Mental health conditions and disorders are now mostly explainable through psychological perspectives. However, there are some conditions that seem unexplainable easily and paranormal in nature.
Psychology doesn’t deny completely the existence of paranormal explanations of some mental health conditions. It just helps in the recovery of a person with abnormal mental health through medication and modern ways. Despite all modernization and medical advancement, exceptional cases in human lives, that are beyond scientific explanations, are always there.
Here are 5 strong mental health conditions that can be categorized as paranormal ones that are not easily explainable by mere psychologists.
1. Boanthropy
There are certain psychological conditions where the sufferers believe that they are turning into or have become an animal. Boanthropy is one such disorder where the individual believes that they are either account or an Ox, which can result in them behaving as such they will take to eating grass and will even move about on their hands and knees. As ludicrous as it sounds and as scarce as the instances of boanthropy are. They still occur today.
According to Matthew Stanford a professor of psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine, the condition is so unusual that there appear to be no signs of any clinical studies into it, nor there is a firm notion on what causes the delusion. A variety of suggestions have been put forth, whereas some clinicians link it to schizophrenia. Others suggest it may occur as a result of hypnosis or a manifestation of anxiety.
The eminent psychoanalysis, Carl Jung, even posited that dreams could be a prelude to the onset of boanthropy. Interestingly, the depiction of the madness of Nebuchadnezzar II, king of ancient Babylon, as relayed in the Old Testament, Book of Daniel, is often cited as one of the first and most infamous cases of boanthropy. Here, the king is laid low by insanity for seven years and the text describes how the king “was driven from men and did eat grass as oxen”. However, no other text infers that the king ever displayed such behavior. This account must be viewed with skepticism.
Though it is intriguing to think of the Bible as potentially referring to this singularly strange or seemingly paranormal mental disorder. Though the root cause of this condition is still elusive, the current treatment focuses on cognitive behavioral therapy and medication.
2. Delusional parasitosis
The thought of being infested with tiny parasitic organisms or insects is highly unappealing. But, for those that suffer from delusional parasitosis or Ekbom’s syndrome (as it is also known, while this very thing they believe to be true), first described in 1938 by the Swedish neurologist, Carl-Axel Ekbom, who found the condition to be prevalent in postmenopausal women.
This affliction can appear as a delusion or hallucination or, as what is termed an overvalued idea. That is to say, the patient is neither delusional obsessive nor hallucinating but is suffering from a solitary deviant belief that dominates their life.
Often, the condition begins with the individual experiencing a prickling or crawling sensation. Once convinced that they are infested with insects or pathogens, they often attempt to remove the organism by overzealous cleaning, scratching, pinching, or even digging into their skin.
Subjects suffering from Ekbom syndrome often seek help from dermatologists; and the extent of their belief sometimes leads them to preserve what they believe to be a sample of the offending parasites with them, claiming that they have retrieved them from their person. This evidence usually consists of lint or pieces of skin. Even after tests conclude that they have no parasitic infection, patients refuse to believe it.
To further complicate the matter, the symptoms may be real but the cause has simply been misinterpreted. The sensation they feel may be due to a variety of health complaints such as vitamin B deficiency or Diabetes, brain disorders like dementia or schizophrenia or it may be the side effect of certain medications or drug abuse.
However, it may also occur unexpectedly in otherwise healthy individuals with women more commonly affected than men. It is also noted that those who live with minimal social contact are at higher risk of developing Ekbom syndrome. left untreated the individual may inflict severe harm on themselves
3. Capgras delusion
A disorder, in what could easily be the premise of an intriguing yet terrifying film or book. Capgras delusion categorized as a delusion misidentification syndrome leaves the subject believing that a loved one, friend, or even a pet has been replaced with an imposter.
Again, this syndrome occurs frequently alongside disorders such as schizophrenia, dementia, and brain lesions, as well as those who have brain damage or substance abuse issues. The delusion may also result in the individual claiming that they themselves, places, possessions, and properties have been substituted with identical replicas. Individuals may even assert that the time has been distorted or substituted in some way.
Like Ekbom’s syndrome, Capgras delusion occurs more often in women. Though it is more commonly seen to manifest itself in violent tendencies in men.
One case study describes how a 40-years old woman whose abnormal behavior had led to her receiving a psychiatric evaluation, proclaimed that her nine-year-old daughter had been replaced by an imposter, as her real daughter was in the custody of the social services department. Sadly, her delusion persisted and seemed to deepen to the point she refused to take her child home from school. Her behavior became gravely concerning as whilst outside the school she shouted, “give me my daughter, I know what you have done”.
Despite continual reassurances and receiving the medical treatment, the woman’s belief that her daughter had been replaced with a doppelganger did not subside and she refused to entertain the idea she was suffering from any delusional illness. All that this child was, in fact, genuinely her daughter. Heartbreakingly, for the sake of her safety, the child was removed from the mother’s care and subsequently placed in the care of social services.
The condition can be relatively fleeting or maybe a long-term chronic condition. The longer the individual suffers from it, the higher the risk of violence toward the perceived imposter is. Especially, if they live with the patient.
Sadly, it’s still a largely misunderstood condition with little treatment available, outside the use of antipsychotic drug therapy.
4. Alien Hand Syndrome
It’s somewhat a scary disorder. Imagine you are sleeping and suddenly wake up due to difficulty in breathing. The very next moment you realize that someone is throttling you (trying to kill you by putting his hand on your throat). But, after coming into complete consciousness, you realize that it’s your own hand and no one is there.
In Alien Hand Syndrome, what happens is that the left and right parts of the brain do not receive the signals properly. Consequently, the patient loses control of one hand and it starts working automatically, as it has its own brain. Consequently, the person starts either harming himself or someone else. For example, trying to throttle one’s self, scratching the skin to extreme bleeding, tearing one’s clothes, etc. isn’t it seem paranormal?
Although it’s a rare disorder, as the study says, it is often developed in Alzheimer’s patients.
5. Wendigo psychosis
This word is used for ‘man-eating creature’ or evil spirit’. It is the rarest psychological disorder. In this order, a person craves to eat human flesh. He becomes so aggressive that he can kill anyone.
Self-Cannibalism is another disorder related to the former, which is also known as Lesch-Nyhan syndrome. In it, a person craves to eat himself rather than others. In this disease or disorder, the uric acid in the body increases to the extent that it affects the brain and muscles. The person, that’s why, starts biting his nails, finger, and lips.
As the level of disorder increases, the person starts harming himself deeper and forcefully starts biting his hands. Sometimes, he removes a part of flesh from his body with his teeth. It is also reported that to stop the person from such kinds of acts, his teeth are forcibly removed because there is no other option.
There are also other paranormal mental disorders like Somatoparaphrenia, Cotard delusion syndrome, Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, Insomnia, Dissociative identity disorder, Alice in Wonderland syndrome (AIWS), clinical lycanthropy, Apotemnophilia, and Klüver-Bucy syndrome (KBS). All of these are scarier than nightmare disorders, that we experience often.
The Best Solution for a Mental Disorder?
There is no second opinion in it that since the stone-age era, religion has been the way to get rid of mental illnesses. Even atheism reaches some kind of (self-made) belief system, whenever unsolved mental illnesses’ myths are there. There is no other religion, except Islam, in this world that can show you a permanent way of escapism from all kinds of physical or mental diseases. Read our blog “20 messages from the Holy Book for your mental health” and you will, for sure, find the best cure in the name of Allah S.W.T.
