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Lycanthropy and demonomania: some psychopathological issues

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

K. Koehler ,
H. Ebel  and
D. Vartzopoulos
K. Koehler*
Affiliation:
University Psychiatric Clinic, Bonn, West Germany
H. Ebel
Affiliation:
University Psychiatric Clinic, Bonn, West Germany
D. Vartzopoulos
Affiliation:
University Psychiatric Clinic, Bonn, West Germany
*
1Address for correspondence: Professor K. Koehler, University Psychiatric Clinic, Sigmund-Freud-Strasse 25, 5300 Bonn 1, West Germany.
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Synopsis

Modern reports on lycanthropy mainly concentrate on the content of patients' beliefs in being transformed into an animal. By contrast, an interest in the form of the symptomatology is usually minimal. This paper draws on Karl Jaspers' phenomenological views and focuses on some important albeit neglected psychopathological issues related to form which are relevant to any comprehensive consideration of lycanthropic phenomena.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 20 , Issue 3 , August 1990 , pp. 629 - 633
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

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