Case file · High strangeness
Jerusalem syndrome
Psychiatrists at Kfar Shaul hospital described in 2000 a pattern of tourists who, on visiting Jerusalem, suddenly believe they are biblical figures or messiahs, dress in sheets and preach in the streets.
2000 CE · 31.78, 35.23 · status: explained
The account
Yair Bar-El and colleagues, in the British Journal of Psychiatry, counted 1,200 severe cases over 13 years; most had prior mental illness, but a few had none and recovered once they left. Similar reactions were noted in the 1930s.