Title: Stendhal Syndrome: Can too much art make you ill? Mental Health Documentary

Thousands of people visit the Italian City of Florence every year to experience its unrivalled collections of art. Some of them are so overwhelmed they become anxious, agitated and confused, they start seeing things and become paranoid and some even try to damage the very art they have come to see.

This has been called the Stendhal Syndrome, named after the 19th-century French author Stendhal, who had a similar experience when he visited the city in 1811.

The psychological profile of those affected is that they are young, single, sensitive, impressionable and traveling alone or with one other person. Around a half have a prior history of psychiatric disorder and many either regard themselves as artists or have a keen interest in art.

The Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky, who had temporal lobe epilepsy, is known to have gone into ecstatic trances when viewing paintings, so could this be the same thing?

Neuroscientists have been studying the brains of people meditating or in ecstatic states for many years. Recent functional brain imaging and advanced neurophysiological EEG studies with intracranial electrodes in people with ecstatic epilepsy, orgasmic epilepsy or epilepsy triggered by music have found an association with activation of the anterior insular cortex and the salience network – a crucial brain system that is involved in self-awareness and social behaviour.

This may be the explanation of some cases of Stendhal syndrome, but it is a complex disorder and likely to have many different causes in different people.

References
Amâncio, E. J. (2005). Dostoevsky and Stendhal´s sydrome. Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria, 63, 1099-1103.
Arias, M. (2019). Neurology of ecstatic religious and similar experiences: Ecstatic, orgasmic, and musicogenic seizures. Stendhal syndrome and autoscopic phenomena. Neurología (English Edition), 34(1), 55-61.
Bamforth, I. (2010). Stendhal's Syndrome. British Journal of General Practice, 60(581), 945-946.
Bar-El, Y., Durst, R., Katz, G., Zislin, J., Strauss, Z., and Knobler, H. Y. (2000). Jerusalem syndrome. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 176(1), 86-90.
Magherini, G (1989) La Sindrome di Stendhal. Firenze, Ponte Alle Grazie.
Palacios-Sánchez, L., Botero-Meneses, J. S., Pachón, R. P., Hernández, L. B. P., Triana-Melo, J. D. P., and Ramírez-Rodríguez, S. (2018). Stendhal syndrome: a clinical and historical overview. Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria, 76, 120-123.
Teive, H. A., Munhoz, R. P., and Cardoso, F. (2014). Proust, neurology and Stendhal's Syndrome. European Neurology, 71(5-6), 296-298.

Music (via Wikimedia Commons)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Requiem: Rex tremendæ, Wiener Hofsmusikkappelle: Josef Krips (1950) Public domain.
Modest Mussorgsky: Pictures at an exhibition: Il vecchio castello: David Hernando Vitores - saxophone (2015) CC4.0
Antonio Vivaldi The Four Seasons, Op. 8: Violin Concerto in F major RV 293 Autumn. The Modena Chamber Orchestra. CC0
Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8, RV 297, "L'inverno" (Winter) — from The Four Seasons: 2nd Movement Live: Wichita State University. John Harrison, Violin; Robert Turizziani , Conductor; Wichita State University Chamber Players. Recorded February 6 2000. CC Attribution
Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8, RV 297. "L'inverno" (Winter) — from The Four Seasons. First movement. United States Air Force Band Strings. Public domain.

Copyright Disclaimer
The primary purpose of this video is educational. I have tried to use material in the public domain or with Creative Commons Non-attribution licences wherever possible. Where attribution is required, I have listed this below. I believe that any copyright material used falls under the remit of Fair Use, but if any content owners would like to dispute this, I will not hesitate to immediately remove that content. It is not my intention to infringe on content ownership in any way. If you happen to find your art or images in the video, please let me know and I will be glad to credit you.

Images
Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
Fair use from Wellcome Collection
Case courtesy of Assoc Prof Frank Gaillard - Radiopedia

Video produced by Graeme Yorston and Tom Yorston.

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