Walking Corpse Syndrome: People Who Believe They Are Dead

Question: Do some people really think they are dead?

Answer: Yes, a number of people actually believe they are dead. The Cotard delusion, also known as the Walking Corpse Syndrome, is a rare mental disorder that convinces people that they’re walking, rotting corpses with missing organs. Some patients suffering from ‘Walking Corpse Syndrome’ have died of starvation since they deprived themselves of food thinking that they are already dead. The patients also have a tendency to attempt suicide and harm themselves.

The disorder was named by French neurologist Jules Cotard in 1880. That year, he had been visited by a woman who was under the delusion that she had no brain, no nerves, no stomach, and no intestines. She believed that, however unlikely the science behind it, she was a walking, talking, rotting corpse. Cotard reported that she had no belief in God or the afterlife, and didn’t feel any need to eat, so ended up dying of starvation.

Walking Corpse Syndrome occurs due to lesions in frontal and temporal regions of the right hemisphere of the brain.

The exact cause for ‘Walking Corpse Syndrome’ is not known.

MessageToEagle.com

Sources:

MedIndia

Science Alert