The 26 Strangest Mental And Psychological Disorders
Mental disorders are frequently diagnosed todayand according to experts, one in three people suffers or will suffer from some type of mental disorder throughout their lives.
Some of these psychological disorders are well known, such as depressive disorder, anorexia, Bipolar Disorder or schizophrenia. However, there are other mental disorders and illnesses that are rare due to their low frequency of occurrence or strange symptomatology.
But… What are these atypical mental disorders? What bizarre psychopathologies can we find?
Below you can find a list of 26 very curious mental disorders:
1. Altrophagia or Pica
Some eating disorders are very popular (such as anorexia or bulimia), however, there are others unknown to most of the population. One of them is Altrophagia or Pica, characterized because the person with this psychological alteration has an uncontrollable desire to eat non-nutritious or non-edible substances such as earth or paint.
Although some children may carry out this behavior due to total ignorance of the harmful consequences of these substances, Pica can occur at advanced ages. These substances, in addition to not containing any nutritional value, can seriously harm the health of the person who consumes them.
2. Folie à trois
La Folie à Trois is a very strange psychotic disorder. If the Folie à Deux, in which two people share the delusion, is already rare, the Folie à Trois, in which three individuals share the psychotic break, is less common.
A well-known case of Folie à Trois involves three American sisters. Two of them moved into the same home and were neighbors with her other sister. The disorder arose suddenly when they strengthened ties, as they spent a lot of time together.
The three sisters had strong religious beliefs and the little girl began to question how there could be different interpretations of the Bible. This idea developed in the minds of the three sisters, and they decided to go to a house that was not theirs to begin their work. The owners of the home, who were in the house at the time, did not let them in and called the police. When they arrived at the scene, they were attacked by the three sisters.
3. Alien hand syndrome
Alien Hand Syndrome (also Alien Hand Syndrome or Dr. Strangelove Syndrome) is a rare neurological disorder in which the hand goes on its own and does what it wants. The person feels that the hand is not theirs.
This syndrome should not be confused with Phantom Limb Syndrome, which is suffered by some people who have lost a limb. You can learn more about this last condition in this article: “The phantom limb and mirror box therapy.”
Trichophagia or Rapunzel Syndrome is another very strange eating disorder due to the infrequency in which it occurs. It consists of the person who suffers from this condition having an irresistible desire to eat their own hair. This causes serious problems in the stomach, as the hair causes an intestinal blockage. It usually occurs together with trichotillomania, which is the pathological impulse to pull out one’s own hair.
5. Autocannibalism or Autosarcophagy
This strange mental disorder is characterized by the person eats its own skin or consumes its own blood. Autocannibalism also occurs in Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome, a disorder in which a person self-mutilates and consumes their own body parts.
Individuals with this disease have compulsive behaviors such as biting their fingertips and lips (or any other part of the body they have access to), sticking their fingers in their eyes, or throwing their body against a wall.
6. Boanthropy
If the case of Zoanthropy, in which the person thinks they are an animal, is already rare, in boanthropy he believes he is a cow or an ox. This type of behavior is known as delusion of lycanthropy, a psychopathological phenomenon that manifests itself as the unrealistic belief in the transformation of one’s body into that of an animal. In this case, the person adopts the typical behaviors of the animal in question.
7. Aboulomania
Sometimes we may have to make a difficult decision and we don’t know what to do, which is not normal. On the other hand, there are people who suffer from aboulomania, that is, the inability to make decisions. Deciding what to eat in a restaurant when you have the menu in your hand becomes a difficult situation when a person suffers from this psychological disorder.
8. Foreign accent syndrome
Foreign Accent Syndrome is one of the rarest neurological disorders, usually a consequence of a brain injury, such as an accident or stroke. It is a rare condition, which causes the person to speak their native language as if theirs had a foreign accent.
9. Hikikomori
Hikikomori is a psychopathological and sociological phenomenon that is characterized by the person isolating themselves from society and locking themselves in their room. avoiding contact with people around you. It receives this name because, until recently, it was characteristic of Japan. Today it is known that there are also cases in the West, even in Spain.
10. Diogenes Syndrome
Diogenes Syndrome is one of those most well-known strange disorders. It is characterized because people who suffer from this condition They store and collect many belongings and possessions in their home. These people are unable to get rid of them, so they accumulate more and more waste and abandoned objects in general. People find it strange that a person can live surrounded by garbage and this generates isolation, as well as hygiene and nutrition problems.
You can learn more and delve deeper into this disorder in our article: “Diógenes Syndrome: causes, symptoms and treatment”
One of the most striking disorders is, without a doubt, Tourette Syndrome or Gilles de Tourette Syndrome (after Georges Gilles de Tourette, who is the eponym of this disorder). It is a neurological disorder that is characterized because those who suffer from it They make involuntary movements and sounds without a specific purpose.
To better exemplify what this disorder is, we invite you to learn more about a very well-known real case. You can see it in this article that contains audiovisual content: “Super Taldo: the famous case of the Chilean child with Tourette Syndrome.”
12. Stockholm Syndrome
This disorder occurs in those people who have been victims of a kidnapping, They show some kind of positive feeling towards their captors and create emotional bonds with them. Some experts think it is a defense mechanism, a reaction caused by the stress of a traumatic situation that happened. It is considered a strange disorder because it is difficult to understand.
13. Taijin Kyofusho Syndrome
Taijin Kyofusho Syndrome is a social anxiety disorder (SAD) that commonly occurs in Japan, and is characterized by a strong fear that the body, its parts, or its functions are offensive to other people.
It can be confused with social phobia, but while the latter refers to the fear of being embarrassed in front of others, individuals who suffer from Taijin Kyofusho Syndrome fear embarrassing others by virtue of their presence or appearance.
In other words, in social phobia the person worries about their reaction, in Taijin Kyofusho they worry about how others will feel about their presence.
14. Erotomania
This mental disorder is rare. The person who suffers from it has the illusory belief that an individual, of higher status, is in love with him or her, with the peculiarity that the person supposedly in love is usually someone famous. A strange and unusual pathology.
15. Omphalophobia
Omphalophobia It is the irrational fear of navels. This fear or discomfort is towards your own navel or that of others. These individuals experience difficulty bathing because they cannot look at or touch their navel.
The symptoms are characteristic of any specific phobia: irritability, nausea, dizziness, vomiting, a feeling of fury along with anger, as well as a feeling of total helplessness. Without a doubt, one of the rarest mental disorders.
16. Jerusalem Syndrome
A strange disorder that manifests itself in the form of delusions, visions and loss of contact with reality, after visiting the Holy City of Jerusalem or other sacred areas of Israel. It is a psychotic disorder that affects both tourists and people who live in this city.
17. Paris syndrome
Jerusalem is not the only city that is part of this list of mental disorders, as we can also find the city of light: Paris. Paris Syndrome is a psychological condition experienced by Japanese tourists who are very disappointed when they visit the French capital. The reason seems to be found in the unrealistic expectations that Japanese people have regarding this metropolis.
18. Koro Syndrome (Genital Restriction Syndrome)
Another disorder that occurs more frequently in Asian countries is Koro Syndrome, an anxiety disorder. characterized because the person who suffers from it thinks that his penis is shrinking every day until it disappears. Not only that, but his member is absorbed by the body until death occurs.
Although it occurs mostly in men, some women also have the belief that their external genitalia and nipples will be absorbed into the body and die.
19. Alice in Wonderland Disease
Alice in Wonderland Disease is characterized by the presence of micropsia or macropsia, and is a neurological disorder that affects visual perception and in which the person sees objects around him as smaller (micropsia) and larger (macropsia). Patients also suffer an alteration in the perception of time in certain places or moments.
20. Münchausen syndrome
Münchausen syndrome is a type of factitious disorder. It is a condition in which people constantly and intentionally simulate very striking illnesses. This can cause the person to self-harm or ingest toxic substances to receive care.. His motivation is to assume the role of the sick person and be cared for.
Related article: “Münchhausen syndrome: causes, symptoms and treatment”
21. Triscaidekaphobia
This phobic disorder is due to irrational fear of the number 13. People with this phobia avoid this number because of the tremendous anxiety they feel when seeing it or touching anything that contains it. This type of anxiety disorder must be differentiated from parascevedecatriaphobia, which is the phobia of Friday the 13th. It is one of the strangest mental disorders due to the specific nature of what causes fear.
22. Crystal Illusion
This is a very strange psychological disorder in which the person He believes that his body is made of glass and that it can break at any moment.. Despite the evidence that they are made of flesh and blood, they are unable to abandon this false belief.
23. Cotard syndrome
This serious mental disorder is rare. It is characterized because the subject perceives that he is separated from reality. He can see his body in the mirror, but he notices it as something strange, as if it does not exist. Individuals with Cotard Syndrome, They often believe they are dead or in a state of decomposition.
Related text: “Cotard syndrome”: living people who believe they are dead”
24. Fregoli syndrome
A rare mental disorder in which the person who suffers from it has the belief that different people are, in truth, one. Therefore, he thinks that this individual is capable of modifying his physical appearance. It is usually accompanied by persecutory delusions.
25. Capgras syndrome
If the previous point seemed strange to you, Capgras Syndrome is even stranger. The people who suffer from it They think their friends and family are actually impostors.despite there being no objective reasons to have this belief. They tend to react with hostility towards their family and friends, thinking that it is not them.
Related article: “Capgras syndrome: when loved ones are impostors”
26. Reduplicative Paramnesia
This type of delusional disorder is really curious, since the person has the delusional idea that the context or setting he is in has been duplicatedthat is, there is another one or several identical ones somewhere in the world. They may also believe that that specific location has been moved to another location.
