Cotard Syndrome
Zombies are real, but not like those in stories on the big screen. Real zombies and vampires are regular people who suffer from a mental condition called, Cotard Syndrome. Cotard's syndrome, is a rare mental disorder, those with cotard syndrome have delusional belief that they are already dead. This syndrome is also known as the Walking Corpse Syndrome. These delusions can range from believing one is dead, are putrefying, do not exist, or have lost their blood and organs. This mental disorder was brought to the attention in the 1880‘s, by Jules Cotard, who described a delusion he called “delusion of negations”. Cotard Syndrome is mostly a certain type of depression.
Dr. Jules Cotard, was a French neurologist with a military background, who is most famous for the describing this mental condition in the 1880’s. Dr. Cotard died in the year of 1889. Cotard syndrome was named after him. He described these delusions as a certain severe forms of chronic anxiety. Dr. Cotard describes some of the six major symptoms, which are melancholic anxiety, ideas of damnation and diabolic possession, in other words demon-pathy, disposition towards suicide or self injury, analgesia, hypochondriac ideas of nonexistence or destruction of organs or the entire body, of the soul, or of God, etc.
Cases Reported with Cotard Syndrome
Patient one, a man attempted to commit suicide, by electrocuting himself because of depression. After the incident, he told his psychiatrist, that his brain was dead, but his body was living. That he no longer needed to eat or sleep. However he acknowledged that his mind was alive, but could not understand if his brain was dead how his mind could be alive. Still though he kept insisting his brain was dead. Psyc...
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...s amount and that puts your kidneys under a lot of stress, since the body cannot break down lithium chemicals that well. Mood stabilizer help to sedate a person with severe mood disorders. People suffering from cotard syndrome are usually disoriented and depressed that they need mood stabilizers so they do not cause harm to themselves or others around them.
However out of all the medication listed for most mental disorders, electroconvulsive therapy, has the most positive effect for cotard syndrome. It is commonly known as electroshock treatment. The patients are electronically given seizures to give the relief from their psychiatric illnesses. Women are more likely to go under electroshock treat, seeing as they are more likely to go into depression. Electroshock treatment is usually given as a last result for most major depression disorders, like cotard syndrome.
As said in the previous discussion regarding the second chapter of Better Off Dead: The Evolution of the Zombie as Post-Human, zombies and their culture are examined and broke down in order to understand their motives for the progression of zombies globally. Through different perspectives from individuals based around the world, the discussion of the zombie culture debates over the idea that zombies have not just evolved within the narratives that have brought them to life, but they have evolved in such a way that ultimately transforms the narrative itself. However, in this specific chapter, “They are not men…they are dead bodies!”: From Cannibal to Zombie and Back Again, Chera Kee breaks down the introduction of zombies into mainstream consciousness,
... in assisting those who care about the bipolar individual, as well as providing socialization and a means to not feel alone. Generally, as a last resort, electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT is used. An electrical current is passed through the brain. This is thought to change the brain chemistry and increase the mood. This is used only for severe depression or when symptoms are unsuccessfully treated with medications. People with Bipolar Disorder are encouraged to avoid drinking alcohol, avoid the use of street drugs or misusing prescription medications, avoid unhealthy relationships, get plenty of sleep, and exercise on a regular basis. One thing is clear. The person themselves must be active in their own well-being in order to maintain a relatively healthy and productive lifestyle. In so doing, the prognosis for someone diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder is very good.
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a treatment for severe mental illness in which the brain is stimulated with a strong electrical current which induces a seizure. The seizure rearranges the brain's neurochemistry and results in an elevation of mood. This essay asks: Is ECT any safer and more effective in treating mood disorders than drug therapies? This treatment has a controversial history ever since it was first introduced in 1938. I intend to argue that electroconvulsive therapy is indeed a safe treatment of mental disorders when other treatments have failed. Due to the development of safer and less traumatic ways of administering ECT, the treatment has made a comeback, is greatly used, and proves to be effective.
An individual who has a mental illness can be a danger to themselves and others. They don't live a normal life that is guaranteed to them, holding them back from being successful and having a bright future. If medications are not working for a mental illness, then the patient can consider electroconvulsive therapy. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a medical procedure that sends currents of electricity through your brain. ECT saves lives and is ethical to treat patients using “psychosurgical” procedure.
“Todd S Elwyn – Factitious Disorder Imposed on Self.” emedicine.medscape.com. 2014. 10 March 2014. http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/291304-overview
Neurologically, the amygdala (which associate emotions to recognized faces) might be affected. The neural disconnection creates in the patient a sense that the face he/she is observing is not the face of the person to whom it belongs. Therefore, that face lacks the familiarity and recognition usually associated with it, which results in “derealization” and disconnection from the environment. If the patient sees his/her own face, he/she might perceive no association between the face and his/her sense of “Self”. Medicine indicates that Cotard's syndrome is associated with lesions in the parietal lobe and brain atrophy, especially of the median frontal
Zombie literature in its current form has been around since the early 1920’s, the concept of the “Zombie” itself originated in the nation of Haiti around the same time. Since it’s inception, the purpose of the zombie genre is to commentate on social issues during many periods of human history. These periods include World War II, the Vietnam War, and the Cold War. The zombie has represented several things from the nuclear bomb, to the collective fears of humanity in general, such as the fear of death and of dying. Zombies have also been represented as a physical manifestation of the flaws of humanity, such as mindless, joyless consumerism. (McGregor)
Dr. Paul A. Byrne, a neonatologist and a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, claims that brain death is not true death for a person, doctors just want to harvest the organs so they claim a person is dead when they’re really not: “Patients are declared brain dead in order to harvest their organs.” The true death is the removal of the organs, Byrne says: “Every donor is killed in the process.” Byrne also says that doctors aren’t able to take the organs out of someone who is truly dead because organ damage occurs after circulation has stopped. Therefore, the person is still alive when the removal of organs takes place. Byrne supports his claim, that brain death isn’t true death, by providing evidence about a young man from Oklahoma, Zach Dunlap, who was declared brain dead. However, his cousin who was one of his nurses, recognized a response after four hours of being declared dead by scraping a knife on the bottom of his foot. Dunlap wasn’t truly dead although he had been declared dead. He even said he could hear everything the doctors were saying but couldn’t yell for help due to his head injury. By telling the story of a person who had this happen to him, Byrne is showing that there is actual evidence that people who are declared brain dead might not actually be dead and that doctors should be better at checking whether a person is truly brain dead or not. The story of Zach Dunlap appeared on newscasts, websites, and shows; such as NBC News, the Today
“Cotard formulated a new type of depression, characterized by anxious melancholia, ideas of damnation or rejection, insensitivity to pain, delusions of nonexistence concerning one’s own body and delusions of immortality.” (Debruyne, Portzky, Peremans & Audenaert, 2011) Cotard’s Syndrome Type I consisted of hypochondria, nihilistic delusions, and little to none of the depression stages. Cotard’s Syndrome Type II had symptoms of anxiety, auditory hallucinations, and delusions of immortality, depression, nihilistic delusions, and serious suicidal behavior. Those that develop Cotard’s Syndrome usually had an underlying cause most often being bipolar disorder. People who are most effected by Cotard’s Syndrome, are mostly women. Ages don’t necessarily matter, however studies have shown that persons of a late age are more likely to develop Cotard’s Syndrome on top of bipolar or serious depression.
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) was first developed in 1938. It has a history of abuse, exploited as a means of punishing or controlling people in mental hospitals, consequently ECT had poor reputation with negative depictions, but since then it has drastically improved with confirmed effectiveness. Despite the improvement in techniques, the use of ECT continues to decline since the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE,2003) states that it should only be administered to severely depressed patients for whom psychotherapy and medication have proved ineffective or when the condition is considered potentially life threatening. For example, when there is a risk of suicide or risk to others because ECT has much quicker results than any other forms of treatment for depression. Overall, the aim of this PowerPoint is to provide information on how ECT is administered, how or why it works, benefits, side effects, appropriateness and effectiveness.
Zombies were born of Caribbean and bayou voodoo. They weren’t undead and flesh seeking, as society knows them today. They were people who were highly suggestible and didn’t think for themselves, being controlled by the voodoo practitioner. These stories quite often involved dark magic and rituals. In reality, it was a mix of herbs that caused the suggestible state. This fear is understandable as the government of the time grew increasingly powerful and every other system began to collapse during the Great Depression. The only way to survive would to be entirely subjected to Uncle Sam’s will.
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There are many possibilities where a human can be turned into a “zombie”. Disease, disease has been with humans as long as humans have lived on this Earth. When we look throughout history, we can see the evolution of disease. In England during the Middle Ages, the Bubonic Plague is a perfect example. It hit the British pretty hard, taking them absolutely by surprise.
Mental illness, today we are surround by a broad array of types of mental illnesses and new discoveries in this field every day. Up till the mid 1800’s there was no speak of personality disorder, in fact there was only two type of mental illness recognized. Those two illnesses as defined by Dr. Sam Vaknin (2010), “”delirium” or “manial”- were depression (melancholy), psychoses, and delusions.” It was later in 1835 when J. C. Pritchard the British Physician working at Bristol Infirmary Hospital published his work titled “Treatise on Insanity and Other Disorder of the Mind” this opened the door to the world of personality disorder. There were many story and changes to his theories and mental illness and it was then when Henry Maudsley in 1885 put theses theories to work and applied to a patient. This form of mental illness has since grown into the many different types of personality disorder that we know today. Like the evolution of the illness itself there has been a significant change in the way this illness is diagnosed and treated.
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