Clinical Lycanthropy

In the psychological field there is precedent to my realistic take on the metamorphosis from human to non-human. Although there is no evidence to suggest the physical transformation from human to animal, there is to suggest a transformation on a mental state. Clinical lycanthropy, is a rare form of reverse metamorphosis (a variant of inter- metamorphosis in which patients believe that they have transformed into another entity) wherein patients believe that they have the ability to transform into a non-human creature (Shrestha. 2014). However despite cases of clinical lycanthropy existing since the 1800’s, case in point a male patient with delusions of lycanthropy diagnosed in 1850 (Blom. 2014. 91), the condition has received very little attention, possibly because “original case studies have always been rare” (Blom. 2014. 88). Whereas it’s mythical counterpart Lycanthropy, which has been known and described since ancient times, has remained an evocative theme up until present day. So why do tales of hybrid beasts continue to interest people more than factual cases of people mentally transforming into their animalistic counterparts? Clinical lycanthropy patients reportedly display psychotic, animal-like behaviours; howling loudly in their rooms, sprinting abruptly, crawling on all fours (Shrestha. 2014).

• Blom, J. D. (2014). "When Doctors Cry Wolf. A Systematic Review of the Literature on Clinical Lycanthropy". History of Psychiatry 25: 87–102. Available from: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0957154X13512192 [Accessed last- 21/01/2017].

• Shrestha. R. (2014) Clinical Lycanthropy: Delusional Misidentification of the self, Available from: http://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/doi/pdf/10.1176/appi.neuropsych.13030057 [Last visited- 05/02/2017].