Neurological problems, compulsive hair ingestion, or premature aging are some of the symptoms hidden behind the names of the best-known film stories and novels
There are currently around 7,000 rare diseases in the world. Many of them have inspired, in part or totally, literary and cinematographic works and, in the same way, many movie and novel names have ended up being used to refer to this type of very rare syndromes.
1. Alice in Wonderland Syndrome
The well-known story of Alice and her fantasy world has served as inspiration to name a spectrum of neurological alterations known as micropsia (if objects are perceived smaller than normal) and macropsia (if objects are perceived larger). Several scientists believe that the author of this popular fairy tale, Lewis Carroll, may have suffered from this disease and may have been inspired by it to create the character of Alice, who increases and decreases in size on several occasions and perceives the elements of her environment smaller or larger than normal. Although experts are still investigating the origin of these disorders, among some of the causes we can find: neurological problems, migraines, retinal alterations, virus infections, anxiety or drug intoxication, among others.
2. Madame Bovary Syndrome
Bovarism refers to a pathology called chronic affective dissatisfaction, suffered by people who live in a world of constant illusions and ideals. The contrast with reality often leads them to frustration and a continuous nonconformity with daily life. This is what happened to the protagonist of Flaubert’s novel, Emma, who believed she saw the ideal love in her different love relationships, but they always ended up causing her disappointment as they did not conform to her specific romantic vision and concerns.
3. Rapunzel Syndrome
The long-haired protagonist of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale refers to an intestinal problem known as trichophagia. This pathology affects women and girls with a personality disorder that leads to compulsive hair eating. As the digestive system is unable to digest keratin, the main component of the outer layer of the hair, it accumulates in a hairball that goes from the stomach to the intestine. The gastric or intestinal blockage produced by the hair together with food debris and mucus causes a problem that can only be solved surgically.
4. Cinderella syndrome
The term that gives its name to this syndrome was studied in 1981 by Collette Downing who wrote The Cinderella Complex: The Hidden Fear of the Independence Woman. This complex affects women who unconsciously feel the need to be protected and cared for, something that could derive from the lived social culture and which the author believes is a consequence of the fear of living independently. These are women who, although they may have a strong personality, are idealistic, romantic and fanciful, and usually do not know how to live or solve their problems without a figure by their side, usually a man. As it happened to Cinderella, who was not without the help of her Prince Charming that she could finally get out of her situation of poverty and slavery.
5. Benjamin Button Syndrome
The Oscar-winning film “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, starring Brad Pitt, describes the case of a young man who is born with the features of an 80-year-old man and gets younger as he grows older, until he ends his days as a newborn. David Fincher made in this work a personal version of a strange genetic disease of childhood that affects one in seven million newborns in the world called progeria. These children have an average life expectancy of 13 years and show an abrupt and premature aging in their first two years of life.
6. Peter Pan and Wendy Syndrome
Every Wendy has a Peter Pan around her. The so-called Wendy syndrome or complex is suffered mainly by women who show an excessive concern for the welfare of others, behaving like a mother with everyone around them. This feeling of protectionist love is accompanied by a continuous feeling of rejection and insecurity in relationships. This pathology favors the existence of male immaturity which gives rise to the Peter Pan syndrome, a pathology coined in the 80’s by psychologist Dan Kiley and which mainly affects men who, counting on Wendy’s support, have problems in accepting the obligations of adulthood.
* According to the National Registry of Rare Diseases of the Carlos III Institute of Health