#cotard delusion

[mad-pride]

Cotard Syndrome: A mental illness where one believes they are already dead, do not exist, are decomposing from the inside out, or believe that specific organs do not work.  A mild case is characterized by despair and self-loathing, while a severe case is characterized by intense delusions of negation and chronic psychiatric depression.

[vexian-is-us]

Paranoia says that someone is going to kill me, but cotard delusion says I'm already dead. Which is right? Who knows at this point.

[thanatophobia-thoughts]

Cotard’s Syndrome, Cotard’s Delusion, is an illness where the person thinks they are dead. 

Not expressly related to thanatophobia, but it is an interesting study in how we view death around the world, and how we view the certainty of an afterlife by imagining a consciousness even after death. 

This video explains what is known about Cotard’s Delusion, its history, and talks of some more recent cases of it, showing it’s still around today. I also think this video shows a decent way of drawing out things, which are useful ways to express oneself, so it may offer some ideas for how you could go about doing that, too! 

I’m sharing this here as a way to highlight the artistic skills and expression, to introduce you to a delusion that shows how deeply ingrained thoughts of an afterlife are, and introduce you to an illness you may not be familiar with. 

[aggrandized-nomine]

Oh lord I cannot breathe in the dirt

I'm on my way to heaven

I have seen the face of the many

And I am not satisfied

I watched the stars fall into streetlights

But the moon stayed the same

The sweat between my fingertips

Let the sun slip out my hold

Cotard knows it well

I feel it coming

[argonavta]

Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head.

The Smiths I Know It’s Over

[you-awful-me]

Sometimes that exactly how I feel, like I don't exist. Sometimes....

[relatable-psychosis]

One of my friends brought up that I had pretty obvious Cotard's, and now I'm feeling kinda invalidated, which sucks because they didn't intend it that way, but like... I was trying to figure out what to do for the anniversary of my death that's coming up in like two weeks, and apparently the entire thing is fake??? What the fuck do I do.

I think I understand what you mean by feeling invalidated in a way. I’ve felt that way before when someone told me outright I was having a delusional thought process, and part of me felt relieved someone was interested in and cared about me while another part was upset they had said it like that and frustrated they didn’t understand. I ended up arguing with them that it wasn’t delusional and we had a stalemate debate over it.

It can be rough being suddenly yanked out of such a thing, whether it’s like your situation, or someone believing their world is unreal and a punishment created for them so they’re structuring their life around uncovering clues as to how to ascend it, or someone being certain their voices are special messages to guide them, and other similar themes. It’s something important to us that we’ve invested energy into, and all at once someone else is tearing it down.

In the end, it’s better to come out of a delusion. I’ve talked before about how most delusions appear objectively negative due to immediate potential and likely negatives or problems that will occur later on if it’s kept up. But others should be gentle about it and try to figure out what methods of helping would best click with each of us individually.

There’s an ask answered in the past about Cotard’s which you can read here, if you like ^^ I’m not sure what else to suggest ‘cause I’m not sure what would be good for you. Perhaps talking to this person more, listening to calming sounds and doing introspection, grounding to keep yourself in the present while bringing down your stress, writing in a journal or elsewhere to vent, reading scientific articles about what you’re going through, playing a game, contacting a professional if you have one, etc. Take care!- Mod Alex

[schizo-vulture]

this felling isn't going away like i'd hoped.

but i found a bottle of my meds so after a heathly dose of these i hope i calm down