When most people go on trips, they think of themselves as outsiders. When some go to Jerusalem, they think they're Jesus.
Courtesy of Katarzyna Kozyra Foundation and Postmasters Gallery A still from the Polish artist Katarzyna Kozyra’s documentary about Jerusalem Syndrome. The man pictured claims he is Jesus.
Imagine you’ve spent your life building a home for you and your family in Iowa. Your spouse is a registered nurse, you’re a firefighter, and your children sleep at night in the home you both have worked hard to provide.
The next thing you know, you’re in Jerusalem, ripping up your hotel sheets and then hitting the street corner to preach in your homemade toga.
You’ve contracted something called Jerusalem Syndrome, and now you and your children are in a tent on a city hillside, waiting for the apocalypse as you proclaim yourself Samson (or King David) in the meantime.
The crazy part, though? You’re not crazy. You have no history of depression or anxiety, and if you had just chosen another vacation spot, you would be fine. What’s given you the sudden God complex, then? Something called Jerusalem Syndrome.
As its name suggests, the affliction hits people who visit Jerusalem. As the sheer outlandishness of the symptoms suggests, many health professionals doubt that the syndrome actually exists in a scientifically verifiable way. Indeed, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders doesn’t list Jerusalem Syndrome as a valid diagnosis for a given illness, because no one has been able to prove that the religious delusions are not tied to hidden, underlying mental health issues.
Even if not medically valid, the hysteria has been around for some time. Heinz Herman, an Israeli psychiatrist, first clinically described the syndrome in the 1930s, and it’s common enough that people in Jerusalem — from reverends and U.S. consulate officials to hostel managers and tour guides — can spot the symptoms from a mile away.
The cure? This is where Dr. Yair Bar-El comes in.
Bar-El wrote the definitive paper on Jerusalem Syndrome back in 1999, just as authorities worried that the new millennium would inundate the city with Jerusalem Syndrome sufferers (as with Y2K, that didn’t happen). Now, Bar-El works at Kfar Shaul Mental Health Center, where he treats patients exhibiting signs of Jerusalem Syndrome.
And that starts with first looking for a few bizarre symptoms.
What Are The Symptoms of Jerusalem Syndrome?
Courtesy of Katarzyna Kozyra Foundation and Postmasters GalleryA still from the Polish artist Katarzyna Kozyra’s (Left) documentary about Jerusalem Syndrome. The man pictured (Right) claims he is “the chosen one” from the Tribe of Ephraim.
Bar-El breaks down Jerusalem Syndrome into seven stages, each exhibiting unique symptoms:
Anxiety
In the first stage, Bar-El says that an individual with Jerusalem Syndrome will start feeling a sense of general, inexplicable unease. He adds that as inner turmoil boils up into agitated anxiety, this tension becomes a state of constant nervousness.
Needing To Be Alone
Next, Bar-El says that sufferers will exhibit a need to explore the city alone, away from family or friends. As a consequence, tour guides in Jerusalem are told to report any tourist that starts wandering away from the group in a daze.
Purification
If not taken to a hospital, in the third stage Bar-El says that sufferers will start cleaning and showering compulsively, and obsess about clipping toenails and fingernails perfectly.
Preparation
In the fourth stage, Bar-El says that sufferers will rip apart hotel bed sheets in order to form makeshift togas. The linens — always bleached white — typically go down to the ankle. Jerusalem Syndrome patients will remove all other clothing.
Screaming Loudly
They then begin to scream. If these screams involve verses from the Bible, hymns or monotheistic spirituals, staff members contact medical professionals.
Marching
If medical professionals don’t arrive on time, Bar-El says that Jerusalem Syndrome sufferers will soon march to a holy site somewhere in the city.
Preaching
Upon reaching this destination, Bar-El says that in the final stage the afflicted will start preaching to anyone within earshot, and beg them to live cleaner, more wholesome lives. The individual will spout confused, long-winded spiels about morals, often those of a “simpler time.”
What Causes Jerusalem Syndrome?
Courtesy of Katarzyna Kozyra Foundation and Postmasters GalleryA still from the Polish artist Katarzyna Kozyra’s (Right) documentary about Jerusalem Syndrome.
To contract Type 3 Jerusalem Syndrome — the rarest, and must sudden onset of the syndrome — Bar-El says you must have no prior history of mental illness (he says that those with Type 1 and 2 have a history of mental illness). Second, you must be traveling to Jerusalem as a general tourist.
Beyond those two factors, not much else seems to predict who will “contract” Type 3 of the syndrome. Gender doesn’t seem to have much bearing, as women and men are affected in equal proportion. As for religion, Bar-El’s research does suggest that Protestants may be particularly susceptible: Over the course of a decade, the psychiatrist found that among the 42 patients he saw with the syndrome, one was a Jewish man who had lived as a Protestant, one was Catholic, and the rest were all Protestants.
Others say that the syndrome may simply be a reaction to the environment — and a rather disappointing one, at that. The logic goes that once tourists arrive in Jerusalem and realize that it’s just another city, they grow restless. Their minds — soggy from disappointment and failed expectations — simply break into a religious fever from the culture shock.
What Are The Other Types of Jerusalem Syndrome?
Courtesy of Katarzyna Kozyra Foundation and Postmasters GalleryA still from the Polish artist Katarzyna Kozyra’s (Far Right) documentary about Jerusalem Syndrome.
While Type 3 patients have no history of mental illness, the majority of Jerusalem Syndrome sufferers do in fact have a history of psychiatric disorder (Type 1) or some kind of previous obsession with Jerusalem (Type 2).
Jerusalem Syndrome Types 1 and Type 2 account for about 80 percent of cases. From 1980 to 1993, for example, 1,200 tourists were taken to Kfar Shaul Mental Hospital after demonstrating signs of Jerusalem Syndrome. Of the 470 admitted, only 42 were Type 3 sufferers.
Type 1 Jerusalem Syndrome patients — defined by a prior history with illnesses such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder — often identify as a specific character from the Bible. Type 1 also involves having fantastical ideas about Jerusalem’s healing properties or its ability to cure sickness through magic. These patients have typically already isolated themselves by the time they get to Jerusalem, and are thus traveling alone.
Type 2 Jerusalem Syndrome is defined by a patient history of non-psychotic mental disorders, such as personality disorders that leave patients obsessed with a fixed idea. Type 2 sufferers sometimes come to Jerusalem alone, but most often than not come with groups of people.
As Bar-El could not confirm that the patients he diagnosed with Type 2 and 3 of the syndrome had no pre-existing conditions past preliminary questioning, neither Type 2 or 3 Jerusalem Syndrome is considered to be a medically valid diagnosis. Instead, experts understand the affliction as an extension of pre-existing psychotic issues such as schizophrenia.
So why the religiosity of it all? According to Dr. Mark Serper, a psychologist at Hofstra University, it has to do with upbringing and self-selection.
“When I was at Bellevue, we had patients come from California, and it was like why, why did you take the bus — these were patients with schizophrenia with very little resources but they took the bus across the country to come to Bellevue,” Serper told ATI. “They said ‘Well, I’m sick so I wanted to come to Bellevue, that’s the place you want to be if you have a mental illness.'”
“[Jerusalem Syndrome] reminds me of that. If you feel particular urges, or a particular sense of religiousness that you’re going to want to be Jerusalem if that affects part of your culture — that’s like your mecca. Just like Bellevue was the mecca of psychiatric hospitals in folklore. People would come to it from distant parts of the country because they figured that was the place to go. It kinda reminds me of that in a secular way, that people in our society would do that.”
If you enjoyed learning about Jerusalem Syndrome, check out five more creepy mental illnesses before reading about all the weird ways doctors tried to cure them.
