5 STRANGEST PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS: A Deep Dive

The human mind is capable of some pretty amazing things: language, love, imagination. But there's a lot that can go wrong with it, too. The wrong wire is firing mixed with an adverse event, and you can suddenly find yourself hallucinating, experiencing disassociation, or even acting like a cow. The human mind is just as precarious as it is impressive, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the many ways in which one can develop a psychological disorder. We will highlight five incredibly peculiar disorders, it's important to first mention that no matter how strange the disorders themselves are, there are still individuals that are suffering from them. And while their behavior and sense of the world may appear strange, we should always be sympathetic towards anyone struggling with mental health. These disorders are being presented to showcase the many ways in which the mind can express itself, and I hope that this interests you in learning more about psychology in general.

What is a Tulpa?

Firstly, what is a tulpa? Rooted in TB Buddhism, a tulpa is a materialized thought form that can be created through intense concentration or through time spent in spiritual practice. Some have likened the concept to the imaginary friend we might have developed in childhood. However, the concept of the tulpa is much more heavily existential. Tulpas are thought to be guides for those who have not yet attained nirvana. Tulpamanci is the practice of cultivating and manifesting tulpas, and those who successfully do so are called tulpamancers. The existence of tulpas as a plurality that coexist with regular functioning, flies in the very face of the commonly accepted claim that there is only one agent of self that exists in one's brain. Unlike dissociative disorder, the presence of tulpas rarely invoke negative feelings and can actually accompany happiness and mental health. However, some caution that tulpamancy requires a great deal of mental effort and energy and can lead to social isolation through its sometimes addictive properties. More research is needed in order to look at the extent to which TULPA syndrome can be considered a genuine mental disorder.

Kyal Cap in Cambodian Culture

Kyal, a cultural concept that is mostly present in Cambodia, is a wind-like substance that carries itself through body. However, sometimes kial can be disrupted and can specifically lead to a sudden surge of wind upwards towards the head. With this, many Cambodians have been known to experience kial cap, which presents in a similar way to a panic attack. Symptoms include anxiety, dizziness, shortness of breath, and a general distress. Some of the more common causes include crowded spaces, worrying thoughts, and a fear of death. Ptsd has also been known to be correlated with Kielkapp. This disorder demonstrates an emphasis on understanding cultural theories and ideas surrounding mental health in order to better understand and respect those who are suffering from such afflictions.

Stendhal Syndrome - Overwhelmed by Art

Have you ever been overwhelmed by a piece of art? In 1817, a young man named Stenthal visited Italy in the hopes of seeing its beautiful art. He was let into a chapel where he found himself under the beauty of a fresco. I was already in a ecstasy by the idea of being in Florence and the proximity of the great men whose tombs I had just seen. Absorbed in contemplating sublime beauty, I saw it close up. I touched it so to speak. I had reached that point of emotion where the heavenly sensations of the fine arts meet passionate feeling. As I emerged from Santa Crosé, I had palpitations, what they call an attack of the nerves in Berlin. The life went of me and I walked in fear of falling. It was something he had observed about himself. When a thought takes too strong a hold of me, I fall down. This feeling, the overwhelming anxiety and panic that comes with viewing beautiful art, has also been reported by many others throughout history. Carl Jung, likewise, reported something that had exceeded his powers of receptivity when he visited Pompeii. Beauty may not kill, but it can certainly freak you out. Now, this is a controversial one. Originating in ancient Greece, physicians believed that women were driven insane by their uterus, and so they labeled them as hysterics, after the word hystera, which means uterus.

Histrionic Personality Disorder

Later on, Sigmund Freud would argue that histrionic disorder or hysteria was present in women who had repressed sexual expression. Nowadays, histrionic personality disorder is a legitimate disorder found in the DSM 5. Those who suffer from it tend to be seen as narcissistic, self-indulgent, and overly flirtatious. They tend to be attention-seeking and experience heavy mood swings that can appear insincere to others. While women are still more often diagnosed, it is presumed that men are underdiagnosed due to certain gender expectations. In Western individualistic cultures, men are regularly expected to act more dramatic and emotional. Another cultural phenomenon, the Shona people, tend to use this word when they find someone thinking too much. While overplanning, scheduling, and stressing over most things is taken as a key aspect of modern life, the Shona of Zimbabwe actually view it as pathological. Thinking too much, or k'un fu gu si sa, can cause headaches, stress, anxiety, and poor health. They see anyone ruminating too much or analyzing too much over talking and taking action as potentially suffering from this. While it is a non-psychotic disorder as it rarely leads to any severe consequences, I think it might be a good example of why we should sometimes pay attention to other cultural expressions of mental health. Maybe sometimes we're the crazy ones. If you like this, there's another video on other strange psychological disorders. You can check it out. Thanks for watching.