26Autophagia
There exists an impulse-control disorder known as autophagia. Sufferers of this disorder may experience tension or arousal and then proceed to eat a part of their body, often by simply biting and chewing compulsively. They may feel pleasure or gratification from this. In one particular case, a man began by biting his own nails and ended up severely mutilating his fingers.
27. When people are exposed to an experience of great personal significance, particularly viewing art or natural beauty they can come down with rapid heartbeat, dizziness, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations. This psychosomatic disorder is called Stendhal syndrome. This is commonly seen in people visiting Florence after they are overwhelmed by Florentine art.
28. People with narcissistic personality disorder show a long-term pattern of abnormal behavior characterized by exaggerated feelings of self-importance, excessive need for admiration, and a lack of understanding of others' feelings. They cannot comprehend or accept any kind of criticism.
29. Suicide headaches or cluster headaches are described as the most painful condition humans are capable of experiencing. Women who do get them say the pain can be worse than childbirth. Soldiers who have had limbs blown off would rather step on another landmine than have another episode. Medical experts still aren’t sure what causes them and the only treatment known to be effective is LSD and psychedelic mushrooms.
30. A prominent cause of divorce among older Japanese couples is “retired husband syndrome.” Japanese work culture demands long hours at work, away from home, so a husband may leave home in the early hours of the morning and return home late at night. This means that a husband and wife may not interact extensively during his career and after retirement, they may feel that they are living together with someone who is a virtual stranger. Wives begin to show stress symptoms when they are made to manage their recently retired husbands who have nothing to do but bark orders at them all day long.
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31Pica
There is a mental eating disorder named Pica, which is often caused by iron or other mineral deficiencies. The person suffering from it craves things that have no nutritional value such as paper, clay, metal, and even feces.
32. Boanthropy is a strange delusional disorder in which the sufferer believes he or she is a cow or ox. It usually starts as a dream, eventually taking hold of the mind as a full-blown delusion. The most famous sufferer of this condition was King Nebuchadnezzar, who according to the Book of Daniel “was driven from men and did eat grass as oxen.”
33. Huntington’s disease is a fatal genetic disorder that causes deterioration of a person’s physical and mental abilities during their prime working years and has no cure. Several women convicted in the Salem Witch Trials were suspected of witchcraft due to symptoms of Huntington's disease. In 2002, a woman named Carol Carr killed her two adult sons in a nursing home after she couldn't see them suffer from Huntington's disease anymore. She was sentenced to 5 years and she served 2. After release, she was told if her third son started developing symptoms she was barred from being his caregiver. A year later he was diagnosed and she had to watch her only child suffer from a distance, unable to help him.
34. Shared psychosis or Folie à deux is a psychiatric syndrome in which symptoms of a delusional belief and sometimes hallucinations are transmitted from one individual to another. In one famous case where shared insanity was seen was of Ursula and Sabina Eriksson, who were Swedish twin sisters visiting the UK. When Ursula ran into oncoming traffic due to delusions, her sister duplicated her actions and stepped into the path of an oncoming car. When they were released from the hospital, Sabina acted erratically and stabbed a man to death.
35. A 49-year-old man in Brazil underwent a strange personality change after he survived a stroke. He developed what could only be described as a Pathological Generosity Disorder. He started spending his money on strangers and children he met on the street, buying them soda, candies and junk food in spite of his financial troubles. Medical tests could not find any manic condition.
