what is jerusalem syndrome

Jerusalem syndrome is a group of mental phenomena that can occur when a person visits the city of Jerusalem. It involves the presence of religiously themed obsessive ideas, delusions, or other psychosis-like experiences that are triggered by the visit. The best-known manifestation of Jerusalem syndrome is when a person who seems previously balanced and devoid of any signs of psychopathology becomes psychotic after arriving in Jerusalem. The psychosis is characterized by an intense religious theme and typically resolves to full recovery after a few weeks or after being removed from the area. There are three main categories of the syndrome, with the third type being the most fascinating. It describes individuals with no previous history of mental illness who fall victim to a psychotic episode while in Israel, recover fairly spontaneously, and then, after leaving the country, apparently enjoy normality. Hence, Type III is unconjoined to other psychopathologies and can be described as the ‘pure’ or ‘unconfounded’ form of the syndrome. The main symptom of this disorder is identification with a character from the Bible and exhibiting behaviors that seem to be typical for this character. Most people who experience it have underlying psychiatric illnesses, such as schizophrenia, which drove their decision to travel to holy sites in the first place, perhaps in some kind of messianic quest, or a condition such as a personality disorder.