location detection boldskySince 1980, psychiatrists in Jerusalem have encountered an increasing number of tourists suffering from a syndrome called Jerusalem syndrome, during which people hear the voices of angels, a condition that occurs to them upon arrival in Jerusalem. Jerusalem syndrome describes a group of mental phenomena characterized by the presence of Religious obsessions, hallucinations, or other psychotic-like experiences resulting from visiting Jerusalem.
Jerusalem Syndrome
According to a study conducted, 1,200 tourists with severe mental problems suffering from Jerusalem Syndrome were referred to a mental health center in Jerusalem, and during the study period, 470 of them were transferred to the hospital..
The site indicated that 100 of these tourists are diagnosed annually, and 40 of them need hospital treatment, as about 3.5 million tourists visit Jerusalem every year.
What is Jerusalem syndrome?
What is Jerusalem syndrome?
Jerusalem syndrome was previously considered a form of hysteria known as “Jerusalem fever”. first described clinically in the 1930s by Jerusalem psychiatrist Heinz Hermann, one of the founders of modern psychological research in Jerusalem, affects about 50 to 100 tourists annually, the vast majority of whom are evangelical Christians.
What causes Jerusalem syndrome?
Many people find a mixture of sacred sites in Jerusalemand thousands of years of history so bewildering that they enter into a state of complete psychosis, most of these cases are of the tourists who, immersed in the history of the Holy City, find themselves confused after an afternoon at the Western Wall.
What are the types of Jerusalem syndrome?
Wailing Wall
Type 1: Jerusalem syndrome superimposed on a previous psychotic illness.
People classified as type 1 were already diagnosed with psychosis before visiting Jerusalem.
The second type: Al-Quds Syndrome, overlapping and complex with subjective thoughts.
People in the second type suffer from disorders such as personality disorders or obsession with a fixed idea, but they do not have an obvious mental illness, and they are dominated by their strange thoughts.
Type 3: The person does not suffer from any mental illness.
The third type of Jerusalem syndrome is perhaps the most remarkable in that it describes individuals with no prior history of mental illness, who experience a psychotic episode while in Jerusalem recover more or less spontaneously, then appear to return to normal life once they leave the country.
What are the symptoms of Jerusalem syndrome?
One of the important symptoms of this disorder is the identification with the writing character and the emergence of behaviors that characterize the personality, and some of the most common symptoms are as follows: anxiety, desire to leave the group, and explore Jerusalem alone, strong desire for cleanliness, frequent use of bathrooms, showers and hygiene, wearing abayas white, singing or chanting verses from the Bible, or religious hymns, crawling to a holy place, giving a sermon at the said holy place, urging people to a better life and hearing the voice of angels.
How is Jerusalem syndrome treated?
A person with signs of Jerusalem Syndrome is taken to a psychiatric hospital. It is not helpful to inform the “Prophet David” that he is not Prophet David because it invalidates the patient’s view of himself and his message. In some cases, doctors prescribe mild antipsychotic medications, and according to doctors, the best way to help It is to get patients out of the city and their families.