Jerusalem syndrome is a mental illness rarely seen in people who visit
Jerusalem, manifests itself with obsessive religious thoughts, delusions,
psychotic symptoms, and some characteristic features. In clinical
practice, it’s uncommon to encounter patients displaying symptoms of
the Jerusalem syndrome. In this paper, we report a case of a middle-aged
woman who manifested psychiatric symptoms similar to the Jerusalem
syndrome after a Mecca visit without any previous psychiatric history.
After careful examination, religious delusions, auditory and visual
hallucinations, racing thoughts, disorganized speech, and confusion
were denoted, therefore the patient was hospitalized. Brain imaging
and laboratory examination was unremarkable. After nine days of
antipsychotic treatment, the patient’s symptoms completely dissolved,
and she was discharged. Antipsychotic treatment was ceased entirely
after two months. The patient and her family members reported that
the patient was symptom-free for the following two years.
Keywords: Brief reactive psychosis, religion, travel, differential diagnosis