Stendhal syndrome: when so much beauty causes discomfort

Has it ever happened to you that when you found yourself in front of something indescribably beautiful like a work of art or a landscape, you begin to experience extreme happiness accompanied by many emotions that exceed? Well it is possible that you are one more of those who have experienced Stendhal syndrome.

If you have not heard before about what some call the traveler's disease, here I explain what Stendhal syndrome is about and its close relationship with the fascination for the arts and beauty.

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What is Stendhal Syndrome

Usually, when we are faced with aesthetic stimuli such as art, landscapes, films or other forms of expression that we can consider as samples of beauty, certain sensations are produced in us to a greater or lesser extent depending on each who.

Now, there are certain people who are much more sensitive to these stimuli and their reaction to different manifestations of beauty is quite extraordinary. This type of reaction is known as Stendhal syndrome, also called

"Florence syndrome" and evil or "traveler syndrome".

These are much more intense sensations and emotions than we would call "normal" in the face of manifestations as pieces of art that, for those who see them, have an exceptional beauty. These sensations include tachycardia, dizziness, fainting, restlessness, overwhelm, hot flashes, sweating and emotional tension.

Why is it related to the city of Florence?

The French writer who is known under the pseudonym Stendhal (his real name is Henri-Marie Beyle) was the first to describe all these sensations so intense that you experienced having found himself surrounded by so much beauty.

This happened when he moved to Florence in 1817 motivated by the monumentality of the city, its link with the best Renaissance artists and the magnificent beauty of it. And it is not for less, even today Florence is one of the most visited cities in Italy due to the great accumulation of art and beauty that it has in each of its streets.

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Stendhal recounted in his diary that, on January 22, 1817, he was walking through the streets of Florence and began to feel bad while he was in the church of Santa Croce:

“He had reached that degree of emotion in which the heavenly sensations given by the Fine Arts and passionate feelings stumble. Leaving Santa Croce, my heart was beating, life was exhausted in me, I was scared of falling ”.

After being examined by a doctor, he told him that what he had was "beauty overdose". Thanks to this moment, decades later this set of intense sensations was known as Stendhal syndrome.

It is a myth?

Some might assure that it is a romantic description about the effect of beauty that the writer drew up after having been in Florence and admiring its beauty; But the truth is that decades later, at the Hospital de Santa María Nuova in Florence, Dr. Graziella Magherini received more than a hundred consultations from tourists and visitors under the same symptoms that Stendhal had described, for which he classified it as Stendhal syndrome or the syndrome of Florence

We agree that we have all experienced different sensations such as crying stimulated by a movie, which is give goosebumps and make our hearts race for a song or when we find ourselves in front of a building that stands out for its beauty. So is it possible that these sensations become so intense in some people how to determine it as a syndrome?

There are scientists and psychologists who accept Stendhal syndrome and all its symptoms; they also have identified the most severe symptoms of the syndrome such as amnesia, anxiety or panic attacks and paranoia. In this sense, it is worth clarifying that it is not a defined mental disorder either.

There are a few others who are still questioning whether rather with globalization that gives us greater access to information, so there are more and more people getting to know on the symptom, adding to an increase in travel at a global level that also results in an increase in the number of travelers to Florence, it could be treated rather of a suggestion process or self-induced reaction.

It is possible, according to the detractors, that since the symptoms of Stendhal syndrome are associated with happiness, ecstasy, such an intense experience discovering beauty, that many of us are willing to live something similar. In any case, and as we had already mentioned, if emotions and sensations are aroused in all of us in contact with art and beauty, why not believe in Stendhal syndrome?