Dark Side of the Mind: 25 Horrifying Mental Disorders

11Locked-in syndrome

Locked-in syndrome

Locked-in Syndrome is a condition in which a patient has cognitive awareness, but can’t move any body part or communicate verbally about their cognitive mental state due to complete paralysis of nearly all voluntary muscles in the body, except for vertical eye movements and blinking. A man named Richard Marsh is a rare survivor of locked-in syndrome. During his coma, he watched his wife beg doctors not to take him off of life support, and witnessed his own rough handling by the nighttime staff. Another man named Martin Pistorius woke up from a coma after 2 years but was unable to show any sign of it, and so was trapped in a lifeless state for a further 10 years whilst being fully aware. Another victim of this disease, Jean-Dominique Bauby wrote a book by blinking his left eyelid for 10 months and died 10 days after the book released.


12Urbach-Wiethe Disease

Urbach-Wiethe Disease

According to a 2010 report in the journal Current Biology, a woman known only as SM is literally fearless due to a rare genetic condition known as Urbach-Wiethe disease that hardened her amygdala, part of the brain responsible for fear response. Researchers exposed her to snakes, spiders, an amusement park haunted house and horror films, none of which scared her. Researchers said that these finding could help in progress for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorders.


13Münchausen Syndrome by Proxy

Münchausen Syndrome by Proxy

There is a mental illness named “Münchausen Syndrome by Proxy” where a caregiver deliberately induces physical or mental problems in those who are in their care. This is typically done to gain attention and sympathy for themselves. Approximately 1% of asthma cases in children are faked by their parents. The worst case where this was noticed was of Marybeth Tinning, who is suspected of have killed all 9 of her children in a span of 14 years.


14Morgellons disease

Morgellons disease

Morgellons disease is a delusional infestation. People affected by it become delusional and see things crawling beneath their skin and see bugs coming out of their body. They then start scratching themselves, forming sores, in order to purge their bodies of fibers that they believe is implanted in them from a certain organism. This “disease” has been reported all across the world, and even a Congressional study was conducted.


15Sleeping Beauty Syndrome

Sleeping Beauty Syndrome

Sleeping beauty syndrome or Kleine-Levin syndrome is a rare sleep disorder that causes the patients to experience periods of excessive sleep episodes, which can last anywhere from 20 hours a day to a couple of days to even weeks. About 80 percent of patients are teenagers when they first experience KLS. These episodes of lengthy sleep may be proceeded by flu-like symptoms and, when they're awake, people with this syndrome may exhibit various odd behaviors, including eating excessively, hallucinating or acting childishly.


16Jerusalem Syndrome

Jerusalem Syndrome

Jerusalem Syndrome is an intense religious psychosis that is triggered when a person who seems previously balanced and devoid of any signs of psychopathology becomes psychotic after arriving in Jerusalem. It is not endemic to one single religion or denomination but has affected Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike. An affected person may believe himself to be the coming of the Messiah or the second coming of Christ. This psychosis resolves to full recovery after leaving Jerusalem.


17Jumping Frenchmen of Maine

Jumping Frenchmen of Maine

Jumping Frenchmen of Maine is a rare disorder of unknown origin. Some affected individuals may exhibit automatic or “forced” obedience after a startle response during which they automatically respond to simple commands such as jump, run or hit. Individuals with this condition were first found in the Moosehead Lake region of Maine. One theory is that it is a genetic condition.


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18Pronoia

Pronoia

Similar to paranoia, a person suffering from pronoia feels that persons or entities are conspiring against them, but instead of feeling that the world is conspiring to harm them or do them bad, people with pronoia feel that the world around them conspires to do them good.


19Anton–Babinski Syndrome

Anton–Babinski Syndrome

Anton–Babinski syndrome is mostly seen following a stroke or head injury. Those who have it become completely blind as a result of the injury, but often are quite adamant in the face of clear evidence of their blindness that they are capable of seeing. They employ confabulation to fill in the missing sensory input. Following the accident, it may take days or weeks for doctors and family members of the victim to realize that the patient is blind. The patient will collide with pieces of furniture, fall over objects, may try to walk through a wall or through a closed door or talk to people who aren’t there at all.


20Olfactory reference syndrome

Olfactory reference syndrome

Olfactory reference syndrome is a mental disorder in which there is a persistent, false belief and preoccupation about emitting abnormal body odor which is foul and offensive to other people. People with this condition often misinterpret others' behaviors, e.g. sniffing, touching nose or opening a window, as being referential to an unpleasant body odor which in reality is non-existent and cannot be detected by other people.

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