Crystal : delicate, transparent and definitely vulnerable.Imagine for a moment that you are of this material, made of sand and fire, and whose result is an infinite universe of forms, as capricious as nature.
Imagine that someone is approaching you and wants to touch you...what would you do if you were glass?
A medieval disorder
At this time it was common that people felt like glass and feared breaking with the same ease as a stained glass window on contact with a stone; so common that there are numerous records collected in European books during the following centuries.
The most famous case-being a monarch-was the French King Carlos VI , who He says that he even wrapped himself in sheets so that his buttocks would not break.And in the literature, a well-known story is Mr.Vidriera , by Miguel de Cervantes, one of his Exemplary novels published in 1613.The character thinks he has the whole glass body and becomes obsessed with the idea of becoming an anico at the slightest touch.
Those who suffered from glass delusion , as it is called in English, looked normal, just like anyone else, only it filled them with anxiety the certainty of knowing crystal and that the proximity of other people This would put his life at risk, by breaking his fragile envelope.
One of the most curious facts is that the records of this very rare mental illness, however, end in 1830.
The illusion of glass in the twentieth century
There are psychiatrists who explain the appearance of this disease as a manifestation of fear of new technologies, and transparent glass was a fairly novel material in the Middle Ages and even centuries later; In addition, it was perceived as a magic or product of alchemy.It was a fairly radical way of representing deep fears due to wars or diseases and to externalize the deep human fragility, which certainly continues to stalk us.
Such It may be a reason for the cases to cease to exist in 1830, when glass had already become a daily artifact.However, a psychiatrist from Leiden, Holland, discovered contemporary cases. Andy Lameijn , who That's his name, he found a case in his own hospital, and he was lucky to study this disorder closely.From there he began to develop an investigation into the crystal illusion that led him to locate cases lost, recorded after 1830: in Scotland, in a mental hospital in Edinburgh, there was an 1883 conference where symptoms of 300 women were documented, one of which believed that her legs were made of glass .
Another case was found in a more recent edition from Mr.Vidriera , in the footnotes, but no details were specified.Another colleague, upon learning of his study, referred him to a case of a 1930s woman who swore that her back and her legs were made of glass , and how was her fear of physical contact that she didn't even let the nurses approach her, as the notes pointed out.After a treatment, the young woman recovered.Also, another doctor I bring you information from another case of 1964, from another health center.
The case alive
The patient he discovered in his own hospital came forward saying that was totally glass .Lameijn devoted himself completely to him, as it was the opportunity to face a person suffering from the "live" disorder.
The man was able to describe, first hand, l or what it meant to the glass being, and for that I ask the doctor what he saw through the window, to which Lameijn listed: trees, street, cars, people...The patient said: “He forgot the window pane.He didn't see it, but it's there.That's me, I'm here, but I'm not, like the glass."
This told Lameijn another dimension, the patient believed that could disappear and reappear, almost at will, as if it had a switch in his mind.Later in the conversation, details of an accident that he had suffered recently emerged, which has allowed him to elaborate a theory about why someone could suffer from crystal illusion in these times.
For Lameijn, the illusion of glass in this patient worked as a distance regulator, because after the accident the family had become extremely overprotective; the disorder was a way to escape from that situation and recover some privacy.
Current theories
Psychoanalyst Adam Phillips advances an argument: in the modern societies, where personal and private space has become public, fragility and transparency have become relevant for many, which can generate great anxiety.
In this sense, the feeling of being of Crystal can be seen as a way to deal with an overpopulated world in which technological advances offer us communication options that seem unlimited , while isolate us more than ever .
But according to Edward Shorter , a historian specializing in psychiatry at the University of Toronto, the key to understanding these disorders is in the novelty of the materials Throughout history, the "unconscious mind" has linked its delusions to the new raw materials sya the technological advances.
For example, in the 19th century, when cement began to be used as a new building material, the “cement illusion” appeared, and it was as common at the time as the false beliefs of the last decades, based on the fact that the CIA and other security agencies can "read the mind" to citizens through microtransmitters.
Perhaps the Deep fear of feeling vulnerable is the trigger for these disorders.If you are interested in this article, do not miss 5 historical figures and their mental disorders.
Images: Sam Cox , cobalt123 , Via Tsuji , Paris 16
Comments
Post a Comment