From true blood-sucking vampires to individuals who think they're zombies

 

No matter how terrifying a horror film is, there is always the reassuring fact that it is 'only a movie'.

However, psychiatrists have discovered that the truth behind films such as Nosferatu and American Werewolf in London is equally bizarre and disturbing.

According to clinical psychologist Brian Sharpless, some iconic cinema monsters can be attributed to unusual psychological illnesses.
From true vampires forced to drink human blood to those who believe they are zombies, these circumstances are not only real but can be hidden in plain sight.

Dr. Sharpless told MailOnline: "Of course, if people are shy about telling their doctor how much they smoke or drink, are they likely to say that they drink blood?"

Vampires

While Bram Stoker's novel Dracula popularised vampires, their folklore dates back much further.


From Eastern Europe's Strigoi to Malaysia's Penanggalan, tales of blood-sucking fiends rising from their graves to punish the living can be found all over the world.


However, these traditions may be based on a true psychological illness known as Renfield syndrome.

This illness, named after the blood-hungry mental patient from Bram Stoker's novel, emerges as a compulsion or desire to suck human blood.

According to Dr. Sharpless, Renfield syndrome, also known as clinical vampirism, is a disorder in which a person consumes human blood to satisfy a nonnutritional desire.

The reasons for feeling impelled to drink human blood vary from person to person.

Drinking blood is a common theme in vampire films ranging from Bram Stoker's Dracula to Only Lovers Left Alive, and it frequently involves sexual fulfilment or intoxication.

'People with this may experience sexual arousal, or even orgasm, after drinking human blood. 'The appearance alone may be sexually stimulating,' Dr Sharpless explains.

He continues, 'Other folks claim sensations of powerfulness or oneness with the universe when they swallow the crimson thing.'
The disease is not included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the standard for diagnosing mental illness, but it can be linked to other conditions.

A history of abuse is especially prevalent, with 43% of self-described vampires claiming physical or sexual abuse.

While blood is drawn with the permission of a partner, there have been reports of aggressive vampires, such as serial killer Richard Chase, who sucked the blood of multiple victims.

Even though this disease appears to be highly unique, Dr. Sharpless claims to have spoken with a number of people who want blood.
He claims, "I've met people with sexual fetishes involving blood, but none of them told me they consumed it."

Zombies   

  

Rest assured, the zombie apocalypse is not yet upon us, but there may still be 'zombies' roaming around.

Although newer representations of zombies, such as 28 Days Later, Train to Busan, and The Walking Dead, make use of a zombie virus, this is a relatively new concept in zombie history.

The term 'zombie' is derived from the Haitian phrase 'zombi', which refers to someone whose soul has been captured by a magician and made to work.
However, the concept of the restless dead may have its origins in the Norse story of the Draugr, who roamed from their tombs to afflict the living.

Whatever their origin, zombies have one thing in common: they are dead but look to be alive. 

This trait has its roots in a well-documented psychological disorder.
Dr. Jules Cotard identified the illness in 1880, after his patient, a 43-year-old lady, told him she was nothing more than a rotting body with no brain or internal organs.

Cotard's syndrome, named after the French doctor, causes patients to believe they are physically walking dead.

According to Dr. Sharpless, "Cotard's syndrome is a disorder in which a person has nihilistic delusions such as being dead, having their organs rotting from the inside, or having no organs at all."

'Many people with Cotards believe they're essentially rotting, wandering corpses, which would match with our Hollywood vision of a zombie.'

Although persons with Cotard's syndrome do not identify themselves as 'zombies,' believing that they are already dead is a typical symptom that can be linked to Parkinson's disease or dementia.

Between 1996 and 2016, the Mayo Clinic discovered 12 occurrences of Cotard's syndrome, eight of which involved patients who thought they had died.

Dr. Sharpless claims he has worked with one patient who may have had the illness.

However, because their case included several other illusions, it was difficult to determine if they fit the criteria for Cotard's.

Werewolves 

 What collection of iconic movie monsters is complete without the werewolf?

These part-man, part-beast creatures have captivated and terrified audiences since 1941's The Wolfman and continue to do so in Teen Wolf.

Legends of humans transforming into animals extend back 44,000 years, to half-human monsters shown in cave drawings.

However, the specific contents of the mythology differ from location to place and throughout history.

Werewolves in Estonia, for example, are known to break into houses and steal beer rather than maul errant teenagers, as depicted in modern films.

The basic concept of transition from human to beast unites all werewolves, beer-drinkers included.

From hallucinogenic plants to rabies, a variety of ideas have been advanced to explain the myth's astonishing longevity.

One notion in particular sounds like something from a horror film.

Dr. Sharpless believes that the werewolf story may have originated with ancient serial killers.

He asks: "How would you make sense of finding a body that was not only murdered, but also brutalised, with missing limbs and possibly some direct staging of the body?"

'You may not believe a human can be so vicious, and you may also mistrust an animal's intelligence.

'So you might instead believe that the killer has both human and animal characteristics.

Whatever the origins of the tale, it lives on today as an uncommon psychological illness known as clinical lycanthropy.

This illness is a form of clinical zoanthropy, which causes people to feel they are animals.

'People with clinical lycanthropy honestly believe that they can shift into wolves and gain wolf-like features,' Dr Sharpless explained.

Of course, the films get certain things wrong.

People with this syndrome show no bodily changes, and it does not appear to be related to lunar phases.

Wolves aren't the only, or perhaps the most prevalent, animal that people 'change into'.

"There are also people who suffer from clinical kynanthropy (dogs), boanthropy (cows), and even one case of a were-gerbil," explains Dr Sharpless.

And, unlike in the pictures, this ailment can be cured without the use of silver bullets or wolf poison.

Many people can overcome the disorder and return to their regular, human lives with the help of medication and electroconvulsive therapy.

Body-snatchers 

The changeling is another ancient creature that has made an appearance in horror films.

In mediaeval mythology, fairies stole newborn children and replaced them with grotesque fey-children.

This scary concept has evolved into the traditional body-replacement theme found in science fiction and horror films both.

Behind the horror and special effects is a psychological condition that could be scarier.

According to Dr. Sharpless, Capgras syndrome causes you to feel that 'one or more individuals in your life have been replaced with identical-looking phonies who may have even kidnapped your "real" loved ones.'

He continues, 'I honestly have no idea if filmmakers were aware of a fascinating illness called Capgras Syndrome, but its symptoms map almost perfectly onto films like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Invasion, and The Stepford Wives.'

This disorder can be quite distressing for those who have it, causing paranoia and disorientation.

But what makes this condition particularly disturbing is how frequent it is.

According to studies, it affects seven to ten percent of Alzheimer's patients and one in every five with Lewy Body Dementia.

Dr. Sharpless, who has treated three patients with the ailment, cautioned MailOnline: 'If any of your readers work with senior people, they should be on the alert for this alarming disorder, as it is not uncommon.'

Dream Monsters

After all this talk about monsters, you might think that a nice night's sleep would be the perfect way to clear your mind.

Unfortunately, the horror continues even after you fall asleep.

In fact, this is the most likely time to encounter one of the terrible scenarios depicted in films.

In the 1984 horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street, the ghost of serial killer Freddy Krueger returns to haunt teenagers' dreams.

As if that wasn't horrible enough, the kids quickly realise that if they die in their dreams, they will also perish in real life. 

Of course, Freddy Krueger won't get you the next time you take a nap, but you could still succumb to sleep paralysis.

Sleep paralysis causes people to be caught between waking and sleeping.

While their eyes are open and they are cognizant, the body's mechanisms to keep them from thrashing in their sleep remain in place.

This means that people feel trapped or caged in when they lie in bed.

What makes this more frightening is that paralysis is frequently accompanied by a strong sense of presence and even horrific hallucinations.

This illness is so frequent that it is thought to be the source of numerous beliefs about demons haunting sleepers at night.

While it is usually harmless, like Freddy Krueger, it can cause serious difficulties.

According to Dr. Sharpless, 'Though it's exceedingly rare, people can feel terrified.

'For patients with Brugada [a serious electrical conduction disorder] or other heart abnormalities, terrifying and seemingly unexplained nighttime occurrences may be hazardous.'

Dr. Sharpless emphasises that sleep paralysis is typically completely harmless and recommends that you seek expert help if it is generating problems or worry in your life.