1,001 Facts That Will Scare the S#*t Out of You: The Ultimate Bathroom Reader (16 page)

FACT :
Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS) is an extremely rare brain disorder that causes sufferers to
speak involuntarily in a foreign accent
. The illness is the result of trauma affecting the area of the brain that controls speech.
I think my hillbilly cousin has this. Every once in a while he’ll say something that sounds vaguely like English.

Andrea Canning, “Foreign Accent Syndrome Gives Sufferers an International Sound,” ABC News, November 13, 2008,
http://abcnews.go.com
.

93

FACT :
The rare neurological disorder Alien Hand Syndrome (AHS)
causes the sufferer’s hands to move independently
, without his control over the action. People with AHS have been known to punch or choke themselves and tear at their clothing without meaning to do so, and may even need to use the healthy hand to curb the alien hand. The condition typically arises after trauma to the brain, brain surgery, or stroke.
“Let’s all give it up for E.T.!” (audience applauds). That’s what I thought Alien Hand Syndrome was.

“Definition of Alien hand syndrome,” Medicine.net, December 15, 2000,
www.medterms.com
.

Charles W. Bryant, “How Alien Hand Syndrome Works,”
HowStuffWorks.com
,
www.health.howstuffworks.com
.

“Alien Hand Syndrome: Nerve Impulses Can Cause Movement Even When Person Is Unaware,” Science Daily, July 17, 2007,
www.sciencedaily.com
.

94

FACT :
The Bible is the
most shoplifted book
.
At least the right people are getting it.

Jerry MacGregor and Marie Prys, 1001 Surprising Things You Should Know about the Bible (Fall River Press, 2006).

95

FACT :
People with Cotard’s syndrome can suffer from a variety of delusions, which range from
a belief that they are missing body parts or vital organs
to thinking that they are dead, have lost their soul, or do not even exist. The illness is found mostly in individuals with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.
You have to exist to be able to think you don’t exist, DUH! Schizos are stupid.

J. Pearn and C. Gardner– Thorpe, “Jules Cotard (1840–1889): His life and the unique syndrome which bears his name,” Neurology, May 14, 2002, 1400–1403,
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
.

96

FACT :
People who experience Capgras’ delusion are convinced that others, usually those closest to them,
have been replaced by identical impostors
.

The condition affects both sexes, but occurs more frequently in women.
Particularly when their husbands make dinner or take the kids to the park without being asked.

H. D. Ellis and others, “Reduced autonomic responses to faces in Capgras delusion,” Proceedings, Biological Sciences, July 22, 1997, 1085–1092,
www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov
.

“Capgras Syndrome,” Disorder Info Sheet,
Psychnet.com
,
www.psychnet-uk.com
.

97

FACT :
Piblokto, or Arctic hysteria, is a mental disorder that affects people living in the Arctic Circle, typically Inuit women. It is marked by
frenzied, disturbed behavior
such as uncontrolled screaming, running wildly, or removing one’s clothing in frigid weather; memory loss; seizures; and other symptoms reminiscent of epilepsy.
They also drink a shitload of tequila, which doesn’t help.

Emilio F. Moran and Rhonda Gillett-Netting, Human Adaptability: An Introduction to Ecological Anthropology, 2nd ed. (Westview Press, 2000).

“Arctic Hysteria,” Sarah Efron, Journalist, July/August 2003,
www.sarahefron.com
.