which really just means that people with autism and other neurodiverse conditions diverge from the typical norm.

Autism nowadays is often referred to as ASD or Autism Spectrum Disorder because of this reason, and each autistic person’s mind may be very different from one another. Some may struggle with sensory input, others with social norms, while others may have communicative problems or a whole other range of issues. While it is considered a controversial term by some, the term “high-functioning” is often used to describe people who, despite living with autism, blend into society and its typical expectations and may live and go about their days without supervision.

Either way, autism certainly doesn’t mean a lack of emotion or empathy that would turn people into serial killers, neither does it give people inexplicable superpower-like intelligence, though. Autistic people, just as others, deserve respect, human decency, and help if necessary, not fiction-induced fear or pity.^[6]

4 Fibromyalgia

Characterised by chronic, widespread pain, fibromyalgia, or FM, is often portrayed very one-dimensionally in fiction, just to give a character pains throughout their body with a suitable explanation, again, however, no medical condition is really that simple.

FM is often caused by physical or psychological trauma, though it may also begin without a known cause. Symptoms do include the one mentioned above but tiredness, trouble sleeping, remembering things, or maintaining their mood may also impact people dealing with this condition.

While there’s no cure for this disorder, various medications and stress-reduction may thankfully offer a way to treat the symptoms.^[7]

3 Depression

Many of us can attest to the fact that depression is misrepresented in media, and, again, in real life. Many people have dealt with it, had a friend or family member deal with it, or still deals with it today, perhaps right now as they’re reading this.

Once called “chronic sadness”, depression is a serious mental illness that affects millions of people, yet it’s still often both trivialised and misconstrued in media. More than simply being sad or something a person could overcome in a day or a week or after a heartfelt speech about life, depression is something that needs treatment and help and the way it’s used as a plot device frequently falls very flat with many symptoms also going unrepresented, such as issues involving sleeping, eating, working, doing daily tasks, and a lot more.^[8]

2 OCD

Let’s go over the familiar scene in our heads, collectively, right now; a character sees something mismatched or unsatisfying, expresses their discomfort, and runs over to fix it, often chalked up to OCD and played as something humorous, even though behind it lies a very real mental disorder that’s more than repeating a habit or doing something in a very specific way.

Like its name suggests, obsessive compulsions are the major symptom to speak of here, things people with OCD have an incredibly hard time resisting, or, in some cases, literally cannot, no matter how hard they try. Checking things multiple times, the irrational belief of some concept or item being “wrong” or “bad”, intrusive thoughts, fears of contamination and illnesses, and a lot more, with these symptoms often taking up hours every single day and not a few moments of someone who doesn’t have OCD but simply prefers being tidy.^[9]

1 Insanity

Insanity, craziness, madness, a series of terms popularised by films and still frequently used today even though these terms have no real medical meaning behind them. Generally just an insulting and exaggerated umbrella term for severe mental illnesses or disorders, it’s a very frequent sight in fiction, characters who have “lost their minds” or “went insane”, but in reality, it’s nothing more than an archaic term.

It is, however, still used in the United States as a legal term for criminals who committed crimes presumably fueled by mental illness and without a conception of right or wrong or the ability to recognise their wrongdoing as the latter.

Portrayed in a very large variety of ways and always with extreme effects, screaming, wild hallucinations, unpredictable and dangerous behaviour, this again shows that mental illnesses must be understood better instead of their Hollywood treatment of being an inaccurately depicted metaphorical monster to explain away any unusual or immoral behaviours, no matter how extreme or unrealistic.^[10]

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Neurological disorders are a range of conditions that can affect the nervous system, including the brain, spinal cord, and nerves. These disorders can be debilitating and life-altering, with symptoms that can affect a person’s movement, sensation, and cognitive ability.

While some neurological disorders, like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, are well-known and commonly discussed, there are many rare and horrifying neurological disorders that few people are aware of. From the rare and debilitating to just plain horrifying, these disorders are as fascinating as they are devastating.

Related: 10 Human Mental Disorders That Affect Pets Too

10 Alice in Wonderland Syndrome (AIWS)

Also known as Todd’s Syndrome, this rare neurological condition is named after the book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, in which the main character, Alice, experiences many surreal changes in size. The disorder is characterized by perceptual distortions such as changes in body image, size, shape, and color of objects.

People with the syndrome may experience micropsia, in which objects appear smaller than they actually are, or macropsia, where objects appear larger than they are in reality. They may also perceive sounds as louder or quieter than they are and experience distortions in time perception.

The exact cause of the syndrome is unknown, but it’s believed to be linked to a variety of factors, including migraines, epilepsy, infections such as infectious mononucleosis, and the use of hallucinogenic drugs. This condition can affect people of all ages, but it is more common in children. According to some available research, up to 30% of teenagers may experience brief episodes of AIWS symptoms. However, more research is needed to confirm this and to determine the reasons behind it.

AIWS is not extensively studied because it is typically a temporary condition. Many of the underlying causes of AIWS are also short-lived, which leads to brief episodes of the symptoms. In fact, between 1955 and 2016, only a small number of cases (less than 200) were severe and prolonged enough to require direct medical attention.^[1]

9 Cotard’s Syndrome

Cotard’s syndrome is a rare mental illness characterized by the delusional belief that one is dead, does not exist, or has lost one’s internal organs or blood. It is named after Jules Cotard, a French neurologist who first described the condition in the 1880s.

Symptoms of Cotard’s syndrome may vary from person to person, but some common symptoms include depression, anxiety, self-neglect, delusions, and hallucinations. Some people with Cotard’s syndrome may even deny the existence of God or the devil. In severe cases, individuals with Cotard’s syndrome may refuse to eat or drink, believing that they do not need sustenance since they are already dead.

The exact cause of Cotard’s syndrome is still not fully understood, but some researchers believe it may be caused by a combination of biological, psychological, and environmental factors. Possible causes include brain damage, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and drug abuse.

Since Cotard’s can be caused by various conditions, there’s no universal treatment for all cases. Some treatments that have shown promising results include; antipsychotic medications, antidepressants, psychotherapy, and even electroconvulsive therapy.^[2]

8 Foreign Accent Syndrome

FAS is a rare speech disorder that causes a person’s speech to sound as if they have an accent from another country. While that may not sound all that horrifying, the disorder can be caused by a variety of frightening, life-altering factors such as stroke, brain injury, or neurological conditions like multiple sclerosis. Beyond the most obvious symptom of FAS, the development of a foreign accent, other symptoms can include difficulty with speaking and pronouncing words, changes in intonation and rhythm, and difficulty with word choice and grammar.

Since its first report in the 1940s, there have only been about 100 known cases of FAS. The most famous case involved a Norwegian woman who was hit by shrapnel in World War II. As a result, she developed a German accent. Another case involved a woman from Devon, United Kingdom, who acquired a Chinese accent after experiencing a migraine and a British woman who, after suffering from a stroke, began speaking with a French accent.^[3]

7 Alien Hand Syndrome

Alien Hand Syndrome (AHS) is a rare neurological disorder that affects limb movement control. It’s also known as anarchic hand or Dr. Strangelove syndrome. Individuals with AHS experience involuntary movements of one of their hands, which seems to have a mind of its own. The symptoms of AHS can vary from person to person.

In most cases, the affected hand will perform actions that are opposite to the person’s intentions. For example, the hand may reach out to touch something the person wants to avoid. The hand may also undo buttons or zippers or even hit the person’s face. In some cases, the affected hand may have a tendency to grab objects and hold them tightly, making it difficult for the person to release them.

AHS is caused by damage to the brain, usually resulting from surgery or injury. This damage can affect the communication between different parts of the brain that control limb movements. In some cases, AHS may be associated with other neurological disorders, such as epilepsy or dementia.

In one disturbing case, a 77-year-old woman reported that while sitting and watching TV, she suddenly noticed her left hand moving on its own. She couldn’t control it and stated that it kept moving for almost 30 minutes, even stroking her face and hair.^[4]

6 Mirror-Touch Synesthesia

Mirror-Touch Synesthesia is a fascinating neurological condition that researchers have been studying more in recent years. It belongs to the family of synesthesia, which is a condition where the stimulation of one sense can lead to the stimulation of another sense.

In the case of Mirror-Touch Synesthesia, individuals can experience the same sensation as another person, even if they are not physically being touched. For example, seeing someone else being touched or feeling a sensation can trigger a physical sensation in the person with the condition, such as a tickling or tingling sensation. The intensity and duration of this condition can vary, with some individuals experiencing brief sensations and others experiencing more prolonged ones.

There is some research questioning whether individuals with MTS synesthesia are more empathetic than those without the condition. Several studies have shown that individuals with MTS may exhibit enhanced empathy, leading to more selfless behavior. Furthermore, 2018 research indicates that MTS can enhance emotional reactivity and improve the capacity to recognize emotions.^[5]

5 Prosopagnosia

Prosopagnosia, commonly known as face blindness, is a rare neurological disorder that impairs a person’s ability to recognize faces. The condition can be caused by brain damage or may be present from birth. Damage to the brain’s fusiform gyrus, responsible for facial recognition, is the most common cause of prosopagnosia. However, some people are born with the condition, which is believed to be caused by a genetic mutation.

Individuals with prosopagnosia can still see and perceive facial features, but they are unable to connect them to a specific person. They may also experience difficulty remembering the faces of people they have met before, even if they have known them for a long time. Some people with prosopagnosia may also struggle with recognizing other objects, such as cars or buildings.

Experts don’t have a clear understanding of the exact prevalence of prosopagnosia. Some studies suggest that up to 2.5% of individuals have congenital prosopagnosia (also known as developmental prosopagnosia) to some degree.^[6]

4 Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva

Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP) is a rare genetic disorder that affects approximately 1 in two million people worldwide. Also known as “stone man syndrome,” FOP is characterized by the progressive formation of bone in muscles, tendons, and ligaments, leading to restricted movement and, eventually, complete immobility.

The disorder is caused by a mutation in the ACVR1 gene, which provides instructions for creating a protein that is involved in the development and maintenance of bones and other tissues. The mutation causes the protein to become overactive, leading to the formation of extra bone in the soft tissues of the body. Unfortunately, there is no known cure, and treatment options are quite limited.

Frighteningly, according to a recent study, there is a high rate of misdiagnosis across the globe, with incorrect diagnoses accounting for approximately 90% of cases. This alarming statistic is compounded by the fact that a staggering 67% of patients undergo invasive diagnostic procedures that may actually do more harm than good.

One can imagine the physical and emotional toll this takes on patients, who may endure prolonged suffering and may even be subjected to unnecessary treatments.^[7]

3 Kleine-Levin Syndrome

Kleine-Levin Syndrome (KLS), also known as Sleeping Beauty Syndrome, is a rare neurological disorder that affects about one to two cases per million, primarily adolescents and young adults. Its symptoms include recurrent episodes of excessive sleep, altered behavior, and cognitive disturbances.

During these episodes, individuals may sleep up to 20 hours a day, with a decreased need for food and water. Other symptoms of KLS may include altered behavior, such as impulsivity, irritability, and hypersexuality, as well as cognitive disturbances, such as confusion, disorientation, and memory loss.

KLS affects people for a short period, typically lasting from a week to a couple of months. During the periods between episodes, the person does not exhibit any symptoms. The causes of KLS are unknown, and there is no cure for it. The person may experience several episodes every few weeks or months, and KLS can last for ten years or more before resolving on its own.

During episodes, approximately 50% of patients exhibited symptoms consistent with hypersexuality. These symptoms were more prevalent in men than in women. In males, symptoms included increased or overt masturbation, exposing oneself, using obscene language, fondling genitalia, and making unwanted sexual advances.

In some cases, these inappropriate sexual advances included assaulting female nursing staff, female visitors, the patient’s sisters, daughters, or other female relatives, and in three of them, another man. In addition to sexual compulsions, some patients also compulsively began singing, body rocking, chewing lips, writing on walls, stripping down wallpaper, and desiring to set fire to things.^[8]

2 Witzelsucht

Pathological joking is a condition known as Witzelsucht, characterized by excessively telling pointless or inappropriate jokes. The word is derived from the German words for joke, “witz,” and addiction, “sucht.” A 2016 study conducted by California doctors Elias Granadillo and Mario Mendez explored the condition. The study documented two cases, including a 69-year-old man who experienced a personality change and began compulsively making jokes after suffering a brain bleed ten years prior.

He also exhibited behavior such as a fixation on recycling and making borderline offensive comments. During an interview, the patient reported feeling happy but also expressed concern about his compulsive need to make jokes. Despite the humorous nature of the interview, the patient acknowledged that his behavior had become an issue with his wife. He would often wake her up in the middle of the night to tell jokes.

In an interview with a second patient, a 57-year-old man stated that he began exhibiting erratic behavior three years prior to the study. He developed a habit of telling childish jokes and laughing uncontrollably at his own comments. Additionally, he showed a lack of inhibition and purchased almost two dozen Hawaiian shirts. He also went six weeks without bathing. The patient’s medical history was unremarkable, and he had mostly normal results from a neurologic examination.

However, he deteriorated in cognition and developed Parkinsonism, eventually passing away more than a decade later. According to the authors of the 2016 study, the pathological humor exhibited by two patients was associated with damage to the bifrontal regions of their brains. A significant commonality between the patients (and an ironically funny one at that) was that they found their own jokes hilarious but failed to find other people’s jokes amusing.^[9]

1 Jerusalem Syndrome

Jerusalem syndrome is a set of mental phenomena triggered by a visit to Jerusalem, which involves religiously themed obsessive ideas, delusions, or other experiences that resemble psychosis. It has affected individuals from various religious backgrounds, including Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

Jerusalem syndrome was more common in the past, with around 50 cases per year, leading to the establishment of a psychiatric hospital in Jerusalem as the designated treatment center for affected tourists, primarily Christians. Reported cases of the condition increased leading up to the millennium. However, in a 2011 interview, a hospital psychiatrist stated that they only saw two or three cases per year.

In the Old City of Jerusalem, a curious incident occurred involving a man from the Midwest who was found wandering around in a white robe, claiming to be the Apostle Paul. This individual was apprehended by the police and taken to a local mental health clinic after attempting to force observant Jews and Muslims to follow his beliefs and ways.

Another famous case involved a man who believed he was John the Baptist and was found wandering naked in the desert, attempting to baptize people he came across before being apprehended by local police. Most patients who experience this break from reality are Christian pilgrims who are deeply religious. They tend to be Protestants rather than Catholics and come from rural areas. Typically middle-aged, inexperienced travelers.

In addition, this is often their first trip abroad, and they have an idealized image of Jerusalem from years of studying the Bible. These patients cannot reconcile their expectations with reality, leading to a short-term mental breakdown. ^[10]