Paris syndrome

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Tourists visit Paris in a bus.
Tourists visit Paris in a bus.

Paris syndrome (French: syndrôme de Paris) is a constellation of symptoms primarily affecting mood which affects visitors working and vacationing in Paris, France. Japanese visitors are observed to be especially susceptible. First noted in the French Nervure journal of psychiatry by A. Viala, et al. in 2004, it is classified as a form of Stendhal syndrome (French: Syndrome du voyageur). From the estimated six million yearly visitors the number of reported cases is significant.

The authors of the journal cite the following matters as factors that combine to induce the phenomenon:

  1. Language barrier - few Japanese speak French and vice versa. This is believed to be the principal difficulty and is thought to engender the remainder. Apart from the obvious differences between French and Japanese many everyday phrases and idioms are shorn of meaning and substance when translated adding to the confusion of some who haven't previously encountered such.
  2. Cultural difference - the authors state that the large difference between not only the languages but the manner in which Latin populations communicate on an interpersonal level in comparison to the rigidly formal Japanese culture proves too great a difficultly for some Japanese visitors. It is thought that it is the rapid and frequent fluctuations in mood, tense and attitude especially in the delivery of humour that cause the most difficulty.
  3. Idealized image of Paris - it is also speculated as manifesting from an individual's inability to reconcile a disparity between the Japanese popular image and the reality of Paris.
  4. Exhaustion - finally, it is thought that the over-booking of one's time and energy, whether on a business trip or on holiday, in attempting to cram too much into every moment of a stay in Paris along with the effects of jet-lag all contribute to the psychological destabilisation of some.

However, Youcef Mahmoudia, physician with the Hôtel-Dieu de Paris, indicates that Paris Syndrome is "a manifestation of psychopathology related to the voyage, rather than a syndrome of the traveller" External Link - French language. He theorized that the excitement resulting from visiting Paris causes the heart to accelerate, causing giddinesses and shortness of breath, which results in hallucinations in the manner that Italian psychologist Graziella Magherini noted in her 1989 book "La sindrome di Stendhal."

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