Walking corpse syndrome, the delusion of death is one of the names of the state manifested by the patient’s belief to be deceased. The aetiology of affliction is read into stressful way of life and severe depressive state. People diagnosed with Cotard syndrome, which is the correct name of this disease, are convinced that they are dead and therefore claim that they cannot die again.
Patients with this syndrome often appear to have reduced sensitivity to hyperalgesia, as well as they believe in the decomposition of their body including internal organs. It often happens that such people perceive themselves as moving corpses that is why they talk about their decaying body and worms devouring it. Patients are also observed with psychomotor agitation, severe anxiety and suicidal tendencies. In addition, the Cotard syndrome occurs together with the Capgras syndrome (delusion that people from the closest circle have been swapped doubles).
It is assumed that both the Cotard syndrome and the Capgras syndrome develop as a result of damage to the neuronal roads, which connect the center of face recognition with the limbic system responsible for associating recognizable objects with emotional states.
The affliction has been named after the French neurologist Jules Cotard (1840-1889), who had first described the case as le délire de Negation (from fr. Delusion of negation), in person with the abovementioned symptoms. The person described in this case was a woman who initially denied the existence of god, devil, and some parts of her body, and had ordered to call her Mademoiselle X (from fr. Miss X). Later she claimed that she is dead and doomed to eternal damnation and cannot die in a natural way.
Written by: Mateusz Grajek, Anna Rej, Sandra Kryska
Sources:
1. Bilikiewicz A., Strzyżewski A.: Psychiatria: podręcznik dla studentów medycyny, PZWL, Warszawa 1992.
2. Pużyński S.: Leksykon psychiatrii, PZWL, Warszawa 1993.
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