Jerusalem syndrome
Yair Bar-El, Rimona Durst, Grégory Katz, Josef Zislin, Ziva Strauss, Haim Y. Knobler
The British Journal of Psychiatry 2000 DOI: 10.1192/bjp.176.1.86 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 63 |
| Key points | Argues that the Jerusalem syndrome is a unique acute psychotic state with three main categories, the most discrete form being a spontaneous reaction to religious excitement induced by proximity to Jerusalem's holy places, marked by seven characteristic sequential stages and not confounded by previous psychotic history or psychopathology. |
Abstract
Background: Jerusalem's psychiatrists expect to encounter, as the millennium approaches, an ever-increasing number of tourists who, upon arriving in Jerusalem, may suffer psychotic decompensation.
Aims: To describe the Jerusalem syndrome as a unique acute psychotic state.
Method: This analysis is based on accumulated clinical experience and phenomenological data consisting of cultural and religious perspectives.
Results: Three main categories of the syndrome are identified and described, with special focus on the category pertaining to spontaneous manifestations, unconfounded by previous psychotic history or psychopathology.
Conclusions: The discrete form of the Jerusalem syndrome is related to religious excitement induced by proximity to the holy places of Jerusalem, and is indicated by seven characteristic sequential stages.
Citations in the library
Cited by 6
- Psychedelics and Mental Health: A Population Study PLoS One August 19, 2013
- “I was trying to save the world”: delusion-like ideation and associated impacts reported by Western practitioners of Buddhist meditation Frontiers in Psychology October 24, 2025
- Kutsal Mekân ve Psikopatoloji: Kudüs Sendromu Örneği Hitit İlahiyat Dergisi June 30, 2026
- Neurology of ecstatic religious and similar experiences: Ecstatic, orgasmic, and musicogenic seizures. Stendhal syndrome and autoscopic phenomena. Neurología June 21, 2016
- Religion and psychosis: the effects of the Welsh religious revival in 1904-1905. Psychological Medicine August 1, 2010
and 1 more in the library