Damocles Syndrome: What It Is And What Are Its Symptoms
Throughout history, many fables and stories have served as a source of inspiration to give context to some mental phenomena within psychological jargon.
Damocles syndrome, for example comes from a story from classical Greek culture in which a young and flattering courtier is punished by his master, Dionysius II.
In this article we will learn what this story is about, as well as its psychological background and why it has served as inspiration for the syndrome that bears its name.
This syndrome It takes its name thanks to a fable from ancient Greek culture Let’s see what this fable is about.
Damocles was a young courtier, most flattering towards his master, the tyrant Dionysius II, who was ruler of Syracuse between 367-357 BC. C. and again between 346-344 BC. c.
On one occasion Dionisio decides to punish his faithful servant, giving him a lesson because of his exaggerated devotion to him. The tyrant suggests to Damocles that they change seats during a meal and in this way he gives him his privileged place at the table along with all the attention, as if Damocles were the absolute ruler of the place.
The courtier enjoyed his time eating, drinking, and enjoying the personal attention of the local women.
At the end of the meal, Damocles looks up and notices that There is an extremely sharp sword attached to the ceiling on his head, only by a thin thread of horse hair.
When he realized this situation, he lost all desire to continue eating, and he never wanted to receive the “privilege” of sitting in that place again.
It is from this story that the aforementioned Damocles syndrome arises, coining the term as a reference to the dangers that can occur when we least imagine it, or when everything seems to be going very well.
Psychological background of the myth
From the field of psychology, this term was adopted as a metaphor to refer to the state of anxiety that some patients present after having overcome a certain illness
In general, this syndrome usually occurs very frequently in cancer patients who manage to overcome it apparently successfully. It is common that after hearing the news they become excited and a feeling of indescribable satisfaction invades them.
But after a while irrational worry about a possible relapse begins to occur they begin to fear that at any moment, when they least expect it, cancer will once again be present in their lives, falling on them like the sword that hung over the head of Damocles.
It is in this way that from the first moment that these intrusive thoughts come into the subject’s life, an ordeal begins for them, in the sense that they already Your peace of mind is greatly compromised by the fear and anxiety of relapse
Symptoms
It is natural that after overcoming a complicated illness, such as cancer, following the previous example, patients feel a little anguish about the continuity of their state of health.
That is why to determine that a person has this syndrome, they must meet the following criteria:
It is important to keep in mind that the subject’s anxious behavior must be intense and prevalent. for a significant period of time otherwise it could be due to some specific situation and not Damocles syndrome.
In any case, Damocles syndrome is not an officially recognized clinical category in psychiatry manuals.
What to do about this situation?
Taking into account that this syndrome is mainly based on states of intense anxiety and anguish caused by intrusive thoughts of a catastrophic nature, the treatment is divided into psychotherapy sessions for the patient and counseling for family members
In the case of the patient, the process is based on making him understand his real situation, that he is a survivor and that this should be a reason for joy and motivation to have a full life.
The aim is to keep the subject in the here and now, preventing your thoughts from going faster than the reality you are experiencing at that moment. Psychotherapy based on cognitive behavioral methods are efficient during sessions.
In the case of family members, the process consists of psycho-educate them so that they do not play a counterproductive role in the life of the subject in question ; Many times it happens that due to ignorance, the family acts in wrong ways and can become extremely protective of the person, causing them to become even more anxious.
And sometimes the opposite happens: since they think he has completely recovered, they believe that it is best to keep him away from the whole environment of hospitals and doctors.
None of these positions is correct, the ideal is to follow what is indicated by the specialists to the letter, attend a consultation when it is scheduled for routine check-ups and not make decisions based on personal beliefs.
