Talk:Cotard's syndrome

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Possible references
Bliss (1985 film). Might be more explicit in the novel. Dysmorodrepanis (talk) 18:06, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

Also in "Synecdoche New York". The main character is named Cotard. He spends the majority of the film creating a play which explores death and dying. "I've been thinking a lot about dying lately ... regardless of how this particular thing works itself out, I will be dying, and so will you, and so will everyone here. That's what I want to explore: we are all hurtling towards death. Yet here we are alive, each of us knowing that we are going to die, and each of us really believing that we wont."

Unclear text
I couldn't figure out what "unless regarded as just oneself to another or others" means -- and I really did try to make sense of it. Can anyone figure out the intent of that phrase and hopefully clarify it? I'm thinking it could mean that either that the Cotard's delusion sufferer might still believe in death as oblivion for others, but regards his or herself as an exception, or possibly that death is universally oblivion, and the experiences of the Cotard's delusion sufferer are actually being experienced by someone else, who is experiencing a very intense hallucination or dream of being the (actually dead) Cotard's delusion sufferer.75.49.237.5 (talk) 02:34, 20 February 2011 (UTC)
 * I don't see that text in the article. Perhaps it's been edited out? TheVictor99 (talk) 23:14, 29 December 2015 (UTC)

pointless and irrelevant trivia section
It adds nothing of value to the article and it is entirely unreferenced (The one alleged reference, http://www.radiolab.org/blogs/radiolab-blog/ is obviously not a reliable source and doesn't even support the text it claims to.) Our verifiability policy states clearly and unequivocally that the burden of evidence lies with the editor who adds or restores material. Please do not re-add unferenced material. Dlabtot (talk) 19:31, 24 May 2011 (UTC)

Clarification/context needed in Signs and Symptoms section
Who are Young and Leafhead? This section needs some context; the info seems to be out of nowhere. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.54.250.11 (talk) 18:39, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

New ref for association with aciclovir
A New Scientist article describes 8 aciclovir-associated cases, 7 in people with renal failure, referencing an abstract:. I can't access the abstract but perhaps someone who can could summarise this. Espresso Addict (talk) 07:46, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

Dead Man = False "Popular Culture" Example?
Is Jim Jarmusch's 1995 film Dead Man truly an example of Cotard's syndrome? The article states "everyone who meets the protagonist [William Blake] believes he is . . . already dead." I must point out that I don't agree with this statement—why would bounty hunters be chasing a man if they think he's already dead?—but let's say, for the sake of this discussion, that everyone in the film does believe Blake is already dead; would that constitute a case of Cotard's syndrome? It's my understanding that the Cotard delusion refers to one's impression of one's own existence (or lack thereof), not to what others believe. ♦ I'll leave this open to discussion for a while. Then, unless someone presents a convincing argument for its inclusion, I'll remove the Dead Man reference from the Cotard article's "Popular Culture" section. TheVictor99 (talk) 00:59, 30 December 2015 (UTC)

Suggested Change/Invalid conclusion in first paragraph
I am not an expert on this particular disorder (as I only have a minor in psychology) but it seems to me the idea that one is dead and that one is immortal are not in conflict with each other in many people's view as the word "paradox" suggests in the first paragraph. There are plenty of people that believe in an afterlife (regardless of whether it is true or not) and it would seem to me that the only logical explanation of one's existence if they held the delusion that they were dead would be that they are now in the afterlife and are therefore (quite probably) immortal.


 * A close reading reveals that it says that with this disorder the sufferer believes one or another but not both, not that the sufferer in all cases believes both at once. That having been said, the mentally ill are quite capable of that level of cognitive dissonance.  There is nothing unusual about contradictory delusions in a person who is suffering from psychotic delusions.  The human mind can be very strange even when it's working more or less properly.

Cotard's Delusion both is, and is not, mentioned in the DSM?
Early in the article: "Cotard's delusion is not mentioned in either the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)."

Later: "According to the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition), Cotard's delusion falls under the category of somatic delusions, those that involve bodily functions or sensations."

The second assertion is unreferenced. The first refers to the now-obsolete DSM-4. I don't currently have access to the DSM-5 (I'm on a work computer) to check that volume for Cotard's. IAmNitpicking (talk) 14:51, 9 July 2020 (UTC)


 * I just searched a digital copy of the DSM-5. The word "Cotard" does not appear. I will make appropriate changes. ubiquity (talk) 16:29, 3 March 2021 (UTC)

Diagnosis section
I removed this section. It contained three sentences. The first was incorrect, the second made no sense without the first, and the third didn't seem to warrant an entire section, especially since it was unsourced. ubiquity (talk) 16:33, 3 March 2021 (UTC)

Aciclovir Link
Where are the studies and citations that Aciclovir links to Cotard? Mentioned in various other pages/languages with extremely poor citation or referencing; from a scientific perspective not enough evidence and poor quality.--𝔏92934923525 (talk) 22:17, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

Case studies/Distorted Reality
The depictions of the Cotard sufferer who thought he had AIDS and was in hell is repeated, first under the Distorted Reality heading, and then again in the Case Studies. It has to be the same patient yet in the version of the story under the Distorted Reality heading, he is said to have exhibited Cotard symptoms after a motorcycle accident, but under Case Studies, it tells the same guy's story, but then refers to a second case study about a guy who got Cotards 'after a motorcycle accident'. Again, this must be the same guy. The references either have to be wrong or the content of the references is wrong.

Cotard's delusion or Cotard delusion
The entire article refers to "Cotard's delusion" but the title of the article is "Cotard delusion." Why?

Requested move 26 October 2022

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion. 

The result of the move request was: moved to Cotard's syndrome.  Arbitrarily0  ( talk ) 02:27, 10 November 2022 (UTC)

Cotard delusion → Cotard's delusion – It seems like the title and the actual name of the condition have a major discrepancy with each other. Should it be renamed to "Cotard's delusion" instead, or left as it is? Explodicator7331 (talk) 15:41, 26 October 2022 (UTC) — Relisting. — Ceso femmuin mbolgaig mbung, mellohi! (投稿) 00:50, 3 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Move to Cotard's syndrome. Based on Ngrams, it appears that "Cotard's syndrome" is the WP:COMMONNAME. "Cotard's syndrome" also appears to be preferred by sources like WebMD and Medical News Today that focus on presenting medical information to a lay audience. ModernDayTrilobite (talk • contribs) 13:48, 27 October 2022 (UTC)
 * Relisting comment: Cotard's syndrome also suggested as a target. — Ceso femmuin mbolgaig mbung, mellohi! (投稿) 00:50, 3 November 2022 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Richard Trenton Chase
I'm sure I have seen a study saying in retrospect there is a likelihood Chase had such a condition. Would be good if someone with academic archive access could try to look into such a study.--82.40.43.68 (talk) 03:29, 5 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Chase was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, which is not remotely the same thing. A cursory search didn't find any such connection. IAmNitpicking (talk) 12:01, 9 February 2023 (UTC)