Jerusalem Syndrome Trivia Quiz

Answer: It affects tourists visiting Jerusalem.

Jerusalem Syndrome is a psychotic disorder that affects tourists visiting Jerusalem, hence the name. People affected with Jerusalem Syndrome suffer from delusions with religious overtones. They may believe they are in contact with a Biblical figure, such as a prophet, or a disciple of Jesus, and that they have been commanded to undertake certain tasks.

They often dress in a Biblical style, and have even been found riding a white donkey! Sometimes they become very agitated and disrupt public order.

Answer: Nikolai Gogol.

Nikolai Gogol, the nineteenth-century Russian author, made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1948. While it is possible that Gogol was mentally ill before coming to the Holy Land (it appears that he may have suffered from bipolar disorder), his visit apparently resulted in increasingly severe religious delusions.

As a matter of fact, he died two years after returning to Russia from Jerusalem, as the result of religious fasts. Mark Twain visited the Holy Land and wrote about his experience in "Innocents Abroad".

As far as I know, the other two authors did not visit the Middle East.

Answer: Protestant tourists to Jerusalem.

Protestant tourists visiting in Jerusalem are the people most often affected with Jerusalem Syndrome. They might have arrived independently, or as part of a group tour or church-sponsored pilgrimage. Roman Catholics are affected less frequently than Protestants. Jews and Muslims are typically not affected. This does not mean that there aren't mentally ill Jews and Muslims in Jerusalem, they are just affected with other disorders!

Answer: False

Jerusalem Syndrome is divided into three sub-categories, depending on the patient's previous psychiatric history. Type I is defined as Jerusalem Syndrome superimposed on previous psychotic illness - in other words, people who had a previous mental illness and came to Jerusalem as a result of their mental delusions. Type II is defined as Jerusalem Syndrome superimposed on idiosyncratic ideations.

These people do not generally require hospitalization. The third type, and the most interesting, is Type III.

These are people with no previous psychiatric history, who become acutely psychotic shortly after their arrival in Jerusalem.

Answer: Minor tranquilizers.

Although a person with Jerusalem Syndrome is usually severely psychotic, he is best treated with minor tranquilizers, such as benzodiazepines, rather than with anti-psychotic medication. A more important factor in their recovery is removing them from Jerusalem and returning them to more familiar faces and places.

In some instances, jet-lag may be a factor in a person developing Jerusalem Syndrome. These people may be treated with melatonin.

Answer: Kfar Shaul Mental Health Center.

Although there are several psychiatric facilities in Jerusalem, tourists suffering from Jerusalem Syndrome have been treated at Kfar Shaul Mental Health Center almost exclusively, since 1980. The staff at the hospital has acquired considerable expertise in treating these patients.

In the 13 years between 1980 and 1993, for instance, 1200 tourists were referred to Kfar Shaul, and 470 were actually hospitalized. After being discharged from the hospital, these people returned to their own countries.

Answer: The start of the new Millennium.

Authorities in Jerusalem were concerned that the start of the new Millennium, with all that it signifies to Christians, might result in an increase in Jerusalem Syndrome. It was feared that mentally unbalanced people might be drawn to visit Jerusalem in unusually large numbers, or that the excitement generated by the approach of the year two thousand might trigger Jerusalem Syndrome in others.

The staff that care for these patients toured Christian holy sites in Jerusalem in order to better understand their potential patients.

However, the year 2000 was marked by the outbreak of extreme terrorist violence in Israel, resulting in a sharp fall in tourism; the predicted increase in Jerusalem Syndrome did not take place.

Answer: El Aqsa Mosque.

In 1969, an Australian tourist named Michael Dennis Rohan attempted to set fire to El Aqsa Mosque. El Aqsa, one of the holiest places in Israel for Muslims, is located on the mount where the Jewish Temple stood in ancient times. Rohan explained that he wanted to destroy the mosque in order to rebuild the Temple.

While Rohan was by all accounts mentally ill, his actions created considerable tensions and distrust.

Answer: False

While people suffering from Type I Jerusalem syndrome,(those with a previous history of mental illness) will continue to be ill and require treatment, Type III patients (those with no history of mental illness) usually recover within a week. They remember precisely what they did, but they are often quite ashamed.

When mental health professionals who had treated these people attempted to contact them in order to follow up on their progress, the former patients thanked them for their concern but were unwilling to discuss their brief experience with psychosis.

Answer: False

There is some controversy concerning whether or not Jerusalem Syndrome is a distinct diagnosis, or merely a syndrome that often attacks tourists in various cities, especially those tourists with a history of mental illness. Therefore, Jerusalem Syndrome does not appear in either the DSM or ICD, the standard indexes of psychiatric diagnoses.

The proponents of Jerusalem Syndrome include Dr. Yair Bar-El, formerly Medical Director of the Kfar Shaul Hospital and District Psychiatrist for Jerusalem, and his colleagues Dr. Rimona Durst, Dr. Josef Zislin and Dr. Gregory Katz.

Much of the information in this quiz comes from a paper they published in the "British Journal of Psychiatry" in 2000. Dr Kalian and Dr. Witzum, both Jerusalem psychiatrists, challenged the notion of Jerusalem Syndrome as a discrete diagnosis in a letter to the same journal.