5 Strangest Mental Disorders
Stockholm and Lima Syndrome – Both Stockholm syndrome, and Lima syndrome are very similar mental Disorders: Stockholm syndrome is where a victim of abduction develops a personal attachment to the abductor, while Lima Syndrome is the opposite: the abductor develops a feeling of sympathy towards the ‘abductee’. In 1973 a group of bank robbers held the bank employees captive for five days. The victims became attached to the robbers and defended them even after being freed. One of the captors even ended up marrying an abductee.
Somatoparaphrenia – This mental disorder is distinguished by the refusal to believe that a person owns part of their body. This can be just a limb or a whole side of the body. For example, a person may think that their limb does not belong to them, but rather to a friend or stranger who left it behind. For the person suffering, amputation seems the way to fix themselves. In reality, treatment is as simple as squirting water into the ear in a specific way (done only by a professional).
Neglect Syndrome – This Mental Disorders condition causes a person to give unequal attention to both sides of space. For example, a man may forget to shave half his face, or a woman may only shave one leg. This is due to damage on one hemisphere of the brain. It may be caused by a stroke or other brain-damaging conditions. If asked to draw a clock, a person with Neglect syndrome would draw a circle but put all the detailing only on one side (numbers and hands).
Genital Retraction Syndrome –This Mental Disorder syndrome causes the affected person to believe that their genitals (breasts for women) are gradually becoming smaller. Because of this syndrome, there has been terror and hysteria with male members. This hysteria is referred to as penis panic. Two years ago in Congo, there was a case of penis panic where people using black magic stole and shrank men’s genitals. This condition is uncommon, except in places where traditional religions and witchcraft are still used.
Capagras Delusion –By far, one the scariest mental disorders is the Capagras Delusion – This causes the sufferer to believe that a close friend, spouse, or a family member has been replaced with an identical looking person. This disorder is extremely uncommon and most likely will appear in a person with schizophrenia or dementia. A woman contracted this disorder at the age of 74. She believed her husband had been replaced with an identical imposter. She refused to sleep with him, locked her door, and requested a gun. This condition is sometimes used in movies (i.e. The Stepford Wives).
