10 Real Mental Disorders That Are Scarier Than Any Horror Movie
1. WALKING CORPSE SYNDROME
“‘Walking Corpse’ Syndrome or Cotard delusion. The person has the delusion that they are dead or do not exist. They belief they are putrefying, even thinking that they no longer have vital organs. Extreme cases even involve the person believe they can smell their flesh rotting. If left untreated for a long enough period of time, or treatment is unsuccessful, the person’s organs begin to shut down.”
2. THE CAPGRAS DELUSION
“The Capgras Delusion: Psychiatric disorder which causes the person to believe that people close to them are impostors. If they see a person (like a parent or a spouse) they’ll think that person is impersonating the person they know. However, if they talk with the same person over the phone it has been shown that they have no issue believing it is the same person.”
—CN14
3. ALIEN HAND SYNDROME
“Alien Hand Syndrome sounds really Dr. Strangelove-y, but it’s a very real thing to an unfortunate few.
Sufferers of AHS permanently (it seems) lose control of one of their hands. The hand essentially has a will of its own and acts completely independently of the rest of the body. At very best, this condition is a colossal inconvenience (they misplace things regularly) and at worst, an ever-present danger. Those afflicted have been known to wake up to being strangled by their hand and have to always be aware of any sharp objects nearby.
AHS occurs after someone experiences significant brain trauma—usually a stroke. I say ‘usually’ because this condition is exceedingly rare, resulting in only a few documented cases since the first diagnosis in 1908.”
4. ALICE IN WONDERLAND SYNDROME
“Alice in Wonderland Syndrome is a disorienting neurological condition that affects human perception. People experience micropsia, macropsia, pelopsia, teleopsia, or size distortion of other sensory modalities.
A prominent and often disturbing symptom are experiences of altered body image. The person may find that they are confused as to the size and shape of parts of (or all of) their body. They may feel as though their body is expanding or getting smaller. Alice in Wonderland syndrome also involves perceptual distortions of the size or shape of objects.
Patients with certain neurological diseases have experienced similar visual hallucinations. These hallucinations are called ‘Lilliputian,’ which means that objects appear either smaller or larger than they actually are.
Patients may experience either micropsia or macropsia. Micropsia is an abnormal visual condition, usually occurring in the context of visual hallucination, in which affected persons see objects as being smaller than those objects actually are. Macropsia is a condition where the individual sees everything larger than it actually is.”
5. ANASOGNOSIA
“Anasognosia is a pretty blanket term/diagnosis but it describes a patient who is unaware or refuses to believe they are sick. Paralyzed victims, stroke victims, heart attack victims, etc, etc., will insist they are just fine, not out of a fear but because they are literally incapable of recognizing their ailment. Doctors will tell a stroke victim afflicted with anasognosia to lift their arm; the one that they know has been paralyzed and the patient will simply and calmly dismiss it and say ‘well I just don’t feel like moving it right now.’ You can watch videos where stroke victims with anasognosia are told to do stuff with their paralyzed arm. The patient will comply, but obviously won’t do anything, and will get angry with the interviewer when they follow up.”
6. MORGELLONS DISEASE
“Morgellons Disease! A very specific type of crazy where you think your body is sprouting random, colorful fibers, and you’re completely incapable of going, ‘Oh, I sure am scratching a lot, and fibers from my clothes are sticking to my open sores. Hmm.’”
7. FACE BLINDNESS
“Face blindness or Prosopagnosia is pretty odd. You either can’t or have a hard time comprehending a person’s face, because the area of the brain known as the facial fusiform gyrus (the place where facial features are processed) is either damaged or not working. You could recognize someone by their hair or way they dress, but not their face.”
8. DROMOMANIA
“Dromomania or traveling fugue. It is a psychological disorder where people leave their identity and lives and start traveling around. At the end, after days or weeks, they find themselves at some place which they don’t know, having spent thousands of Euros and only the credit card can prove a bit where they have been.”
9. BODY INTEGRITY DISORDER
“Body integrity disorder—the desire to be an amputee, even though nothing is wrong with their arms/legs. The psychological feeling that they are not complete until they are an amputee. Some doctors will perform elective amputations for them.”
10. LESCH-NYHAN SYNDROME
“Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome is pretty rough.
I read a great article in the New Yorker about it. Basically, it starts as a kidney disease that used to kill boys when they were young. Modern technology is now able to treat the kidneys, but new terrifying symptoms emerged now that the boys could get older.
They basically start harming themselves. Hitting themselves, biting the lips and tongue (many simply have their teeth removed) and, as they age, stabbing and mutilating themselves. The thing is, they don’t want to, they describe as if all of sudden their hand is possessed and wants to hurt them. They scream out of shock and pain just as if someone else had done it.
The worst part is, the self harm is more complicated then a rogue hand. They will sabotage themselves in the future, treat loved ones especially horribly if they want to show affection, throw a cupcake they want in the garbage.
Its very interesting and sad. The two older ones in the article that were interviewed were basically strapped in to a wheelchair. One of them said ‘You try to tick everybody off, and then you feel bad when you do it.’”