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The editors at Psych Degrees decided to research the topic of: 5 Strangest Mental DisordersA mental or bodily condition marked primarily by sufficient disorganization of personality, mind, and emotions to seriously impair the normal psychological functioning of the individual Going Mental- An estimated 1 in 5 Americans have a mental disorder - Women are more likely to be diagnosed than men - 23% of women - 16.9% of men - Mental illness is more than 2x as likely in ages 18-25 than in adults 50+ - Serious mental illness is defined by moderate - extreme impairment of 1-4 of the following: - Feeling/Mood - Thinking - Family - Role performance - Socio-legal - Self Care/Basic needs - 2011: About 11.4m adult Americans suffered from serious mental illness (also what is considered "serious" mental illness?) - 8.7m admitted to thoughts of suicide - 2m of them made suicide plans - 1m of them attempted suicide - About 60% of those will mental illness receive treatment Five of the Strangest Mental Illnesses Cotard's Syndrome - AKA "Walking Corpse Syndrome"- A mental disorder causing the sufferer to think - they are dead - all of their blood and organs have been removed - their soul has been removed - First described by Dr. Jules Cotard in 1882 - Cotard's has been reported in patients with - mood disorders - psychotic disorders - medical conditions - Most Cotard's cases are more responsive to ECT (electroconvulsive treatment) than to medication - Cotard's signifies a disconnect between two areas of the brain - The area that recognizes faces - The area that is able to associate emotions with facial recognition - Sufferers may not recognize their own face - Part of the brain: Fusiform Gyrus Region & Temporal Lobe Synesthesia- An anomalous blending of the senses - stimulation of one modality simultaneously causes sensation in a different modality - Synesthetes hear colors, feel sounds and taste shapes - Synesthetic sensations are highly consistent - This differentiates them from drug-induced hallucinations - Examples of consistencies for many synesthetes: - the note F is often a reddish shade of rust - a 3 is usually pink - the word truck is usually blue - Synesthetes often have unusually good memory for - phone numbers - security codes - anatomical terminology - Because digits, letters and syllables take on unique colors - They make make computational errors because 6 and 8 have the same color - 3x as many US women as men have Synesthesia - 8x as many women as men in the UK (reason unknown) - Part of the brain: Limbic system Windigo Psychosis- A disorder involving an insatiable craving for human flesh, coupled with the fear of becoming a cannibal. - Windigo Psychosis is a cultural phenomenon of the Algonquians of Northern Canada - Research suggests Windigo Psychosis occurs due to - Environment - Northeastern Canadian woodlands - Extremely cold winters - Cultural conditions - Cultural fear of the Wendigo (a cannibalistic monster who takes possession of humans) - Cultural fear of cannibalism - Diet and nutrition - People suffer from Windigo Psychosis during periods of famine - Many cannibals have been found to suffer from schizophrenia - Consumption of humans can result in Kuru (the human equivalent of Mad Cow disease) - Part of the brain: (Most likely) Temporal and Frontal Lobe Capgras Syndrome- A rare delusion in which a person falsely believes their loved one has been replaced by a duplicate impostor - Named after French psychiatrist, Joseph Capgras - He first described the disorder in 1929 - A female patient complained that her husband had been replaced by a corresponding double - Capgras is an unusual form of displacement - the sufferer rejects a loved when when negative feelings arise - They cannot allow themselves to be conscious of their rejection - The negative feelings are passed to a double - an impostor who can be safely rejected - Part of the brain: Fusiform Gyrus Region & Temporal Lobe Alien Hand Syndrome- A neurological disorder in which one hand functions involuntarily with the victim completely unaware its actions - Symptoms include - involuntary reaching or grasping - touching the face - tearing at clothing - More extreme cases include - involuntarily stuffing food into the mouth - preventing the normal hand from completely tasks - self inflicted punching or choking - Sufferers often experience embarrassment or are put in harm's way due to the renegade limb - AHS was first identified in 1909 - There have only been 40-50 cases reported since then - AHS is thought to be due to nerve damage in the Corpus Callosum - Part of the brain: Frontal Lobe & Corpus Callosum Sources- http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/01/19/1-in-5-americans-suffer-from-mental-illness/ - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/24/facial-recognition-brain-fusiform-gyrus_n_2010192.html - http://www.brainwaves.com/brain_basics.html - http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=what-is-synesthesia - http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/syne.html - http://science.discovery.com/life-earth-science/10-little-known-mental-disorders.htm - "The Cree Witiko Psychosis", Primitive Man 1933 Author: John M. Cooper - http://www.businessinsider.com/10-things-you-always-wondered-about-cannibalism-2012-5?op=1 - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carol-w-berman-md/capgras-syndrome_b_888854.html - http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/alien-hand3.htm - http://www.psychology-101.com/2012/04/13-strange-mental-conditions.html - http://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/mental%20disorder - http://www.odmhsas.org/eda/advancedquery/smi.htm |