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10 Bizarre Diseases You Probably Never Heard Of

Many diseases and syndromes exist on this earth. Most of them are due to pathogens infecting our body, and some of them are there because of our psychology.

Most of the psychological diseases are weird. Here are what I felt the most weird and strange sounding diseases of humans.

Trichotillomania:

This is a strange disease. The person who suffers from this disease has urge to pull one's hair out. Be it body hair, scalp hair, beard hair, eyelashes, nose hair or eyebrows. Abnormalities in the natural brain chemicals serotonin and dopamine may play a role in causing this disease.

Cotard's Syndrome:

The sufferer of this disease feels that he or she is dead and non-existent. The sufferer also feels that he/she lost his or her blood or internal organs; the patient even feels that the internal parts are putrefying. It can arise due to mental illness and is associated with depression.

Kleptomania:

The sufferer of this disease is forced to steal things, from paper clips to toilet rolls. They steal anything even things with no value. In some cases they aren't even ware that it is a theft. At the time of theft the patient feels pleasure or relief. The afflicted may be women in most cases. Evidences show that the abnormalities in the brain chemical serotonin may cause this disease.

Stendhal Syndrome:

This is a strange disease in which when the sufferer is exposed to a large amount of beautiful art in a short space of time he would experience dizziness, rapid heartbeat, confusion and hallucinations.

Exploding Head Syndrome:

The sufferer experiences a very loud noise as if from within his/her own head like an explosion. Usually this occurs within two hours of falling asleep but not due to a dream. Patients may feel fear and anxiety accompanied by increased heart rate. Some physicians suggest that there is a correlation with stress and extreme fatigue.

Capgras Delusion:

In this disease, the sufferer becomes convinced that a family member usually spouse has been replaced by an identical looking imposter. He or she refuses to sleep with the imposter. Some victims even second guess their own reflections in the mirror. Some Researchers say this is due to brain damage from a stroke or drug overdose and others say that it is followed after accidents that cause damage to the right side of the brain.

Pica:

This disease creates an urge to eat things other than food. Sufferers eat substances such as paper, clay, dirt, glue, coal, even feces and lint. Some Researchers believe that it is due to mineral deficiency, but others say real cause and cure is yet to find.

Genital Retraction Syndrome:

Genital Retraction Syndrome causes the victims to become panicked and frantic. In this disease males think their penis is shrinking, retracting and disappearing into abdomen; if it is in the case of females, they think breasts are retracting into the body. Sometimes sufferers believe that it is due to witchcraft.

Latah:

This disease is mainly found in adult women. The sufferer may lose control of their behavior; mimic the speech and actions of the people around them. They obey the commands given to them. For example if they are given a command to hit anybody they will obey it instantly. They actually don't know what they are doing.

Jerusalem Syndrome:

This disease is a form of religious psychosis sparked by a visit to Jerusalem. It is not confined to any one religion. Sufferers may believe that they are the prophets of the Lord and indulge themselves in parading around delivering their own sermon, obsessing about virtue and ask sinners to repent their sins. This syndrome disappears after a few weeks or when the tourists leave the place.

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Comments (34)
#1 by slowslow, May 8, 2008
This is a really interesting article. As I read it I wonder how it would actually feel? Will you feel like your body is moving itself and your brain knows but has no control? Or would you just have no clue what\'s happening? Or what?
#2 by lanne, May 8, 2008
Very interesting Valli. The only ones I had heard of were Kleptomania and Trichotillomania. All of them sound pretty scary though.
#3 by Moses Ingram, May 8, 2008
valli, I found this very interesting. I think I was only familiar with one.
#4 by IcyCucky, May 8, 2008
Great article Valli, the only one I'm familiar with the hair pulling syndrome.
#5 by CHAN LEE PENG, May 8, 2008
Thanks Valli, take care!
#6 by Guillaume, May 8, 2008
I experience the Exploding Head Syndrome from time to time. As said in the article, mostly when I am in my bed, but before falling asleep. I didn't even know there were a name for that !
#7 by valli, May 8, 2008
Even I wonder how would those times feel.... anyways thanx for all the comments guys!
#8 by Dee Huff, May 8, 2008
I'm like Guillaume, I've sometimes had a banging noise in my head just as I'm about to fall asleep. I was scared the first time it happened, but was told that it's nothing to worry about. It is annoying, though.

#9 by Nancy Hirt, May 8, 2008
These aren't so strange, I have several of them.
#10 by saurabh, May 8, 2008
"Abnormalities in the natural brain chemicals serotonin and dopamine may play a role in causing this disease."

This is about as informative as someone suggesting I can repair my car by "using some tools".
#11 by Etna, May 8, 2008
Nancy,

Just because you suffer from them doesn't mean they aren't weird, or at the very least, interesting. They certainly aren't normal by any means, that's why they're DISEASES.
#12 by Val, May 8, 2008
Has anybody heard of sleep paralysis? I experience it from time to time. Check it out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis
Very scary feeling, lasts about half a minute or less. You can't breathe fully, can't move a finger but mind is awake.
#13 by Nelson Doyle, May 8, 2008
Valli, this is a very interesting subject and you did a great job explaining the illnesses. Keep up the great work.

God Bless,

Nelson Doyle
#14 by nobert soloria bermosa, May 8, 2008
keep it up valli
thanks
nobert
#15 by valli, May 8, 2008
Thanks for all the comments.

@Saurabh
This article is about the weirdness of the conditions mentioned. Not a medical encyclopedia on why they happen and how to cure them!
#16 by Anne Lyken-Garner, May 9, 2008
Yeah, I have all of them from time to time.

Not really, but I found this article interesting and a little funny. (not that diseases are funny, you understand. just that their afflictions seem so bizarre.)

I think I've heard of Latah. I read a piece in a magazine that described a well-known celebrity's behaviour, which suggested she has this. (I won't name names)
#17 by Josey, May 9, 2008
Valli,This is a great article. I couldn't stop reading about the curious symptoms. These are some of the strangest things I've ever seen.
Josey
#18 by "Jerusalem Syndrome?", May 9, 2008
I think the talented writer of this article was testing the gullibility of his/her readers. In other words, he made it up! Very clever, but it doesn't belong with the rest of the serious definitions.
#19 by Ronald Marbles, May 10, 2008
Great article, Valli. I enjoyed reading it and learnt some things. I worked in a mental hospital and seen some of those cases. Kleptomania is very common. I have seen people with pica and they literally eat everything and the weird thing is that it seems that they are enjoying it and sometimes they say it is tasty.

The Stendhal Syndrome is also very common. I believe I have felt it once during my first visit at the Guggenheim in NYC. The feeling is also euphoric.
#20 by Alexa Gates, May 10, 2008
wow! i never knew any of those diseases. I think i know someone who has Pica..she always ate dirt :)
#21 by Adam Sugden, May 10, 2008
Wow those are some crazy diseases...i hope i don't get any of them!
lol

-Adam Sugden from Triond.com
#22 by VM, May 11, 2008
This might seem harsh but here it goes...the article is interesting but I know nothing of the author's voice and because of that I think it fails. I am sorry but I don't think providing a list of definitions is truly writing.
#23 by SR, May 11, 2008
I suffer from trichotillomania, i pull out hundreds of hairs every day, usually when my hands are idle. I dont even realise it. I get an incredible urge to yanl out my boyfriends beard hairs too. I dont think its that strange compared to the rest of these diseases....
#24 by John, May 12, 2008
Kleptomania isn't really a disease, it is a manifestation of a wanting desire and a conscious decision not to practice self control. I personally think the psychiatric community calls it a "disease" to try to sugarcoat and justify or explain why some people steal consistently. The cure for Kleptomania? Self Discipline!

that's like another thing I read about where the psychiatric community has tried to justify and sugarcoat rebellion against authority by calling it "Oppositional Defiance Disorder" Let us get real and hold people accountable for their actions rather than ignoring,justifying, downplaying or sugarcoating them.
#25 by R.J. , May 12, 2008
A lot of Psychiatrists are Idiots John, that's well known, lol
#26 by Caleb J Smith, May 12, 2008
Please not following exerpt needs editing: 'In some cases they aren't even ware that it is a theft.' 'ware' needs to be changed to 'aware'.

Overall pretty wierd.
#27 by Rallie, May 13, 2008
Wow, I\\\'m surprised you people haven\\\'t at least heard of kleptomania. Everyone I know has heard of it, and most of them are pretty dumb.

You forgot Wendigo, a mental illness found among members of some Native American tribes in which the sufferer (generally an adult male) begins to see family members and friends as food. Think Looney Toons or the scene in James and the Giant Peach movie where Centipede looks at the Worm and sees a hot dog (except less silly).

There\\\'s also an interesting mental illness among Haitian women where they literally lose the ability to speak. Practitioners of vodou see this as a manifestation of the spirit Ezili Danto, but psychiatrists often diagnose it as a facet of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

ps on a lighter note, my cousin has trichotillomania, and had her hair cut in a mullet for the longest time while it was growing back (she only plucked hairs from the top of her head).
#28 by LionessofGd, May 14, 2008
Regarding #19 by "Jerusalem Syndrome?", May 9, 2008

- This is a valid disease and many people are placed in the mental institution in Kfar Shaul, Jerusalem for it... of course, if you need proof, come to Israel and see one of the many "messiahs" walking around (the woman with the coat that has G-D's name in Hebrew written on it, the man with the golden staff, the man with the boombox always dancing around the Western Wall all think they're one)
#29 by Rask Balavoine, May 16, 2008
Well at least none of these diseases is contagious, but Stendhal's Syndrome beats passing a kidney stone any day.
#30 by valli, May 19, 2008
Thanx for all the comments.
LionessofGd, thank you very much for the information and support.
#31 by Nola Moon, May 21, 2008
The about the paintings is just crazy! I wont go to a museum feeling the same again!
#32 by Judy Sheldon, May 29, 2008
Do we appreciate our good health like we should? Thanks, Valli for shedding some light on the unusual diseases that have afflicted others.

Take care.
#33 by Angelicrose331, Jun 4, 2008
My three year old daughter was thought to have picca I was a little offended for a minute by the picture of the kid with the frog hanging out of its mouth but just for a minute But my DD would eat (or try to ) rather strange things Fish food rabbit food constantly wanting to eat ice dog food dirt rocks money they did blood test and checked for difeciancys(sp) and found nothing thankfully she is growing out of it
#34 by angelicrose331, Jun 4, 2008
Also my dad used to pull his hair out and was constantly pulling on hairs I never heard of this untill now thanks
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