Psychotic episode during a travel to Saint-Petersburg. A variation of Stendhal Syndrome

Abstract

Introduction

Journeys have been considered life-changing experiences since the first chronicles of humanity. Interest towards the relationship between travels and mental illness started off with the publication, in 1897, of Les aliénés voyageurs.

Case report

We report the case of a 52-year-old gentleman, married and without children, who works as a couch driver and has no past medical records. During a holiday trip, at his arrival to Saint Petersburg, he first experienced haze and cognitive and memory failures, along with malaise and sweating. The day after, while visiting the Hermitage museum, he underwent forthright auditive hallucinations, diffusion of thought phenomena and harm delusions. After ruling out diagnosable organic causes through CT scan, MRI and blood analyses including immunologic studies, he was put on olanzapine 10 mg/day with total symptomatic remission within 2 weeks.

Discussion

Stendhal syndrome, described back in 1989 by Dr. Magherini, refers to anxious, somatic and psychotic symptoms affecting tourists who visit Florence. The celebrated author, himself, experienced intense emotions due to an overdose of beauty at the Italian city. Further clinical pictures related to journeys include Jerusalem Syndrome and Way of Saint James Syndrome. Another entity, Paris Syndrome, differentially affects Japanese visitors, disappointed with the actual experience of visiting the French city.

Conclusion

During journeys, people often abandon everyday life in order to open up to unknown sights and feelings. These can eventually, lead to certain sorts of mental illness.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.