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Jerusalem Syndrome is a mental illness that affects tourists visiting Jerusalem and the people who live there. This disease is based on delusions and falls within psychosis. Usually, people who have this syndrome identify with certain biblical characters and start to imitate them.
Some of the characters in the Bible that people most identify with are Moses, King David, Jesus of Nazareth and John the Baptist. Men tend to imitate male characters and women female characters. The professed religion also influences a lot. Christians identify with New Testament characters, while Jews, for whom this book is not part of their beliefs, imitate Old Testament characters.
Why Jerusalem?
The most touristic place in Israel is the Western Wall, also known as the Wailing Wall. It is located in the city of Jerusalem. Every day, many visitors go to the wall at any time, whether to pray, take pictures or attend a ceremony or demonstration. The historical and spiritual environment one lives in is so strong that it can be the trigger for this syndrome.
Many of the people who visit him are attracted to supernatural experiences, which can be spiritual or religious. They are attracted by the atmosphere created, especially after midnight. People suffering from this syndrome, when they imitate biblical characters, roam the streets of Jerusalem preaching in public. Furthermore, they exchange their clothes for tunics and sheets.
the Jerusalem Syndrome
The physician who first identified Jerusalem syndrome clinically was Dr. Yair Bar-El, a psychiatrist. After examining more than 400 tourists who had been declared insane, mostly Jews and Christians, the doctor found that they all shared some characteristics and was able to identify the symptoms that characterize this syndrome.
In medical terms, this syndrome is defined as a hysterical dissociative disorder. Patients take on another personality that they will not be able to remember later. The atmosphere of spirituality that permeates the ancient city of Jerusalem, characterized by religion, history, ideology and mythology, is enriched by several events that took place there: wars, crusades, conquests, massacres, etc., do not let the people who visit her indifferently.
Jerusalem syndrome has been compared to Florence or Stendhal syndrome. This syndrome was detected among 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 the Jerusalem syndrome is due to religion.
Symptoms Accompanying Jerusalem Syndrome
Tourists with this syndrome experience nervousness or anxiety for no apparent reason. They distance themselves from the people they traveled with and isolate themselves. Then they begin to perform purification rituals with baths and change their clothes in order to look like the 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 feel ashamed. They cannot explain what happened and regret their extravagant behavior. It is believed that those who suffered the syndrome arrived in Jerusalem predisposed, and once there, the latent syndrome awoke.
Have you ever visited Jerusalem? If you visit and find people preaching in the street or washing themselves in a fountain, don’t think they’re crazy. Maybe they have Jerusalem syndrome, or maybe you can experience it yourself for the first time.
