Delirium Of Crystal, Believing Oneself As Fragile As Glass

There are people who believe they can break into a thousand pieces if they suffer a small blow. We are talking about the crystal delusion. People who suffer from it think they are as fragile as glass, but in reality they are not.

Crystal delusion is a psychological syndrome that causes a psychological dissociation between imagination (what is believed) and reality. Those who suffer from it are convinced that their body is as vulnerable as glass. In this sense, be careful not to confuse this psychological disorder with crystal bones disease or osteogenesis imperfecta.

What do we understand by delirium?

During the seventeenth century the concept of madness was based above all on that of delirium, in such a way that “being crazy” was the same as “having delusions” and vice versa. Nowadays, if we asked any person to describe his prototypical image of a “madman”, it is very likely that he would tell us that he is the one who thinks he is Napoleon or who claims that the Martians are persecuting him.

Etymologically the word delirium derives from the Latin term delirare , which means to get out of the carved furrow. Applied to thought, it would be something like “thinking out of the normal groove.” Simply put, delirium means “to be delirious, to have reason disturbed.” In common language, delirium is practically synonymous with madness, unreason, delirium or loss of reality.

The best known and most cited definition is that offered by Jaspers in his General Psychopathology (1975). For Jaspers, delusions are false judgments, characterized by the fact that the individual maintains them with great conviction, so that they are not influenced by experience or irrefutable conclusions. Also, its content is impossible.

The crystal delusion as a psychological disorder of the Middle Ages

Apparently, this disorder became popular when Charles VI suffered it in his own flesh during his reign, a few centuries ago. In fact, Carlos VI went down in history as a monarch who suffered from schizophrenia, porphyria and histrionic personality. According to it is said, during a psychotic break he even assassinated a member of his entourage.

Charles VI forbade his subjects to touch him for fear of disintegrating like a fragile piece of glass. To avoid what he feared, he wrapped himself in thick blankets and spent hours locked in his rooms. This prevented anyone from touching him and causing him to break.

At present, the Dutch psychiatrist Andy Lamejin has confirmed the existence of this disorder in a patient. It seems like it’s not just a thing of the past, right? Recently, a patient of this doctor came to his office suffering from feelings similar to a delirium.

This patient reported feeling as if he were made of glass and was transparent to the eyes of others. According to this patient, he had a switch in his brain that allowed him to change his state. According to him, he could change from being invisible to being invisible voluntarily.

Living obsessed with not breaking

According to documentary sources, there have been patients who tied cushions on their butts to avoid breaking when they had to sit somewhere. Other people have also been known to relieve themselves on their feet  to avoid having to sit up and break their bones.

Another similar delusion is the delusion of the bottle. These are patients who believe they live inside a glass bottle and are obsessed with not breaking. All his forces are aimed at not leaving that supposed bottle in the form of a thousand pieces of glass.

This disease has been transmitted among psychotic patients through the phenomenon of imitation. The mentally ill looked for a reason to justify their feeling of fragility. So, those stories that came from the French royal house helped popularize this syndrome. Suffice it to recall Cervantes’s work El Licenciado stained-glass window .

What is the cause of the crystal delusion?

One of the causes with which they are hypothesized is that the crystal delusion could be due to a defense mechanism. This defense mechanism would arise in people who are subjected to a great level of pressure. In addition, these people would also feel the urgent need to show a certain social image. Thus, the symptoms would be a response to the fear of projecting vulnerability.

Another hypothesis is associated with the emergence and evolution of the crystal. Not surprisingly, the first cases of crystal delusion emerged at the same time as this material did. Be that as it may, we are facing a serious mental disorder. His treatment would go through the prescription of antipsychotic drugs, such as haloperidol and psychotherapeutic support. In any case, we send you a reassuring message: nowadays it is rare that cases of this syndrome appear.