10 Bizarre Medical Conditions Of The Human Mind You Might Not Know

Psychology, no doubt, is an interesting field to explore. The mind is like a set of firecrackers tied together- one small spark can trigger a series of things you can’t fathom. It’s a wonder to study the kinds of things that happen in our brain, and how it reflects on our bodies.

Following are some interesting and bizarre medical conditions that are incredibly fascinating:

1. Synesthesia

One of the most interesting medical conditions, synesthesia is a rare neurological condition in which two or more of the senses entwine. Because of this, the person affected associates numbers and letters, sensations and emotions, days and months with colours and tastes. For example, a synesthetic woman would associate words with a particular taste. She said that every time someone mentioned the word ‘jail’, she could taste cold, hard bacon. There are also several cases where synesthetes associate personalities to days and months, like a Monday could be a grumpy old man wearing a yellow cotton t-shirt, and Friday could be a young, energetic woman dressed in electric blue.

 

2. Autophagia

You might want to stop eating for this one. Known as an Impulse Control Disorder, Autophagia is a condition where a person is compelled to inflict pain upon themselves by biting, chewing, or even devouring parts of their body. They don’t have control over it; they can’t resist the need to do it. It is associated with schizophrenia and psychosis.

 

3. Alien Hand Syndrome

People with alien hand syndrome usually have a hand that reaches, grabs and holds onto things without the intention of the patient. This happens because parts of the brain that control voluntary movements may be uniquely activated in people who have this problem. For example, an 81 year old right handed woman who suffered from this often bore the brunt of her left hand choking her, and slapping her face and shoulder involuntarily.

 

4. Apotemnophilia

 Apotemnophilia is sexual arousal based on the image or fantasy of one’s self as an amputee. It can be associated with Body Integrity Identity Disorder, in which otherwise sane and rational individuals express a strong and specific desire for the amputation of a healthy limb or limbs. Some apotemnophiles seek surgeons to perform an amputation or purposefully injure a limb in order to force emergency medical amputation.

 

5. Walking Corpse Syndrome

Also known as Cotard Delusion, the walking corpse syndrome is a rare condition where the person affected thinks that they, or a part of their body, doesn’t exist. Paradoxically, though, about 55% of the patients diagnosed in a 100 patient cohort were under the impression that they were immortal.

 

6. Alice In Wonderland Syndrome

Named after the classic novel by Lewis Carroll, AIWS is a neurological condition where patients experience severe migraine headaches, causing them to see and perceive objects as greatly out of proportion. They even suffer from altered sense of time and touch, as well as distorted proportions of their own body. This disease can be caused by abnormal amounts of electrical activity causing abnormal blood flow in the parts of the brain that process visual perception and texture. Patients can differenciate  hallucinations from reality, but their perceptions are skewed.

Lewis Carroll had been a well-known migraine sufferer with similar symptoms, because of which it was speculated that Carroll had used his own migraine experiences as a source of inspiration for his famous 1865 novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

 

7. Stockholm Syndrome

Portrayed rather well in the Bollywood film Highway, starring Alia Bhatt and Randeep Hooda, Stockholm Syndrome, or capture-bonding, is a psychological phenomenon in which a hostage expresses empathy and displays positive feelings toward their captor, sometimes to the point of defending and identifying with the captor. Stockholm syndrome can be seen as a form of traumatic bonding, which does not necessarily require a hostage scenario, but which describes strong emotional ties that develop between two persons where one person intermittently harasses, beats, threatens, abuses, or intimidates the other.

 

8. Clinical Lycanthropy

Clinical lycanthropy is defined as a rare psychiatric syndrome e that involves a delusion that the affected person can transform into, has transformed into, or is a non-human animal. It’s name is connected to the mythical condition of lycanthropy, a supernatural affliction in which humans are said to physically shape-shift into wolves. Puts ‘Vampire Diaries’ into a whole new perspective now, doesn’t it?

 

9. Stendhal Syndrome

Stendhal syndrome, or Florence syndrome is a psychosomatic disorder that causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to an experience of great personal significance, particularly viewing art. The term can also be used to describe a similar reaction when confronted with immense beauty in the natural world.

 

10. Coprolalia

Something to end on a rather light note, Coprolalia is involuntary swearing or the involuntary utterance of obscene words or socially inappropriate and derogatory remarks. Though possibly offensive and/or derogatory, the phrases uttered by a person with coprolalia do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of the person. It is a neurological disorder which aggravates this behaviour.

“The first and simplest emotion we discover in the human mind, is curiosity.”

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