Dark Side of the Mind: 25 Horrifying Mental Disorders

Erotomania is a type of delusional disorder in which the affected person believes that another person is infatuated with him or her. This disorder is most often seen (though not exclusively) in female patients that are shy, dependent, and sexually inexperienced. The object of the delusion is typically a male who is unattainable due to high social or financial status, marriage, or disinterest.

Men can experience some of the same symptoms of pregnancy as an expectant partner. These most often include minor weight gain, altered hormone levels, morning nausea, and disturbed sleep patterns. In more extreme cases, they can experience labor pains, postpartum depression, and nosebleeds. This condition is known as Couvade Syndrome or sympathetic pregnancy.

Pretending to have a mental disorder is still a mental disorder. It is called nonsense syndrome or Ganser syndrome or prison psychosis. People affected by it exhibit short-term episodes of odd behavior similar to that shown by people with other serious mental illnesses. It is often seen in prison inmates where it may be seen as an attempt to gain leniency from prison or court officials.

Aboulomania is a disorder that involves the occasional onset of crippling indecision. People suffering from it otherwise have no physical and mental problems. They simply run into very serious problems whenever they’re faced with certain choices even with simple everyday tasks (going for a walk or not, paper or plastic), to the extent that they struggle to regain normal function. They feel imprisoned by the inability to fulfill their own will.

There exists a clinical condition that is the opposite of anorexia called Bigorexia. The person affected by it becomes obsessed with the idea that their body is too small, too skinny, insufficiently muscular, or insufficiently lean, although in most cases, the individual's build is normal or even exceptionally large and muscular already. It affects mostly males, particularly those involved in sports where body size or weight are competitive factors.