Revisiting Jerusalem Syndrome: A Case Displaying Similar Symptoms to Jerusalem Syndrome During Mecca Visit.

Résumé

Jerusalem syndrome is a mental illness rarely seen in people who visit Jerusalem, manifests itself with obsessive religious thoughts, delusions, psychotic symptoms, and some characteristic features. In clinical practice, it's uncommon to encounter patients displaying symptoms of the Jerusalem syndrome. In this paper, we report a case of a middle-aged woman who manifested psychiatric symptoms similar to the Jerusalem syndrome after a Mecca visit without any previous psychiatric history. After careful examination, religious delusions, auditory and visual hallucinations, racing thoughts, disorganized speech, and confusion were denoted, therefore the patient was hospitalized. Brain imaging and laboratory examination was unremarkable. After nine days of antipsychotic treatment, the patient's symptoms completely dissolved, and she was discharged. Antipsychotic treatment was ceased entirely after two months. The patient and her family members reported that the patient was symptom-free for the following two years. Keywords: Brief reactive psychosis, religion, travel, differential diagnosis.