Clinical lycanthropy is defined as a rare psychiatric syndrome which involves a delusion that the affected person can or has transformed into an animal, or that he or she is an animal^[1]. Psychiatry is a medical specialty which exists to study, prevent, and treat Mental disorders in Humans Psychiatric A delusion is commonly defined as a fixed False Belief and is used in everyday language to describe a belief that is either false fanciful or derived from Deception Its name is connected to the mythical condition of lycanthropy, a supernatural affliction in which people are said to physically shapeshift into wolves. The word mythology (from the Greek grc μυθολογία mythología, meaning "a story-telling a legendary lore" The term supernatural or supranatural ( Latin: super, supra "above" + natura "nature" pertains to entities events Shapeshifting is a common theme in Mythology and Folklore, as well as in Science fiction and Fantasy. See also Lycanthropy (disambiguation Werewolves, also known as lycanthropes, are mythological or folkloric humans with the ability to The word zoanthropy is also sometimes used for the delusion that one has turned into an animal in general and not specifically a wolf^[2]

Contents 1 Symptoms 2 Proposed mechanisms 2.1 Neurological factors 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

Symptoms

Affected individuals report a delusional belief that they have transformed, or are in the process of transforming into another animal. It has been linked with the altered states of mind that accompany psychosis (the reality-bending mental state that typically involves delusions and hallucinations) with the transformation only seeming to happen in the mind and behavior of the affected person. Psychosis (from the Greek ψυχή "psyche" for mind or soul and -οσις "-osis" for abnormal condition with adjective psychotic A delusion is commonly defined as a fixed False Belief and is used in everyday language to describe a belief that is either false fanciful or derived from Deception A hallucination, in the broadest sense is a Perception in the absence of a stimulus. Shapeshifting is a common theme in Mythology and Folklore, as well as in Science fiction and Fantasy. Behavior or behaviour (see spelling differences) refers to the actions or Reactions of an object or Organism, usually

A study^[3] on lycanthropy from the McLean Hospital reported on a series of cases and proposed some diagnostic criteria by which lycanthropy could be recognised:

• A patient reports in a moment of lucidity or looking back he sometimes feels as an animal or has felt like one. McLean Hospital (pronounced 'Mc-Lane' is a Psychiatric hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts.
• A patient behaves in a manner that resembles animal behaviour, for example crying, grumbling or creeping.

According to these criteria, either a delusional belief in current or past transformation, or behaviour that suggests a person thinks of themselves as transformed, is considered evidence of clinical lycanthropy. The authors go on to note that although the condition seems to be an expression of psychosis there is no specific diagnosis of mental or neurological illness associated with its behavioural consequences. Mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern that occurs in an individual and is thought to cause distress or disability that is not expected as

It also seems that lycanthropy is not specific to an experience of human-to-wolf transformation; a wide variety of creatures have been reported as part of the shape-shifting experience. A review^[4] of the medical literature from early 2004 lists over thirty published cases of lycanthropy, only the minority of which have wolf or dog themes. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " The grey wolf or gray wolf ( Canis lupus) also known as the timber wolf or simply wolf, is a Mammal of the order Carnivora The dog ( Canis lupus familiaris) is a domesticated Subspecies of the gray wolf, a Mammal of the Canidae family of the order Canines are certainly not uncommon, although the experience of being transformed into hyenas, cats, horses, birds and tigers has been reported on more than one occasion. The Hyaenidae is a Mammalian family of order Carnivora. The Hyaenidae family native to both African and Asian continents consists of four WikipediaManual of Style (spelling, articles should conform to one overall spelling style of English typically the one most linked to the article topic (if it is geographic The horse ( Equus caballus) is a hoofed ( Ungulate) Mammal, one of eight living species of the family Equidae. Birds ( class Aves) are bipedal endothermic ( Warm-blooded) Vertebrate animals that lay eggs. The tiger ( Panthera tigris) is a member of the Felidae family the largest and the most powerful of the four " Big cats quot in the Genus Transformation into frogs, and even bees, has been reported in some instances. This article is about the block cipher algorithm For the ultrafast laser pulse measurement technique see Frequency-resolved optical gating. Bees are flying Insects closely related to Wasps and Ants Bees are a Monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea A 1989 case study^[5] described how one individual reported a serial transformation, experiencing a change from human, to dog, to horse, and then finally cat, before returning to the reality of human existence after treatment. Year 1989 ( MCMLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar) There are also reports of people who experienced transformation into an animal only listed as 'unspecified'.

Proposed mechanisms

Clinical lycanthropy is a rare condition and is largely considered to be an idiosyncratic expression of a psychotic-episode caused by another condition such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or clinical depression. Schizophrenia ( from the Greek roots schizein (σχίζειν "to split" and phrēn Major depressive disorder, also known as major depression, unipolar depression, unipolar disorder, clinical depression, or simply depression

However, there are suggestions that certain neurological and cultural influences may lead to the expression of the human-animal transformation theme that defines the condition. Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate" generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic

Neurological factors

One important factor may be differences or changes in parts of the brain known to be involved in representing body shape (e. The human brain controls the Central nervous system (CNS by way of the Cranial nerves and Spinal cord, the Peripheral nervous system (PNS g. see proprioception, body image). Proprioception (ˌproʊpriːəˈsɛpʃən PRO -pree-o-SEP-shun from Latin proprius, meaning "one's own" and perception is the Sense Body image is a term which may refer to the Perceptions of a human's own Physical appearance, or the internal sense of having a body which is interpreted by the brain A neuroimaging study^[6] of two people diagnosed with clinical lycanthropy showed that these areas display unusual activation, suggesting that when people report their bodies are changing shape, they may be genuinely perceiving those feelings. Neuroimaging includes the use of various techniques to either directly or indirectly image the structure, function/ Pharmacology of the Brain Body image distortions are not unknown in mental and neurological illness, so this may help explain at least part of the process. One further puzzle is why an affected person doesn't simply report that their body "feels like it is changing in odd ways", rather than presenting with a delusional belief that they are changing into a specific animal. There is much evidence that psychosis is more than just odd perceptual experiences so perhaps lycanthropy is the result of these unusual bodily experiences being understood by an already confused mind, perhaps sifted through cultural traditions and ideas.

Cultural influences are thought to strongly influence the content of psychosis and psychosis-like experiences and we have a large cultural resource when it comes to human-to-animal transformation, as many societies have included this concept into myths, stories, or rituals (see lycanthropy for many such examples). There have also been cases of feral children seemingly raised by animals after losing their parents. A feral child ( Feral, Wild, or undomesticated) is a human child who has lived isolated from human contact from a very young age and has no (or little Psychiatrist Lucien Malson collected more than fifty alleged cases in his landmark book Wolf Children and the Problem of Human Nature. ^[7] More cases have been reported since its publication in 1964, suggesting that some beliefs about lycanthropy might stem from observations of unusual maternal relationships between humans and animals. Year 1964 ( MCMLXIV) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the 1964 Gregorian calendar.

While mainstream psychiatry assumes that someone who believes themselves to be an animal is mentally ill, someone who deliberately tries to accomplish the same with psychoactive potions and ritual is considered a shaman in many societies around the world.

In earlier times the state of the patient was commonly explained as due to possession. Marcellus of Sida reported that in Greece the patients frequented the tombs at night, and that they were recognizable by their yellow complexion, hollow eyes and dry tongue. Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία For the New York prison see The Tombs. A Tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. The Garrows of India are said to tear their hair when they are seized with the complaint, which is put down to the use of a drug applied to the forehead; this recalls the stories of the witch's salve in Europe. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country In Abyssinia the patient is usually a woman; two forms are distinguished, caused by the hyena and the leopard respectively. NOTE This intro is the result of careful NPOV work Please do not make potentially controversial edits to it without first discussing on the talk page The Hyaenidae is a Mammalian family of order Carnivora. The Hyaenidae family native to both African and Asian continents consists of four The leopard (lɛpɚd Panthera pardus) is an Old World Mammal of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four roaring A kind of trance ushers in the fit; the fingers are clenched, the eyes glazed and the nostrils distended; the patient, when she comes to herself, laughs hideously and runs on all fours. The exorcist is a blacksmith; as a rule, he applies onion or garlic to her nose and proceeds to question the evil spirit. Organicsalsajpg||thumb|right|Onions used in salsa.]]Cooked onions in frying pan Allium sativum L, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the Onion family Alliaceae.

See also

• Lycanthropy
• Kitsunetsuki
• Man Into Wolf; An Anthropological Interpretation of Sadism, Masochism and Lycanthropy
• Otherkin
• Therianthropy

References

External links

• A review of lycanthropy, from J Roy Soc Med

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