The Jerusalem syndrome, or when the Holy City provokes mystical whiffs

With his white gown, long brown hair and beard, Mike* does not go unnoticed.

For several minutes, he has been walking barefoot on the esplanade in the old city of Jerusalem, between the garish stalls and the heavily armed police.

For several years this practicing Jew dreamed of the Holy City.

Once there, the shock was too strong, and mystical whiffs took hold of him.

Since the 1980s, many Jerusalem psychiatrists have been confronted with this phenomenon known as the Jerusalem syndrome: mystical or magical delusions, identification with the Messiah or with biblical characters... To deal with it, the psychiatric hospital of Kfar Shaul was chosen to concentrate the cases.

Between 1980 and 1993, 1,200 tourists with serious mental problems related to Jerusalem were referred to this facility, including 470 admitted to hospital, an average of 100 tourists per year.

Find the other episodes of the series "The traveler's syndrome"

EPISODE 1…

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