Walking Corpse Syndrome

Cotard Syndrome is a rare and unusual mental affliction. It is a neuropsychiatric condition in which the person has a delusional belief that he is already dead and no longer exists. The sufferers of this condition think that they are zombies. They develop delusional belief that they are putrefying and can even smell the rotting flesh and that they have lost their internal organs and all the blood. Sometimes they also believe in the delusion of self immortality.

Jules Cotard, a French Neurologist first discovered this disorder and a patient suffering from it. He presented it in a lecture by false name Mademoiselle X in the year 1880.

Symptoms 

Neglect of own hygiene, constant withdrawal feeling, delusion of negation, sometimes delusion of immortality, depression and despair, distorted view of the world etc. Patient may also experience auditory and smell based hallucination.

Person suffering from it may not recognize his own face as well as his known ones. Patient can sometimes smell the odor of his own rotting flesh and feel that his internal organs and blood is lost.  Patient has many delusions and nihilistic delusion about one’s own body is the central one is this condition. Patient can exhibit less interest in society and reduced reaction to pleasurable experiences.

Jules Cotard mentions some symptoms of Cotard Syndrome like:

• anxious melancholy
• ideas of damnation or possession
• disposition towards suicide attempts and self-harm
• the idea that one is immortal and therefore can't die
• insensitivity to pain (analgesia)

Treatments

Medication like antidepressants, antipsychotics and mood stabilizers are used on the patients of Cotard Syndrome. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is also used for the management of this condition. This treatment involves placing electrodes on the patient’s head and administering small electrical pulses. This treatment needs to be carried out in the presence of experienced Psychiatrist. Combination of the medication and the ECT seems to produce more positive effect than only a single method.