With an increase in the number of tourists arriving for the Christian holiday season, a special unit of the Israeli police department is gearing up to deal with the small number of visitors who will develop 'Jerusalem Syndrome.' The mental affliction causes certain people to believe that they are or have seen the Messiah, or are characters from the Bible. The unit was established in 1986, and says there are spikes during Christmas and Passover.
Around 30 to 40 visitors are hospitalized every year with symptoms of Jerusalem Syndrome, though 'true' Jerusalem Syndrome can only be diagnosed in people with no pre-existing psychiatric problems, according to Dr. Gregory Katz, head of the emergency unit at Givat Shaul Mental Health Center in Jerualem. The doctor said the phenomenon usually occurs on the person's first trip to Israel, and is diagnosed in middle-aged patients with strong religious foundations, hailing from small towns in the United States or Scandinavia. In an article published in the British Journal of Psychiatry in 2000, Katz said the syndrome may progress from agitation and an urge to visit Jerusalem alone, and inevitably ends with the patient needing to dress in robes and deliver a sermon at a holy site. The episode lasts a few days, after which the person usually does not remember what happened, Katz said.
Jerusalem Syndrome has been dated as far back as the Middle Ages.