Do you know Jerusalem syndrome?
Jerusalem is a mental illness that affects tourists visiting Jerusalem and the people who live there. This disease is based on delusions and is part of psychosis. People with this syndrome usually identify with certain biblical characters and begin to imitate them.
- Some of the characters in the Bible with which people identify most are Moses.
- King David.
- Jesus of Nazareth.
- And John the Baptist.
- Men tend to imitate male and female characters.
- Professed religion also has a lot of influence.
- Christians identify with New Testament characters.
- While Jews.
- For whom this book is not part of their beliefs.
- Imitate Old Testament characters.
Israel’s most touristic place is the Western Wall, also known as the Western Wall, located in the city of Jerusalem, every day, many visitors come to the wall at any time, whether to pray, take pictures or attend a ceremony or demonstration. The historical and spiritual environment in which we live is so strong that it can be the trigger for this syndrome.
Many visitors are attracted to supernatural experiences, which can be spiritual or religious; are attracted to the atmosphere that is created, especially after midnight; people with this syndrome, by imitating biblical characters, walk the streets of Jerusalem preaching in public In addition, they change clothes for robes and sheets.
The doctor who first clinically identified Jerusalem syndrome was psychiatrist Yair Bar-El, who after examining more than 400 tourists declared crazy, mostly Jewish and Christian, found that they all shared certain characteristics and, therefore, were able to identify symptoms. that characterize this syndrome.
In medical terms, this syndrome is defined as a hysterical dissociative disorder, the patient acquires another personality that he will then not be able to remember, the atmosphere of spirituality that permeates the ancient city of Jerusalem, characterized by religion, history, ideology and mythology. it is enriched by various events that took place there: wars, crusades, conquests, massacres, etc. , do not leave. People who visit her with indifference.
“I had reached this point of emotion, where there are the heavenly sensations that convey the beautiful arts and passionate feelings. When I left Santa Cruz, my heart was beating hard, I was exhausted and afraid of falling” Henri Beile (Stendhal) ?
Jerusalem syndrome has been compared to Florence or Stendhal syndrome, this syndrome was detected in tourists who went to Florence and acted strangely and irrationally, these tourists had dizziness, mental confusion, tremors, depression and even hallucinations after seeing so many works of art in one place However, this syndrome is caused by the beauty of works of art and cities , while Jerusalem syndrome is due to religion.
Tourists with this syndrome experience nervousness or anxiety for no apparent reason. They move away from the people they have traveled with and are isolated. They then begin to perform purification rituals with baths and change clothes to resemble biblical characters. The most common phrase we can say to describe what happened to them is: “suddenly something happened. “
After a few days, they return to “reality”; many of them are ashamed, do not explain what happened and mourn their outlandish behavior, those suffering from the syndrome are believed to have arrived in Jerusalem predisposed, and once there, awakened latent syndrome.
Have you ever visited Jerusalem? If you visit and find people preaching on the street or bathing in a fountain, don’t think they’re crazy, maybe they have Jerusalem syndrome, or maybe you can experience it for the first time.