Paris Syndrome: why does the city of love become a cause of mental disorder?

"City of Light" dazzles, moreover, so much that some of it can drive you crazy.

Waiting and Reality

Representations of tourists about the French capital are often formed by pictures of quirky Hollywood films, Impressionist works and advertising of well-dressed women on bicycles. But when they leave the plane, they are met by gray clouds, graffiti, rude taxi drivers and homeless children. They suddenly realize: Paris is not only Sartre, Chanel and cigars. Like all cities, Paris is a place of contrasts. But for some unprepared tourists such a neighborhood has such a serious impact that it can even lead to the Paris syndrome.

Mental Disorder

This phenomenon is typical only for the French capital, and in most cases Japanese tourists encounter it. They suddenly start feeling dizzy, sweating, heart palpitations, psychosis, hallucinations, persecution mania and disorientation in space. Perhaps it is some kind of living and exclusive form of cultural shock. Such reports are certainly intriguing, but can all this be true?

16-year study

Earlier, the Paris syndrome flashed through the headlines of important publications, and even became the subject of a study of the French psychiatric journal Nervure in 2004, which was conducted under the guidance of Professor Hiroki Ota, a Japanese psychiatrist working in France. The study, which was conducted between 1988 and 2004, showed that 63 tourists from Japan were hospitalized with an acute condition in the department of psychiatry. The authors also noted the factors that, in their opinion, influenced this unusual condition. Their findings indicate that to provoke such stress in visitors could most likely long-distance flights, changing biorhythms and exhausting business trips.

A new and unknown environment can also act as a stressor. As already mentioned, the Paris syndrome can be associated with disappointment and antipathy in the new environment. Paris on a rainy day may not look the same as in the movie "Amelie", and, of course, tourists here do not feel like the picture "American in Paris." In addition, the language barrier and the difference in cultures can cause a sense of isolation and disorientation for the visitors.

Culture shock

As for the Paris syndrome, it is obvious that not all people who travel long distances can do well both with the trip itself, and with changes in the cultural, social and physical environment. This was told by Dr. Nicolas Giraert, a psychologist at the University of Essex in the UK, who conducted extensive research on cultural shock among foreign students. It is not excluded that such an event can become a "trigger" for a previously unidentified mental disorder or even its cause.

At the same time, it is necessary to emphasize a very important nuance. It is doubtful that a trip alone can cause any mental disorder. However, it can be assumed that it became the notorious "last straw" for the few people who suffered from the Paris syndrome.

Why did Paris get such a reputation?

Perhaps the reason is that it is the French capital that is often romanticized as a golden symbol of European culture, although in fact it lives as an ordinary western metropolis. Paris, like many other cities in Europe, is cold, gray, impersonal, independent and hostile to numerous tourists. As a result, there is a clash of cultures and discouragement occurs when these expectations are not justified.

The fact that it is Japanese tourists who face the Paris syndrome in the French capital is also not surprising. Japan and France are culturally very different. There is ample evidence that adapting to life abroad becomes more difficult when there is a huge "cultural distance" between the country of origin and the new place.

Some statistics

Of course, a clash of cultures may be particularly harsh for Japanese tourists in Paris, but a relatively small number of cases of this syndrome confirms that this is not a mental disorder that all visitors come across indiscriminately. In Paris, just a lot of stress factors for people who are susceptible to mental health problems. But the same factors exist in other cities.

Despite the headlines, it seems that Japanese tourists experience no more problems with mental health than people of any other nationalities who are sent to other parts of the world. Official statistics on this issue is very small, but as an example, you can use the data of the National Health Service of Great Britain, which annually spends millions on foreign visitors suffering from mental disruptions on vacation. The study of Hiroaki Ota studied only 63 people in 16 years with certain symptoms, and many of them had previously had mental health problems. Considering that 600,000 Japanese tourists come to France every year, these figures do not seem very significant.

Bias and exaggeration

Of course, we should not discount the bias in describing these phenomena, especially when they are reported in the media. Often the information is distorted in such a way as to make us interpret or ignore it to confirm our already existing beliefs.

There is no doubt that the bad reputation of the Paris syndrome is beneficial for the press, as it sounds mysterious, which means it is an excellent material for sensation. In the end, it sounds like a script for a low-budget film about the fog of insanity that has swept the Champs-Elysees. In fact, the situation may not be so unusual and surprising.

Of course, it's important to remember that traveling can not be anything bad for you, quite the opposite. If, of course, you do not lose your passport and plan everything correctly, it will help to expand the mind and change your perception of the world.

As Mark Twain said: "Travel is fatal for prejudice, fanaticism and narrow-mindedness ... People's broad, useful, charitable views can not be acquired by living in one small corner of the earth for life."