What is a corpse, probably, there is no need to explain to anyone. A dead body has no needs — it does not breathe or move. But there are people, fortunately, quite rarely, who consider themselves already dead. And, as a rule, they insist that others treat them accordingly. This condition of a person has the name " living corpse syndrome " in medicine. What is this pathology and how is it manifested?
Symptoms of the disease
Self-denial, self-abasement is the basic condition on which the discussed syndrome is based, which leads to a clear conviction of his death.
Generally, syndromes in psychiatry and in medicine in general, is a series of symptoms typical of a disease. So, the pathology under discussion, for example, is attributed to manifestations of delusional psychosis, which is characterized by the sensation of loss of a part of the body or its decomposition and decay. Patients are even convinced of the presence of worms eating their dead flesh and the “cadaverous” smell emanating from it. Patients insist that they have long been gone, and only the shell is alive, which for some reason does not want to come to terms with death. They also explain the refusal of food and water, which, in their opinion, can no longer be needed.
The syndrome of a living corpse is also manifested by constant depression, an oppressed state and persistent suicide attempts. The patient acutely feels his uselessness and internal emptiness.
Rare syndrome
For example, an Englishman by the name of Graham, who was diagnosed with a syndrome of a living corpse, claimed that after trying to commit suicide by arranging himself in the bathroom as a "electric chair", he lost his brain. The patient refused any treatment, claiming that it was meaningless, since he was dead. And the only place where the patient felt comfortable was the cemetery.
Interestingly, after analyzing the brain functions in the patient, a low activity of the frontal and parietal parts was found. Simply put, they were like those of a sleeping person or an anesthetized person. Obviously, this led to a changed perception of the world.
Are the causes of the disease known?
This disease was first described at the end of the 19th century. the psychiatrist Jules Cotard, who observed a patient who claimed to be dead because she had no heart or stomach. In honor of the doctor, this pathology is called "Cotard’s syndrome."
It was found that the disease is more likely to occur in impressionable women suffering from migraines, or in older people waiting for death. Sometimes, it can occur in patients with a brain tumor or after severe skull injuries that damage the areas responsible for recognition and emotions. This, probably, leads to the patient's confidence in the "otherworldly" environment and himself personally. It is also known that among those suffering from this disease, mainly people who have problems with recognizing themselves as individuals who do not know how to accept their own "I".
But, unfortunately, the true causes and methods of treating this deviation have not yet been established. It is only known that the syndrome of a living corpse is not inherited and is not a genetic disease. It is attributed to the manifestations of schizophrenia and only symptomatic manifestations are treated.