We have all been physically ill before. We have all felt the strange, deviant nausea, body aches,
fatigue and so on, be it from viral or bacterial infections or otherwise; perhaps we might have or
continue to experience the distress of a genetic condition that impairs the function of our heart,
lungs or other parts of the body. In all of these cases, the body functions and
is experienced differently compared to what is otherwise understood to be its normal condition.
Likewise, in the case of mental illness, the mind functions differently compared to what
is understood to be its normal condition—more specifically, the normal conscious experience of
the mind’s normal condition. But what exactly does this mean—to experience an illness of the mind?
What is the right, normal experience? And how do we define and know it?
Generally speaking, psychological disorders are defined as patterns of thoughts,
feelings, or behaviors that are deviant from the cultural classifications of normality,
distressful, and dysfunctional to living in society, or the world more broadly. Beyond this,
however, psychological disorders can be fairly ambiguous, and we, as a species, are largely
still at the ground floor of our understanding. Psychological disorders are both extremely common
and rarely extreme—at least in the sort of cases in which we will be discussing here in a moment.
We are generally all familiar with the more common types or mid-level forms,
like depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, bipolar-disorder, and so on—perhaps
we are familiar firsthand. However, there are types and forms of conditions further out on the
periphery that can sound as if they are made up, like they’re out of a psychological thriller film;
but these psychological thrillers are the real lives of real people. And so, this topic warrants
delicate handling and compassionate deliberation. There is a history of stigma, misunderstanding,
and poor treatment associated with mental illness. Only around the 18th and 19th centuries
did we even realize that mental disorders could and likely were about a sickness of the mind,
and we still have a long way to go in terms of comprehensively understanding what exactly a
sickness of the mind really is and means. Veiled by the seemingly invisible cloak of consciousness,
an impenetrable subject where nothing other than the subject itself can know what the experience
is like, disorders of consciousness, of mental experience, are acts in the magic show of the
human mind that we still do not fully comprehend. Here are five particularly unusual and unnerving
psychological disorders that truly showcase the mystifying nature of the human mind.
One: Alien hand syndrome. Alien hand syndrome is a condition in which an
individual’s hand takes on a life of its own. The hand does not merely involuntarily move at random,
but rather, the hand actually acts as if it has its own conscious will—a distinct, separate mind
with intentions and desires. Individuals with this condition can find their hand carrying
out goal-oriented tasks and activities without intending it or wanting to. The hand might take
objects out of drawers, unzipper a jacket, close or open windows, and so on. Even more strangely,
the hand is sometimes known to do the opposite of what the individual intentionally wants or just
did with their other hand. For instance, the alien hand may open the same window that that
the individual just intentionally closed. The condition is understood to often be caused by
trauma, stroke, or a tumor, sometimes associated with cancer, aneurysms, or brain surgeries.
There is no known cure for the condition, however, and it is still not fully understood.
Two: derealization. Derealization is a condition in which
an individual feels as though their surroundings are unreal, distant, and/or distorted.
People and objects seem to lose their reality and the world can feel as though it has been withdrawn
or faded, like it is placed behind a pain of opaque existential glass. Temporary, acute
derealization is experienced by a huge number of people, with up 75% of the population experiencing
it at least a few times throughout their life. However, individuals can experience chronic,
intense derealization, in which long, extreme, and frequent episodes occur. Derealization is
often experienced with a similar condition known as depersonalization, which involves
the feeling of being disconnected from one’s own self—the body, mental processes, or both.
In the combined case, the individual experiences an ineffable detachment from everything—an
awareness of being something somewhere, with no sense of an anchor of reality to anything. The
more chronic, extreme form is somewhat rare and is typically indicative of several other
psychological disorders or medical conditions, often with severe trauma or stress at the core.
Three: Dissociative identity disorder. Dissociative identity disorder is a condition
in which an individual has, experiences, and acts out two or more distinct identities,
each with their own differing personalities, their own memories and sense of the past,
their own tastes and preferences, and their own way of determining the outward behavior
of the individual. The disorder affects between 0.01 and 1.5% of the population.
Although genetic and biological factors are often believed to play a role, most typically,
cases stem from some form of trauma, with 90+% of cases involving childhood abuse, neglect,
or intensely distressing events. The condition is believed to arise as a coping mechanism.
In an attempt to deal with a traumatic experience or memory, the conscious mind
attempts to repress and contort itself away from reality, and in some part of the process,
it appears to fragment or split itself off into a different sense of self or group of selves.
Although there are several ways of treating this disorder, currently, there are no formal,
universal treatments, and some that are used are even considered controversial.
Four: Capgras syndrome. Capgras syndrome involves the sudden
and false belief that someone or something, most often a close friend, romantic partner, or family
member, sometimes multiple, has been replaced with an imposter—a sort of duplicate or clone.
The belief is so real that no form of reasoning, explanation, or proof can change the effected
individual’s mind. Sometimes the case can be so extreme, the individual becomes distant or
even violent with the loved one with whom they believe has been replaced.
This syndrome is understood to be primarily caused by brain damage, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s,
dementia, epilepsy, tumors, or Parkinson’s disease. However, since it is quite rare,
it’s fairly hard to study and a strong understanding is still mostly unfounded.
Five: Cotard’s syndrome. Cotard's syndrome is a condition in which an
individual believes that they are dead, dying, or simply do not exist. It can also sometimes involve
the belief that parts of one’s body are missing. As a consequence of this, individuals have been
known to exhibit self-neglect or self-harm, because since, in their mind, they are dead,
what’s the point? Even more strange, individuals with this condition have also been reported
literally admitting themselves to a morgue. Cotard's syndrome is fairly rare and hard to
study, and so the causes are not fully known. Many of the known cases involve individuals who
also suffer from conditions like depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, substance abuse,
or some sort of brain damage, often from a stroke, tumor, blood clot, brain toxins, or head injury.
Exactly how, why, and what way this response occurs, though, is still largely unknown.
Arguably, on some level, we are all familiar with the strange dissonance and disorder of being—in
the general sense. “Men are so necessarily mad, that not to be mad would amount to
another form of madness,” wrote Blaise Pascal. For some people, though, this is not a low hum
in the background or underneath reality; it is reality; it is battle of realities,
between what they experience and what others experience and collectively define as normal.
But what does the psychologically disordered mind suggest about the so-called stable one—about
the self, about our perception? What does it suggest about how fragile reality is
and how powerful and mysterious human psychology is? The problem, of course, is knowing what is
and isn’t real in a mind that prohibits exit from one’s own and entry into any others,
while trying to define normalcy in a universe that knows of no such thing.