Sunday, October 2, 2016

Graham Harrison- A Case of Cotard Delusion


Graham Harrison, 57 years old was diagnosed with a rare zombie condition known as the Cotard Delusion or the Walking Corpse Syndrome.  He already believes that he is dead despite of a failed suicide attempt.  He tried to electrocute himself and thought that his brain has been fried in doing so. 

The Cotard Delusion is known to be a very rare case that only affects around a hundred of people all over the world.  It is the delusion of someone that they are already dead, even though they are still breathing.  Most of them like the case of Mademoiselle X died of starvation because they believe they no longer need to feed since they are already dead.

Graham Harrison, formerly working as a water contractor, woke up from a failed suicide attempt.  He was so shocked that he was able to walk because he believes that he no longer has a brain.  He was so annoyed about the fact that he can still speak or perform a task since he has a firm certainty that his grey matter is already missing due to Cotard Delusion.

Graham constantly went to the local cemetery because he thinks that the cemetery is the perfect place for him to be.  The police would often arrive at the cemetery to pick him up and return him home.

Some doctors found his Cotard Delusion case amusing and subjected him to different neurological test.  They found out that his brain response is too low that it is similar to a person in a vegetative state.  One of the doctors who have an experience in scanning brain for 15 years was amazed and said that this is the first time that he witnessed such a case.


Graham Harrison underwent years of psychotherapy and drug treatment.  With the help of his family and the people who cared for him, Graham was able to regain back his health. 

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