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Walking Corpse Syndrome: A Review

Boominathan V., Dhivagar S.

Abstract


Cotard's syndrome, also known as walking corpse syndrome, is a mental illness that affects a relatively small percentage of people. Since 1882, reports of the syndrome have been recorded. The disorder was first referred to as a psychiatric disease of variable severity by the neurologist Jules Cotard in 1880. This uncommon syndrome frequently co-occurs with dementia in people with depression, schizophrenia, and psychotic disorders brought on by a general medical problem. The individual suffering from this mental disorder has the misconception that they are already dead, cannot live, their body is rotting away, have lost their blood, or have internal organs. In spite of the fact that they think they are dead or do not exist, about 55% of patients with walking corpse syndrome think they are morally reprehensible. Many patients suffer in silence despite the fact that their condition is treatable because they are so certain of their own demise or nonexistence that they have no desire to speak to anyone.


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References


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.37628/ijcn.v9i1.2321

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