Voyager Syndrome: Travel Madness
Voyager Syndrome is the term given to a group of mental disorders relating to travel. The three most famous (which will be explained in more detail below) are Paris Syndrome, Jerusalem Syndrome, and Florence Syndrome. Voyager syndromes are a kind of culture shock, which refers to the anxiety and feelings (of surprise, disorientation, uncertainty, confusion, etc.) felt when people have to operate within a different and unknown cultural or social environment, such as a foreign country. It grows out of the difficulties in assimilating the new culture, causing difficulty in knowing what is appropriate and what is not. This is often combined with a dislike for or even disgust (moral or aesthetic) with certain aspects of the new or different culture.
The Disorders
Jerusalem Syndrome
The Jerusalem syndrome is a group of mental phenomena involving the presence of either religiously themed obsessive ideas, delusions or other psychosis-like experiences that are triggered by, or lead to, a visit to the city of Jerusalem. It is not endemic to one single religion or denomination but has affected Jews and Christians of many different backgrounds.
The best known, although not the most prevalent, manifestation of the Jerusalem syndrome is the phenomenon whereby a person who seems previously balanced and devoid of any signs of psychopathology becomes psychotic after arriving in Jerusalem. The psychosis is characterised by an intense religious theme and typically resolves to full recovery after a few weeks or after being removed from the area.
During a period of 13 years (1980-1993) for which admissions to the Kfar Shaul Mental Health Centre in Jerusalem were analysed, it was reported that 1,200 tourists with severe, Jerusalem-themed mental problems were referred to this clinic. Of these, 470 were admitted to hospital. On average, 100 such tourists have been seen annually, 40 of them requiring admission to hospital.
Paris Syndrome
Paris syndrome is a transient psychological disorder encountered by some people visiting or vacationing in Paris, France. Japanese visitors are observed to be especially susceptible. From the estimated six million yearly visitors the number of reported cases is significant. It is characterized by a number of psychiatric symptoms as acute delusional states, hallucinations, feelings of persecution (delusional belief of being a victim of prejudice, aggression, hostility to others), a derealization, a depersonalization, anxiety, and also psychosomatic manifestations such as dizziness, tachycardia, sweating, etc..
The four main factors to cause the disorder are:
1. Language barrier – few Japanese speak French and vice versa. This is believed to be the principal difficulty and is thought to engender the remainder. Apart from the obvious differences between French and Japanese many everyday phrases and idioms are shorn of meaning and substance when translated adding to the confusion of some who haven’t previously encountered such.
2. Cultural difference – the authors state that the large difference between not only the languages but the manner in which Latin populations communicate on an interpersonal level in comparison to the rigidly formal Japanese culture proves too great a difficulty for some Japanese visitors. It is thought that it is the rapid and frequent fluctuations in mood, tense and attitude especially in the delivery of humor that cause the most difficulty.
3. Idealized image of Paris – it is also speculated as manifesting from an individual’s inability to reconcile a disparity between the Japanese popular image and the reality of Paris.
4. Exhaustion – finally, it is thought that the over-booking of one’s time and energy, whether on a business trip or on holiday, in attempting to cram too much into every moment of a stay in Paris along with the effects of jet lag all contribute to the psychological destabilization of some.
Florence Syndrome
Also sometimes referred to as Stendhal Syndrome, Florence syndrome is a psychosomatic illness that causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, confusion and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to art, usually when the art is particularly beautiful or a large amount of art is in a single place. The term can also be used to describe a similar reaction to a surfeit of choice in other circumstances, e.g. when confronted with immense beauty in the natural world.
It is named after the famous 19th century French author Stendhal (pseudonym of Henri-Marie Beyle), who described his experience with the phenomenon during his 1817 visit to Florence, Italy in his book Naples and Florence: A Journey from Milan to Reggio.
Although there are many descriptions of people becoming dizzy and fainting while taking in Florentine art, especially at the Uffizi, dating from the early 19th century on, the syndrome was only named in 1979, when it was described by Italian psychiatrist Graziella Magherini, who observed and described more than 100 similar cases among tourists and visitors in Florence. The syndrome was first diagnosed in 1982.
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Filed under: Bizarre | 24 Comments
This list was interesting. It is hard to imagine people experiencing some of these affects while traveling to a foriegn country, especially now a days with the ease of traveling from country to country. Good List. Thanks
Jerusalem Syndrome: My husband had the opposite reaction, he went as a Christian and came back feeling as if had seen a middle-ages theme park.
Paris Syndrome: ” feelings of persecution (delusional belief of being a victim of prejudice, aggression, hostility to others”, No its real
Stendahl Syndrome: I want to experience it for myself
Interestingly every time I went to Paris I found the French to be incredibly friendly and nice people. It was often a welcome break from the rather sullen English people I was surrounded by in London.
Astrid, concerning Paris Syndrome…
You’re not American are you?
Lol I’m sorry, but I had to ask. I find as a Canadian traveling around, people were quite rude until they find out you’re Canadian. They assume I’m American. I lived in South Texas for a long time where the Mexican population is huge. They had a very strong dislike for white Americans, but when they discover you’re Canadian, you’re suddenly their best friend. I’m not sure why…
— Warning: wall-of-text from France —
I think I remember this Paris Syndrome being mentionned on ListVerse (might have been Cracked – I’m reading too many list websites) – and the description emphasised that what triggers the shock is the discrepancy between the idealized ethereal/romantic, stuck-in-the-1920’s image of Paris that a lot of movies (or even travel agencies I bet) give of Paris, and the reality of a capital city. The hurried, rude, aggressive attitude of its inhabitants can very well be attributed to fast-paced life that can be found in any capital of the world.
Now, I’m French myself and I hate Paris. People there are obnoxious even to their fellow countrymen, and pretty much everyone in the country despises parisians in return. They tend to be self-centered, superficial and full of themselves compared to the rest of the population (AND they give the rest of us a bad rep).
As for cultural shock, I’m very much willing to believe that it’s quite a violent experience. My boyfriend is from the Netherlands, where social interaction is also ruled by a certain amount of formal politeness, and a general respect and tolerance towards your fellow man (because of the weed, if you ask me).
).
Everytime he comes here (in France), he has a hard time dealing with people bumping into eachother, yelling at eachother for no reason or just being plain rude. Even on a personnal level, he still sometimes has trouble dealing with my somewhat direct, loud and rude manners (from his point of view
And that’s only on a European scale, so I can only imagine how Japanese people can feel about that.
Likewise, the language barrier is impenetrable. Even in Paris’ trainstations, help desk employees can at best babble a couple of words of English. The French in general are distrustful of any foreign influence on their culture, and don’t see cultural exchange as enriching but rather as a risk of dissolution of their own heritage, which they consider valuable above all else’s.
This might explain why we tend to be nicer to Canadians (who are to us, after all, almost French) than to other people.
You just have to see the terrified look of waiters when they overhear you speaking in a foreign language, or the exhausted, vacant stare of tourists followed by incredible relief when they finally find a local who can speak English (happens to me every summer).
Now I’ve noticed a lot of Americans actively taking the defense of France lately, probably to compensate for their guilt stemming from the France-bashing a few years back. But it shouldn’t keep you from being objective. I mean, I absolutely love my country and my culture, but I can see the bad sides as well.
So yeah, we ain’t very nice. But I’m totally okay with that
Agreed J. Paris has wonderful and extremely nice people. I can’t wait to go back.
I would love to go back too.
Thats because americans are better than the rest of the world and everyone else is jealous
. hahahaha im kidding but as an american kid thats what i was taught. they feed you propaganda over here from the moment you are born.
I’m sorry – each of these ’syndromes’ sound like grade A bullshit to me. I’m trying my hardest to understand them but no, they just sound ridiculously silly. I can’t ever imagine anyone ever being affected by these and I think if I did – I’d assume there were underlying problems – as opposed to these stand-alone ’syndromes’.
I saw similar things happen to little kids at Disney World.
I absolutely LOVE this website and it has been added to my daily to do list! Great work!
I get this weird feeling when I’m in Canada. like a Twilight Zone episode where everyone is ALMOST like people in the states just a little “off”. and nothing tastes the same there not even the McDonalds to me. It’s evil *shudders*
I am an American living in England. I go to France at least two or three times a year. Though I have yet to go to Paris, I have found the French to be very nice, fun, and interesting people. They don’t even hate me for being American, which is something that my British husband warned me about, especially since I am from Texas.
Great post, as usual, but I have a hard time understanding why people actually go through these “syndromes”.
I think I have this. I am terrified of leaving the US. Even going into Mexico was scary for me. I also hate flying (did it once, never again).
Lols, I’m terrified of going to the US. Even thinking of going to non-Asian countries gets me scared.
The first time I saw the Eiffel Tower I wanted to scream and jump. I mean it’s something that I just see in pictures and something that I would never thought of seeing in my entire life. I was THAT ecstatic (I’m from the Philippines). I guess it’s similar to what those little kids in Disney World experience.
Two literary references for those interested in exploring further (these are novel’s in which the noted psychological disorders are imaginatively evoked and play a central role):
On Jerusalem Syndrome see Robert Stone’s “Damascus Gate”
On Stendhal Syndrome see Chuck Palahniuk’s “Diary”
I bet you that 98% of the afflicted people were attention seeking ****heads.
Similarly, many people who go to a televangelical exorcism, will admit later they acted the whole thing. Exactly the same with hynotism. They all reveal secretly, they were acting it up.
Just because something has a “syndrome” suffix doesn’t mean it’s real.
isnt florence syndrome also called “art attack”?
when i went to italy with my school i got seperated from the group and couldnt find my way back to them and these street people kept trying to talk to me in italian it was the most scariest moment of my life so i can understand where a few of these syndromes come from
I know I’m completely late to jump on the comments thread here, but Paris Syndrome is apparently really prominent in Japan, and in many cases the afflicted person will refuse to get in a plane to fly back home, much less leave their hotel, so their parents have to go to Paris to get them to come back.
I remember during my stay in Japan, a fellow European (dutch, I believe) had to be sent home after only a few weeks. His symptoms of culture shock included lack of appetite, insomnia, panic attacks, etc. It was a huge surprise to me at the time. I guess he suffered from Voyager Syndrome.
These are real phenomena. The most recent mass example of the syndrome was observed by German Army Psychologists during the German onslaught upon The Soviet Union. Young soldiers had been schooled for 10 years in the barbarity and animalistic nature of Soviet Citizens. Soldiers and school children alike believed that Stalin had but one ambition; to murder, pillage and rape the German Homeland; there were even prayers said in schools to “protect our Fatherland from the Devils of Communist Russia”!
Upon encountering the impoverished and terrified Russian population therefore, and in a country with an impenetrable Slavic tongue, German soldiers set about murdering millions of civilised human beings with a glee driven by alienation and terror of Communism. There were no recorded marriages between German soldiers and Soviet woman, unlike in EVERY other occupied country. Further, the presence of women in the Red Army completely disoriented Germans educated in the traditional view that a womans place was at home with her family.
The USA learned none of these lessons and Vietnam was a rolling saga of atrocity, civilian terror and mass rape. The same story is repeating itself in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
Only the British, with their long history of conquest and empire building know how to handle the devastating psychological impact of policing foreign lands. To date, the British Army, whilst remaining one of the most mobile and fierce fighting forces in the world, have successfully concluded several operations without a single civilian casualty.
There are lessons to be learned for America – look to your old allies for advice.
Да, было бы смешно, если б к сожалению не было так грустно …
Remember the 200 women raped by russians in berlin. It is impossible to justify russians raping 200 women.
The german soldiers were protecting their women. they knew that it was necesary to kill as many russian as possible to stop women being raped by soldiers in berlin.
if german soldiers did not eliminate everyone it would mean their women and children in berlin and germany would all be rAPED by russian soldier.
very use full information. thank you.