Living “dead”: what disease makes people see themselves as zombies – the first case was described in 1880

What syndrome do people think they are dead?

There are several hundred in the world who are sure to be dead. This situation is familiar to people with Cotard syndrome, write rus7.ru.

Doctors consider Cotard syndrome to be a mental illness and a form of depression. The first such case was described by a European neurologist Jules Cotard in 1880.

A person with Cotard’s syndrome sees his body as something alien, which is not under the control of the brain. First, the patient suffers from anxiety, which over time develops into manic delusions and hallucinations. Such people believe that the body exists apart from them, which makes them dead.

Cotard syndrome can cause a variety of symptoms. Some can’t eat, some can’t move, and some are prone to harming themselves. In some cases, patients ask to be placed in a coffin.

Cotard syndrome is curable. An American woman in 2008 asked to be taken to the morgue because she was sure she had died. The woman spent a month in the clinic for psychiatric treatment. She managed to bounce back.

Reference: acquaintances from Cambridge he said that Cotard’s syndrome is almost always accompanied by depression. Japanese experts believe that this disease develops due to a deficiency of the hormone beta-endorphin, which regulates behavior and pain.