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Reply to "Stop blaming the moon:"

Originally Posted by teyates:

Not to stray too far off of the topic, since we are staying to it so stringently, but there are medical facts that support the early descriptions of werewolves. People who suffered from a rare disease known as porphyria would have had symptoms that many would describe as lycantropy. Their teeth would have been misshapen, even jagged, and likely would have "glowed in the dark", which would have a been a frightening thought running into somebody like that on a dark country road at night, full moon or not.

 

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Clinical Lycanthropy.

Lycanthropy is a rare condition in which sufferers experience the delusion of transforming into an animal. Affected people may also behave like the animal they believe they have turned into. "Lycanthropy" derives from the Greek myth in which King Lycaon is transformed into a wolf as punishment for serving human flesh to Zeus at dinner,[7] and perhaps the folk belief in werewolves has its origin in the condition. Wolf and dog transformations are most commonly described, but transformations into other animals, including birds and insects, have also been reported. In that sense, the syndrome may be shaped by personal, cultural, and regional influences. Effectively a specific form of a delusional misidentification syndrome, it is not surprising that lycanthropy typically occurs in the context of schizophrenia, psychotic mood disorders, or substance-induced psychoses.

Slide 8.

 

 


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