Crystal Delusion: The Belief Of Being As Fragile As Glass

There are people who believe that they can be broken into a thousand pieces if they are hit. We are talking about the crystal delusion. People suffering from this delusion believe 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 – belief – and reality. Anyone who suffers from it is convinced that their body is as vulnerable as glass. In this sense, be careful not to confuse this psychological disorder with glass bone disease or osteogenesis imperfecta.

What do we mean by delusion?

During the 17th century, the concept of madness was mainly based on delusions, so that “being mad” was equal to “having delusions” and vice versa. Nowadays, if we asked anyone to describe their typical image of a “madman”, they would most likely tell us that he is a person who claims that the Martians are persecuting him, or else that he believes he is Jesus himself.

Etymologically, the word delirium derives from the Latin term deliare , which means stepping out of line. Applied to thinking, it would be something like “thinking outside the line of normality”. In a simpler way, delusional means to be mad, to have your reason disturbed. In everyday language and common sense, it is practically synonymous with madness, being unreasonable, loss of reality.

The best known and most cited definition is the one Jaspers offers in his book General Psychopathology (1975). For him, delusions are false beliefs, which are characterized by a subject who holds them with great conviction, in such a way that he cannot be influenced either by experience or by irrefutable conclusions. Also, content is often impossible.

Crystal delusion as a psychological disorder of the Middle Ages

Apparently, this disorder became popular when Carlos VI went through this situation. He suffered from this disorder during his reign, many centuries ago. In fact, Charles VI went down in history as a king who suffered from schizophrenia, histrionic personality, and porphyria. It is reported that during a psychotic break he even murdered a member of his entourage.

Carlos VI forbade his subjects to touch him for fear of disintegrating like a fragile piece of glass. To prevent what he feared from happening, he kept himself wrapped in thick blankets and spent hours locked in his rooms. In this way, it prevented anyone from touching it and breaking it into a thousand pieces.

Currently, the Dutch psychiatrist Andy Lamejin also found the existence of this disorder in a patient. Seems like it’s not just a thing of the past, is it? Recently, a patient of this doctor came to a consultation with sensations similar to crystal delirium.

This patient said that he felt like he was made of glass and was transparent, so no one could see him. As this patient commented, he believed that he had a switch in his brain that allowed him to switch between this state and a normal state. According to him, it could become invisible or voluntarily cease to be invisible.

Living obsessed with not breaking down

According to documentary sources, there were already patients who tied pillows to their buttocks to prevent them from breaking when they had to sit somewhere. It is also known that other people made their needs standing up to avoid having to sit down and thus break bones.

Another similar delusion is the bottle delusion. These are patients who believe they live inside a glass bottle and are obsessed with not breaking the bottle. All your strength is spent not to get out of this supposed bottle, and thus break it into a thousand pieces of glass.

This disease can be transmitted between psychotic patients through the phenomenon of imitation. The mentally ill looked for a reason to justify their feeling of fragility. These stories, which arrived from the French royal house, helped to popularize this syndrome.

What is the cause of crystal delirium?

One of the causes that is taken as the main hypothesis is that the crystal delirium may be caused by a defense mechanism. This defense mechanism would arise in people who are under a great deal of pressure. Furthermore, these people would also feel the pressing need to show a very determined social image. In this way, symptoms would be a response to the fear of projecting their vulnerability.

Another of the hypotheses is associated with the emergence and evolution of the crystal. It is not surprising that the first cases of crystal delusion emerged at the same time this material was made. In any case, we are facing a serious mental disorder.

His treatment would involve the prescription of antipsychotic drugs, such as haloperidol, and psychotherapeutic support. Anyway, we have a reassuring message: nowadays it is very rare that cases of this syndrome happen out there.