When we come to a strange area, we will be more or less uncomfortable, eating habits, cultural customs, living and living, you feel that you have been hit by culture.
But when you come to India, you may not be suffering from culture shock, but India Syndrome.
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The forever lost traveler
Regis Ayrault arrived in India in 1985 to work as a resident psychologist at the French Consulate in Mumbai.
At that time, travelers from France arrived in India and needed to go to the consulate to collect their passports and return tickets. Aerort thus had the opportunity to talk to these travelers, who are usually in their 20s to early 30s. Shortly after they arrived in India, everyone was excited about the upcoming trip.
But soon, Aerort began to notice some strange conditions for some French travelers, especially those who stayed in India for a long time, including a series of behavioral and psychological changes that later became known as "India Syndrome."
There are similar cases of this syndrome around the world, such as when traveling to Jerusalem, religious tourists who visit the city will have spontaneous psychosis, believing that they are listening to God's voice or seeing the saints. Visitors to Florence can feel physical discomfort and even hallucinations as they admire the artistic beauty of the city.
Ayrolte was sent to examine travelers who were lost, confused, or in a frenzied and mentally unstable situation. The results are staggering. "When travelers first arrived in India, they were in good spirits. But a month later, I found that their mental condition had become very unstable. He recalled. Many travelers also exhibit symptoms such as depression and isolation, which are due to feeling self-lost in unfamiliar lands or cultures.
A very small number of people were later diagnosed with acute psychosis and delusions. In the most exaggerated case, India Syndrome can deplete all mental states of travelers, causing them to be completely detached from reality or completely disconnected from their familiar environment. Aerort called the group "eternally lost travelers."
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Traveler's India Syndrome
Ayrolte compiled this phenomenon into a book, Madness in India. The book revolves around a central question: Is it India itself that has caused these shifts, or are people going to India determined to transform themselves?
"India has a power to stimulate imagination and strong aesthetic feelings compared to other countries, which can at any time plunge travelers into extreme anxiety," he wrote. For this reason, our 'sense of experience' of India may be somewhat contradictory. It depends on each person's personal background, their urge to travel, and the trauma buried deep within. In our subconscious, we come face-to-face with these feelings at some point. India will stimulate these feelings and make them boil. ”
Aerotel distinguishes the symptoms of India Syndrome from the common culture shock, where travelers either feel a strong connection to a different new place or feel extremely rejective of it and want to disconnect from it. You can feel the culture shock within days of arriving in a new area, but India Syndrome usually doesn't appear until weeks or months after you've lived in the country. Many travelers carry some deep-seated thoughts about India, and they have expectations of India, whether emotionally, physically or spiritually, and they are determined to achieve this imaginary experience.
But Erolt cited dozens of examples of foreign travelers he treated. One burned his passport shortly after arriving and went to jail for two months for anxiety disorders. A man who has been wandering around India for five years, in good health and in high spirits, but his parents think he is dead. Another had been to the holy city of Varanasi and thought that the goddess Carly could hear his dreams and talk to him. Of course, most cases are mild, and it is often the traveler who carries some emotion or has had trauma that suddenly surfaces and causes the traveler to have a nervous breakdown.
However, psychiatrists point out that the main reason for India Syndrome is that travelers exaggerate their expectations of what India can offer them, and sometimes these expectations are even wrong. They leave home, expecting to be inspired on their journey and unscrupulous in their pursuits.
Although India Syndrome, which is not universally recognized or officially judged to be a psychological diagnosis, these symptoms have attracted attention.
As a senior psychiatrist at the Institute of Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences, Mittal meets a foreign tourist with India Syndrome every week in his office in New Delhi.
Mittal divides cases of India syndrome into two groups of people. The first category refers to those who arrive in India as ordinary tourists but have psychological trauma related to family, work, and relationships. Mittal explains: "They came there was already mental turmoil but collapsed in India. ”
The second category refers to people who have come specifically to India and are determined to embark on some form of spiritual journey in search of a higher meaning in life. They visit holy sites and immerse themselves in the study of meditation or yoga. They are often mesmerized by yoga masters, or obsessed with the connection between expectation and reality, seeking themselves from their home life in order to get an extreme break.
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A permanent imprint of travel
Mittal said: "On the path of spiritual pursuit, people have questioned all the values that are deeply rooted. This can cause people to become empty, disoriented, or suddenly excited, and then they don't know what to do with the situation. ”
During Mittal's career, he treated hundreds of cases of varying degrees. There is an American woman in her 20s who had been traveling in India before she was asked to quarantine at home. This is one of the worst cases Mittal has ever seen. After months of searching by staff, she was found living in a retreat in Rishikesh and performing erotic dances every night. Insisting that she is a fairy, the soul of a feminine myth, she tests their determination to be celibate by seducing yogis and priests.
For Erolte and Mittal, for the most part, the cure for India Syndrome is simple, giving travelers a ticket home. But in other, more serious cases, India may leave a permanent mark on their patterns of behavior, even after they return home.
A Japanese tourist was reported missing and later found in Varanasi. He was detained by police after trying to board the train without a ticket. Mittal discovered he had schizophrenia and sent him back to Japan. But four years later, he reappeared at the clinic and asked for hospitalization. "He thinks he's going to be safe in India," Mittal said.
Mittal explains: "On the one hand, coming to India may be for a real pursuit, but for others, it can create psychosis. At the end of the darkness, some travelers began to believe that they were possessed by the Rolling Mixture, or the incarnation of God. They put themselves in danger, pushing themselves to increasing extremes in their quest for spiritual gratification.
As Ayrolt summed up in Madness in India. Some "wander aimlessly in another world, without desire, hiding from emptiness, pain, and life." But at the end of the road, their ultimate place may be death. ”