Increasing number of Jerusalem tourists report mental illness causing them to believe they are characters from the Bible

Characterized by believing they are Biblical characters in the city of Jerusalem, thousands of pilgrims are said to be suffering from a mental condition and the number of inflicted is increasing. The so-called Jerusalem syndrome was first identified by psychologists in 2000, and it is caused by overexcitement from being in the historical city. However, some mental health experts see the syndrome as part of underlying mental illnesses undiagnosed.

span style="line-height: 15.8599996566772px;">MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - In a 1980 study published at the British Journal of Psychology, researchers identified seven stages of the syndrome, cited in the report by the Daily Mail.

First, pilgrims experience anxiety, agitation, nervousness and tension, among other unspecified reactions. Then, they declare their desire to tour Jerusalem alone and break away from their family or group. Third, they display obsessions with being clean and pure, then donning a toga-like gown usually made from the white hotel bed linen.

They also scream, shout and sing Bible and other religious verses out loud, identified as the fifth stage. Sufferers march or make procession to Jerusalem's holy sites and lastly, deliver "unusual" and "confusing" sermons.

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According to the report, stage two may prompt guides and hotel staff to refer the person to an evaluation in order for the next stages to occur. Failing to do that, stage five usually leads them to take the tourist to an institution for professional treatment.

But some disagree. "You see things like this emerge periodically in the literature, where people think they have found a unique syndrome," said Sion Rego, director at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Centre in New York for psychology training.

Three types of sufferers were found to have existing mental illnesses, personality disorders and fixed obsessions, and had experienced a psychotic episode during the stay in Jerusalem.

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