Episode 2.28 // The Living Dead: A Look Inside Cotard’s Syndrome

Feeling dead inside is one thing, but truly believing it is a mysterious, medical reality. With only about 200 known cases worldwide, Cotard’s Syndrome is a rare condition characterized by delusions of missing body parts, lost organs or being dead altogether –even while technically living to tell the tale. In this episode, we’ll go over the history of Cotard’s Syndrome, the stories of people who’ve suffered from it and the theories behind how it can confound and take hold of our minds and bodies.

SOURCES:

• https://www.health.com/condition/rare-disorders/walking-corpse-syndrome-cotard-delusion

• https://n.neurology.org/content/58/9/1400

• https://www.google.com/books/edition/Anthology_of_French_Language_Psychiatric/C0dlVGlvGsMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22she+was+eternal+and+would+live+for+ever.%22&pg=PA285&printsec=frontcover

• https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/mademoiselle-x-living-while-dead-8fe06146b711

• http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/240152/3/240152.pdf

• https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/mademoiselle-x-living-while-dead-8fe06146b711

• https://www.businessinsider.com/walking-corpse-syndrome-people-think-they-are-dead-2014-10#:~:text=Mademoiselle%20X%2C%20as%20Cotard%20dubbed,X%20later%20died%20of%20starvation

• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0010440X9590085A

• https://www.webmd.com/schizophrenia/cotards-syndrome

• https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/zombie-disease-makes-people-think-they-have-died/2015/10/30/ca8ab52c-532f-11e5-933e-7d06c647a395_story.html

• https://clinicalpsychologyashoka.blogspot.com/2018/11/cotards-syndrome-and-representation-in.html

• https://esmewang.com/about/

• https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/zombie-disease-makes-people-think-they-have-died/2015/10/30/ca8ab52c-532f-11e5-933e-7d06c647a395_story.html

• https://the-toast.net/2014/06/25/perdition-days-experiencing-psychosis/

• https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2333885/Man-diagnosed-zombie-brain-condition-spent-years-thinking-DEAD-botched-suicide-attempt.html

• https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23583-mindscapes-first-interview-with-a-dead-man/

• https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-brains-of-people-with-walking-corpse-syndrome-might-actually-be-shutting-down-22544104/

• https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/soldier-walking-corpse-after-rare-9367576

• https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/50197/plight-living-dead-10-case-reports-cotard%E2%80%99s-syndrome

• https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/zombie-disease-makes-people-think-they-have-died/2015/10/30/ca8ab52c-532f-11e5-933e-7d06c647a395_story.html

TRANSCRIPT:

Cotard's Syndrome

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