Clinical lycanthropy: belief in transforming into an animal

The figure of the werewolf is a classic of both science fiction and the mythology of different cultures. Since ancient times, the human being has generated figures in which characteristics of humans and different animals were mixed, considering them from gods (as in ancient Egypt) to products of a curse (in the Middle Ages or even in Greece Ancient).

Also throughout history there have been many people who have claimed to be or become an animal, some living it with real fear. Many of these people are believed to have suffered a rare mental disorder called clinical lycanthropy, which we are going to talk about in this article.

• Related article: "What is psychosis? Causes, symptoms and treatment"

Clinical lycanthropy: basic definition

Clinical lycanthropy or licomania is considered a mental disorder characterized mainly by the existence of the hallucination of being or being transformed into an animal. This hallucination is accompanied by the perception of supposed bodily changes, many patients noticing how their physical appearance has changed over time. The shape and size of the mouth or teeth or even the feeling that they were shrinking or enlarging has manifested itself in several of the registered cases. The period in which these people consider themselves to be transformed varies enormously, and can be between one day and fifteen years.

Clinical lycanthropy is not limited or need not be limited to just one belief, but rather they also maintain typical behaviors of the animals they believe they are transforming into. Among other behaviors, they can move like them (on all fours for example), moan or howl, attack or even eat raw meat.

A rare and under-recognized disorder

We are dealing with a strange and not very common disorder, of which, in fact, between 1850 and 2012 one of the authors who has explored the disorder, Blom, has only found thirteen documented cases. Although it is not an internationally recognized disorder since there are few cases and its symptoms are largely attributable to disorders such as schizophrenia to some psychotic breaks, some authors have come to generate some diagnostic criteria. Among them is the fact that the patient claims to be an animal, claiming in a moment of lucidity that sometimes feels like an animal and/or performs typically animal behaviors like the ones before mentioned.

It is important to note that even though lycanthropy technically refers to wolves, the people who suffer from this alteration may believe that they are transforming into very different animals beyond these. Cases have been detected in which the person believed they were transforming into horses, pigs, cats, birds, toads or even insects such as wasps. In some cases it has even been recorded that the patient refers to progressively transforming into different creatures until he returns to being human.

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Lycanthropy throughout history

Although very few modern cases of clinical lycanthropy are considered registered and meet the criteria stipulated by some authors, the truth is that the belief in werewolves is very old and shared by a large number of cultures. It must be borne in mind that the belief in animistic elements and totems were much more widespread than today, which explains why most cases and myths date from ancient times. But This phenomenon was not always given a spiritual explanation.. In fact, there are records that already indicated in Byzantine times that there was some kind of mental alteration behind some of them.

During the Middle Ages, however, many cases of people who considered themselves or others considered lycanthropes were persecuted and burned, considering them in many cases examples of demonic possession. Despite this, even at this time some alleged cases were treated medically (albeit with little success). Probably the high degree of belief in supernatural elements facilitated the expansion of the werewolf myth and possibly this could have influenced the appearance of a greater number of cases.

However, scientific advances and the progressive decline of beliefs regarding magic and spirits They were generating that it was less and less frequent to believe in the possibility of being possessed and/or being able to transmute into animal. Lycanthropy cases have been declining over the years, probably for this reason.

The causes of this mental disorder

Clinical lycanthropy is a very rare disorder, finding very few cases worldwide. It is because of that the investigation of this affectation is minimal, and there are no really contrasted theories about the factors that can cause it.

However, the presence of neurological lesions and cognitive deterioration associated with the evolution of different diseases (including dementia) could be one of the possible causes: Although the number of known cases of clinical lycanthropy is small, in two of them some researchers have been able to obtain images of their brain and records of their functioning. cerebral. The brain recordings of these two subjects seem to indicate that at the moments in which they believe they are transforming, an abnormal pattern occurs in their brain function. Regarding the information obtained by neuroimaging, it has been observed the presence of alterations in the regions of the brain that process proprioception and sensory perception, with the somatosensory cortex being altered.

Others that different authors have maintained throughout history have stated that this alteration may be due to some type of remnant of sociocultural evolution as a species, being frequent in ancient cultures that they imitated the wolf or other animals with the purpose of obtaining their associated characteristics (strength, speed, fierceness) so that they benefit our survival. Those who have such a hallucination may be unconsciously seeking to acquire the qualities of the animals with which they hallucinate, as a way to deal with situations of frustration or stress.

Psychoanalysis has also explored the vision of transformation as the act of letting oneself be that we are, this hallucination being a form of avoiding guilt or facing conflicts. It could also arise as a mental maximization of the bodily changes that we experience throughout our evolutionary development.

Disorders with which it is associated

Although clinical licomania or lycanthropy has special characteristics in relation to other disorders (such as the affectation of the brain areas that regulate proprioception), it is possible to consider it as part or symptom of other mental and neurological disorders.

The disorder with which it has been most frequently associated is with the presence of schizophrenia, although the hallucinations in this disorder are usually auditory and not so much kinesthetic and haptic as in lycanthropy. Another affectation to which it is associated is the chronic delusional disorder. Generally considered a psychotic type disorder. In addition to this, it has been associated with the experimentation of manic episodes, in which different types of hallucinations can appear.

Bibliographic references

• Blom, J.D. (2014). When doctors cry wolf: a systematic review of the literature on clinical lycanthropy. History of Psychiatry, 25 (1).
• Diaz-Rosales, J.D.; Romo, J.E. & Loera, O.F. (2008). Myths and Science: Clinical Lycanthroy and Werewolves. Bowl. Mex. his. Phil. med; 11 (2).