medical disorders
"Jumping Frenchmen of Maine Disorder"
The Wall Street Journal reviews odd medical syndromes, mostly familiar to News of the Weird readers (Capgras Delusion, Foreign Accent Syndrome, Alien Hand Syndrome). The rarer ones, also mentioned in NOTW, include Stendhal Syndrome (swooning upon exposure to great art in museums) and Jerusalem Syndrome (similar behavior, except that there are 7 agreed-upon symptoms). But the Jumping Frenchman thing, named for its first sighting among lumberjacks in Maine in 1878 is, well, weird. "Sufferers jump, twitch, flail their limbs and obey commands given suddenly, even if it means hurting themselves or a loved one. It's also been observed in factory workers in Siberia and Malaysia." Genes or environment? Uh, yes. Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal reviews odd medical syndromes, mostly familiar to News of the Weird readers (Capgras Delusion, Foreign Accent Syndrome, Alien Hand Syndrome). The rarer ones, also mentioned in NOTW, include Stendhal Syndrome (swooning upon exposure to great art in museums) and Jerusalem Syndrome (similar behavior, except that there are 7 agreed-upon symptoms). But the Jumping Frenchman thing, named for its first sighting among lumberjacks in Maine in 1878 is, well, weird. "Sufferers jump, twitch, flail their limbs and obey commands given suddenly, even if it means hurting themselves or a loved one. It's also been observed in factory workers in Siberia and Malaysia." Genes or environment? Uh, yes. Wall Street Journal
Comments
Jumping, flailing limbs, and obeying commands. This should be called Simon Says Syndrome.
Posted by Matt in Florida on 01/02/09 at 09:39 AM
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