The Facts on Paris Syndrome
In 2016 American comedy trio The Lonely Island released a musical comedy film called Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. The group comprised of Adam Sandler, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone also wrote the (awesome) songs featured in the movie but only one song is important to today’s article and that is, “Mona Lisa”.
With lyrics like “Mona Lisa, you’re an overrated piece of shit”, “Mona Lisa, the original basic bitch”, and “Can someone explain why the whole world wide world is obsessed with a garbage pail kid”, it’s clear Lonely Island isn’t aware as to why the Mona Lisa is so famous.
Related Article: The Daring Theft That Made Mona Lisa Famous
But, it’s also clear that Adam Sandler’s character in the movie might be lightly experiencing a rare condition known as Paris Syndrome.
What is Paris Syndrome?
A month ago we wrote about Florence Stendhal Syndrome and how that is an acute stress response to something so beautiful that you might actually have a heart attack. It’s extremely rare and some medical professionals doubt it actually exists but that is the nature of some psychosomatic illnesses.
Paris syndrome is technically the direct opposite of Florence Stendhal Syndrome as it has been documented to have occurred in people who are so disappointed in Paris that they actually get sick.
Related Article: The Facts on Florence Stendhal Syndrome
Those experiencing Paris Syndrome will display symptoms like dizziness, anxiety, derealization, depersonalization, and vomiting among others. For some reason, I think vomiting after arriving in Paris is the most insulting of the bunch.
“Did you see how butt ugly the Eiffel tower is?”
To be fair Paris Syndrome doesn’t only happen in Paris, it’s only named after Paris because that is where the psychiatrist who named it was when he “discovered” it.
“Discovering” Paris Syndrome
In the 1980s Japanese psychiatrist, Hiroaki Ota, was working at the Sainte-Anne Hospital Center in France when he began to notice multiple Japanese tourists suffering from a variety of psychosomatic symptoms.
He found that they started experiencing these symptoms shortly after arriving in Paris and being disappointed at how different it was compared to the beautiful friendly place they envisioned. At the time 20th Century Fox’s Taken wasn’t out yet so no one had seen Bryan Mill’s daughter be kidnapped in Paris.
“Keep her, I don’t want to ruin my idealized version of Paris by going there.”
Ota later wrote a book on the condition where the name “Paris Syndrome” was coined and a study in 2004, published in the psychiatric journal Nervure, was picked up by the media. It’s important to note that although many of those diagnosed were from Japan arriving in Paris, Paris Syndrome can happen to anyone anywhere.
The reason some researchers believe it happens mainly in Paris is because of the idealized version that media like books, television, and movies have portrayed Paris to be. In reality, Paris is just like any other big city, there’s some good and some bad.
Should You Cancel Your Paris Ticket?
No, Paris Syndrome is an extremely rare condition with the Japanese Embassy reporting that around a dozen Japanese tourists suffer from it a year. That’s a dozen of the reported 1.1 million Japanese tourists.
While there are other countries that also report their respective citizens have suffered from Paris Syndrome as well, the numbers are just as low. Like Stendhal Syndrome part of the problem is people just packing too much stuff into their schedules, while being exhausted from their travel.
After a long plane trip, some unprepared tourists arrive at a place where no one speaks their language and the culture is completely different from what they’re used to. This results in culture shock with severe cases being called Paris Syndrome.
So if you’re planning on going to Paris, maybe schedule some breaks, listen to Mona Lisa by the Lonely Island and watch the first hour of Taken a few times.
Quick Facts
The BBC once reported that the Japanese embassy set up a 24-hour hotline for those experiencing Paris Syndrome but this has been refuted by the embassy.
