Contents:
- Medical Video: Girl With 'Walking Corpse Syndrome' Thinks She's Dead! | Untold Stories Of The ER
- What is a walking corpse syndrome?
- Is there anyone who has a walking corpse syndrome?
- What are the symptoms and signs of the symptoms of walking corpse syndrome?
- Who is at risk of experiencing costard syndrome?
- How do doctors detect costard syndrome?
- How is cotard syndrome treated?
Medical Video: Girl With 'Walking Corpse Syndrome' Thinks She's Dead! | Untold Stories Of The ER
Have you ever watched a zombie movie? Yes, it contains a lot of people who have died, but it still runs like a living person. Instead of a zombie movie, it turns out there is indeed a body condition that makes sufferers feel like they are dead, but actually still alive. This condition is called walking corpse syndrome or cotard syndrome.
Relax, this is not a mystical phenomenon but a condition that is loaded with scientific explanations. In the world of health, there are indeed those who experience this. Come see the following review.
What is a walking corpse syndrome?
This syndrome has several other names namely, cotard syndrome or cotard delusion. The corpse walking syndrome is a condition that makes a person believe that his body part or body is not present, whether the body is dying or not in the world.
This condition usually occurs because it has something to do with major depression and psychotic disorders. Psychotic is a mental disorder characterized by a loss of the body's ability to assess reality, such as hallucinations.
Cotard's syndrome can also arise as an accompanying symptom of mental illness and other neurological conditions.
The case of costard syndrome is quite varied, there are those who believe that their entire body does not exist, some feel that certain parts of the body do not exist, or some feel that their souls do not exist.
Is there anyone who has a walking corpse syndrome?
Walking coronary syndrome is indeed a rare condition. Not everyone who has severe depression will definitely have a walking coronary syndrome. But indeed most people who previously have a history of major depression, are more likely to experience this syndrome.
Reported on the Medical Daily page, a person named Graham who was previously severely depressed had a walking corpse syndrome. Graham no longer believes that he has a brain or head, refuses to eat, and is no longer interested in his smoking habits.
Graham saw that he was of no use because he was dead. He also often visited local cemeteries because he felt the closest thing was death. He felt that the funeral was the place that best suited him compared to meeting people.
With such conditions, Graham's brain was examined by a neurologist Steven Laurey from the University of Liege Belgium. From the results of the examination, it is known that Graham's brain is like someone who experiences anesthesia or sleep.
The level of cell activity in the large brain area of the front and sides looks very low. The front and side brain areas are areas involved in regulating motor functions, memory, and sensory information.
What are the symptoms and signs of the symptoms of walking corpse syndrome?
One of the most dominant symptoms is nihilism. Nihilism is the belief that anything is actually of no value, or that there is no meaning, and everything that exists is actually not really there.
People with this syndrome feel as if their form is actually dead or decaying. Even in some cases, people who experience this syndrome feel that they have never actually existed in this world.
In addition, the symptoms of costard syndrome are:
- Anxiety
- Hallucinations
- Hypochondria (excessive anxiety or fear that he suffers from certain diseases)
- Always feeling guilty
- Always trying to hurt yourself
Who is at risk of experiencing costard syndrome?
The researchers actually do not know exactly what causes the costard syndrome, but indeed some risk factors are found.
Some studies have found that the average age of people who experience this syndrome is around 50 years. Even so, this case still may be experienced by children and adolescents.
People under the age of 25 experience costard syndrome usually also have a bipolar depression condition. Women also become a group that is more at risk of developing corpse walking syndrome than men.
People who experience the following medical conditions also have a higher risk of experiencingardard syndrome:
- Bipolar disorder
- Postpartum depression
- Schizropenia
- Psychotic depression
- Katatonia
People who have the following problems or neurological disorders also have a greater potential to experience costard syndrome:
- Infection in the brain
- Brain tumor
- Dementia
- Epilepsy
- Multiple sclerosis
- Parkinson's disease
- Stroke
- Trauma due to brain injury
How do doctors detect costard syndrome?
Making a medical diagnosis about this syndrome is indeed quite difficult. Actually there are no standard or specific criteria for determining this diagnosis.
In most cases, the detection of the cotard syndrome after another condition arises, not just the condition of the cotard syndrome itself.
If you think lately that you have delusions like the condition of cotard syndrome, try to note some of these symptoms. Notice when that happens, and how long it lasts. This information is very important to help doctors make a more precise diagnosis.
How is cotard syndrome treated?
There are many ways to handle this case, it varies greatly depending on the condition of each individual.
Even so, there is one of the most commonly used treatments, electroconvulsive (ECT). ECT is a special treatment for people who have severe depression. ECT will give a small electric current through the brain and cause a mild seizure effect with the body's condition in general anesthesia.
This ECT treatment cannot be done carelessly. Because, there are still side effects. Examples, memory loss, confusion, nausea, muscle pain. Because of this effect, there are several other choices in handling this case, including:
- Antidepressants
- Antipsychotics
- Psychotherapy
- Behavioral therapy
- Mood stabilizer
