I just read an article where travelers who go to Jerusalem can get hit with Jerusalem Syndrome. These tourists become raving lunatics for a few days… “purifying themselves” by clipping nails and showering excessively, turning hotel bedsheets into togas, and going out to preach at people to go out and be kind to one another.

I can think of worse brands of crazy.

One person has been studying these cases and has divided the victims into 3 groups- previously crazy, previously extreme, and previously normal. They say that once the previously normal person is removed from the city, they go back to normal.

I’d never heard of this before, but in researching, discovered that The Simpsons did a bit about it where Homer suffered Jerusalem Syndrome, so it must be true.

Preaching the good word of sloth and gluttony.

There are a couple other cities that have syndromes. In Florence, Italy, there is Stendhal’s syndrome or Florence syndrome, “a psychosomatic disorder that causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to art.” We’re not talking those psychedelic blacklight posters they have in stoner shops. we’re talking art so beautiful and moving you go crazy.

There’s also Paris Syndrome, that specifically affects Japanese people. Paris is thought to be such a pinnacle of western civilization in Japanese culture that when Parisians behave in a way so very different than the romanticized ideal, they become disillusioned, hallucinate, and become paranoid to the point of locking themselves up, or even suicide.

It seems a little extreme, but have you SEEN French fashion?

Casual wear in France.

Anyway, it got me thinking about what Minneapolis Syndrome would look like… someone suffering suffering a shift in their built up reality so extreme they start hallucinating. What would be the signs?

I have a few ideas.

Only being able to talk in Uff-Da and You Bet.
A desire to make all food in casserole dishes with cream of mushroom soup.
Sudden ownership of a bike that you made yourself using silverware and recycled PBR cans.
Making very large versions of a thing and calling it art.
A sudden inability to merge.
Offering everything 3 times, like some kind of weird OCD.
Other symptoms that I’m sure people will comment with (and please do).

If you see someone exhibiting any of these symptoms, kindly suggest that they should see their nearest psych doctor, and then call them crazy behind their back.