Feeling like a zombie, this is what happens to people with walking bodies

Have you ever watched a zombie movie? Yes, it contains many humans who have died, but still walk like people alive. Instead of a zombie movie, it turns out that there is a condition in the body that makes the sufferer feel like he's dead, but is 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 full of scientific explanations. In the world of health, there are indeed those who experience this. Let's see the following review.

Is that corpse syndrome running?

This syndrome has several other names, namely cotard syndrome or cotard delusions. Walking corpse syndrome is a condition that makes a person believe that his body part or body does not exist, 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 loss of the body's ability to assess the reality that occurs, such as hallucinations.

Cotard syndrome can also arise as a co-symptom of mental illness and other neurological conditions.

Cases of costard syndrome are quite varied, some 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.

Are there really people who have corpse walking syndrome?

Walking corpse syndrome is indeed a rare condition. Not everyone who has severe depression is sure to have a walking syndrome. But indeed most people who previously had a history of major depression, are more likely to experience this syndrome.

Reported in the Medical Daily page, a person named Graham who previously had severe depression experienced walking corpse syndrome. Graham no longer believes that he has a brain or head, refuses to eat, and is no longer interested in smoking.

Graham saw that he was useless because he was dead. He also often visited the local cemetery because feeling the closest thing was death. He felt that the funeral was the most suitable place for him compared to meeting people.

Under these conditions, Graham's brain was examined by neurologist Steven Laurey from the University of Liege Belgium. From the results of the examination, it is known that Graham's brain is like a person who has anesthesia or sleep.

The level of activity of cells in the front and side of the cerebrum is very low. Front and side brain areas are areas involved in regulating motor function, memory, and sensory information.

What are the symptoms and signs of symptoms of a walking syndrome?

One of the most dominant symptoms is nihilism. Nihilism is the belief that whatever it really is has no value, or there is no meaning, and everything that exists is actually not really there.

People with this syndrome seem to feel that their form is actually dead or decaying. Even in some cases, people who experience this syndrome feel that they have never existed in this world.

In addition, symptoms of costard syndrome are:

• Anxiety
• Hallucinations
• Hypochondria (excessive anxiety or fear that he suffers from certain diseases)
• Always feel guilty
• Always try to hurt yourself

Who is at risk of developing costard syndrome?

Researchers actually don't know exactly what are the causes of costard syndrome, but there are some risk factors.

Some studies have found that the average age of people who experience this syndrome is around 50 years. Even so, this case may still be experienced by children and adolescents.

People under 25 years of age experience costard syndrome usually also have bipolar depression conditions. Women are also a group that is more at risk of developing walking cadaver syndrome than men.

People who have the following medical conditions also have a higher risk of developing costard syndrome:

• Bipolar disorder
• Depression after childbirth
• Schizropenia
• Psychotic Depression
• Katatonia

People who have the following neurological problems or disorders are also potentially more likely 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?

Membuat diagnosis medis mengenai sindrom ini memang cukup sulit. Sebenarnya tidak ada kriteria standar atau khusus untuk menentukan diagnosis ini.

Dalam kebanyakan kasus, terdeteksinya adanya sindrom cotard ini setelah ada kondisi lain yang muncul, bukan hanya kondisi sindrom cotard itu sendiri.

Jika Anda berpikir akhir-akhir ini memiliki khayalan seperti kondisi sindrom cotard, cobalah catat beberapa gejala tersebut. Perhatikan kapan itu terjadi, dan berapa lama berlangsungnya. Informasi ini sangat penting untuk membantu dokter membuat membuat diagnosis lebih tepat.

How to treat cotard syndrome?

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 with severe depression. ECT will provide a small electrical 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. For example, memory loss, confusion, nausea, muscle aches. Because of this effect, there are several other options in handling this case, including:

• Antidepressants
• Antipsychotics
• Psychotherapy
• Behavioral therapy
• Mood stabilizers

Share this post