Delusions of Immortality in a Post-War Society: The Albanian Case

Vyshka, Gentian; Çomo, Ariel

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00613

Cited by 2 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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Section: Theoretical Approaches To the Issuementioning

confidence: 99%

“…15 Previously we have discussed delusions of immortality but using this perspective, upholding the thesis of resurrection as a more ancient (primitive) one, may explain the discovery of the mummified body in Tirana during the summer of 2020, which leads back to a situation of deep regression. 15,16 The psychological regression of people waiting for the resurrection of a dead body while performing rituals that make little sense, with the corpse left for several months inside the house, leads to a situation of severe psychiatric disorder. We will consider this aspect later.…”

Section: First Perspective: Religionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Occultism and playing with the dead: When rituals go wrong

et al. 2022

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There have been at least two deaths in Albania linked to ritualistic/satanic practices, which have provoked considerable public concern. Until the 1990s, Albania was strictly atheist. However, since then some religious sects have been establishing themselves. In fact, satanic killings and ritualistic deaths are rare in Albania. We describe two such cases that occurred in 2020 along with consideration of the psychological profiles of perpetrators and victims. The first case involved two deaths: a mother and daughter whose bodies were found near each other, with another daughter in attendance who was diagnosed as clearly psychotic, and legally did not face any charge thereafter. This daughter was witnessing the decomposition of her sister’s mummified corpse. She said she was waiting for the “Messiah” to resurrect her. Apparently, while performing ritualistic ceremonies, the daughter and her mother refused food until the mother died from starvation. It was at that point that police broke into the house and discovered the situation. The second case involved a young woman who was found dead, apparently following a trivial infection. Her body (abdomen and dorsum) had written symbols on it, suggesting Satanism and the occult. A detailed analysis of the death scenes and crime scenes provide valuable data for further proceedings, but psychological evaluation of the perpetrators may prove more difficult, and more so where the victims have died.

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Section: Theoretical Approaches To the Issuementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: First Perspective: Religionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occultism and playing with the dead: When rituals go wrong

et al. 2022

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“…[22] Charles Bonnet syndrome probably has the right clues to suggest how an isolated visual (thus, sensory) deprivation leads to a psychotic situation. Be it not enough, history of psychiatry has as well wide reflections over the dilemma of a probable role of the peripheral ner-Othello's syndromes might be considered within this frame [7,9]. Instead of calling this phenomenon a belief or idea, some authors expand their view centrifugally by using the notion of experience (delusional experience) [10].…”

Section: Bottom-up Paradigm: the Immediacy Of Experiencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Of course, other subtypes that might be identified and included inside some of the major forms mentioned above: delusions of misidentification, of death and immortality (somehow a form of Cotard's) and litigious delusions might be some exotic notions, although still valid and discussed [7,8]. Another very interesting definition, although mainly of clinical value, relates delusions to a "mono" symptomatic, i.e.…”

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confidence: 99%

On the Neurophysiology of Delusional Disorders: Top-Bottom vs. Bottom-Up Theories

Gentian¹,

Jera²

2019

Int Arch Clin Physiol

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The psychopathology of delusions has been indelibly denoted from top-bottom theories, with a very long psychiatric tradition explaining the issue as a cortical derangement. The reverse face of the entire issue has been poorly if ever, scrutinized. The role of the peripheral nervous system in the installing and the maintaining of delusive ideas and convictions, albeit elusive, need to be addressed. The hallmark of bottom-up theory relies upon distorted primary processing of peripheral stimuli, with the cortex ingenuously entering a vicious circle of false perceptions, and therefore of false beliefs. Some research suggests also that the peripheral nervous system has an intrinsic role in pain memory, thus contradicting previously cortically-oriented theories. Charles Bonnet syndrome illustrates how a distorted or a severely damaged sense of vision might produce florid psychiatric symptomatology. Apart from mere hermeneutical points of view, psychopharmacology itself will testify how difficult is to eradicate delusions with antipsychotics, classical or atypical ones. The fact that these drugs act on central synaptic pathways, and are almost neutral to the peripheral nervous transmission of signals, will be another evidence of how the periphery of the nervous system might be a starter of the delusions, instead of being a remote, inert and innocent part of the whole.

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Delusions of Immortality in a Post-War Society: The Albanian Case

Cited by 2 publications

References 21 publications

Occultism and playing with the dead: When rituals go wrong

Occultism and playing with the dead: When rituals go wrong

On the Neurophysiology of Delusional Disorders: Top-Bottom vs. Bottom-Up Theories

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