Walking Corpse Syndrome
A whole new meaning to “dead man walking”
Ms A had been enduring bipolar affective disorder for 35 years. At 62 years old, she experienced a devastating relapse and her mental health began to decline dramatically.
Her returning affective bipolar disorder caused her to alternate between extreme emotional highs and lows, depending on her mood.
Ms A’s “lows” or depressive states beset her day-to-day life, making it hard to socialize or partake in activities she used to enjoy. As her symptoms worsened, Ms A also developed feelings of worthlessness, neglecting to take care of herself or eat properly.
Furthermore, Ms A developed psychomotor retardation as a result of her strong, depressive episodes. This type of retardation slows down both mental and physical activity. For example, it takes longer than usual to process thoughts or come up with replies in a conversation. Physically, a person’s gait slows down, their posture slumps, and their reaction-time is drawn out.
However, Ms A’s symptoms quickly began to deviate from the conventional effects of bipolar disorder.
She developed delusions that some of her body parts simply did not work and did not exist. (This is not a side-effect of psychomotor retardation.)
