Paris syndrome is a cluster of psychiatric symptoms exhibited by some individuals when visiting Paris, that can be viewed as a severe form of culture shock. The syndrome is characterized by symptoms such as acute delusional states, hallucinations, feelings of persecution (perceptions of being a victim of prejudice, aggression, hostility from others), derealization, depersonalization, anxiety, as well as psychosomatic manifestations such as dizziness, tachycardia, sweating most notably, but also others, such as vomiting.While the syndrome has been particularly noted among Japanese tourists, perhaps due to the way in which Paris has been idealised in Japanese culture, the syndrome has also affected travellers from other countries such as China, South Korea, and Singapore.
History
Hiroaki Ota, a Japanese psychiatrist working at the Sainte-Anne Hospital Center in France, coined the term in the 1980s and published a book of the same name in 1991. Katada Tamami of Nissei Hospital wrote of a Japanese patient with manic-depression who experienced Paris syndrome in 1998.Later work by Youcef...
Alex Gleason
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