Belief in transforming another person into a wolf: could it be a variant of lycanthropy?

Abstract

Belief in the transformation of another person into an animal may have similar roots as lycanthropy and could be considered as a variant of this syndrome.

A Study of the Phenomenology of Psychosis Induced by Methamphetamine: a Preliminary Research

“…There was only one similar case, in which a young man suffering from bipolar disorder believed his mother was a wolf. 14 Therefore, this kind of belief, in which the patient is convinced that another person has transformed into an animal, can be a new variant of lycathropy.…”

Lycanthropy in Byzantine times (AD 330—1453)

“…The defi nition of lycanthropy through the ages remained unchanged: a person acquires the characteristics of the wolf, roaming around at night, wandering in cemeteries and attacking human beings and beasts in search of raw fl esh. This metamorphosis is refl ected in a rich and extensive literature in mythology, theology, history and medicine; it has also attracted the attention of modern physicians, mainly psychiatrists, as shown by several recent papers in psychiatric journals (Benezech et al, 1989;Coll, O'Sullivan and Brown, 1985;Garlipp et al, 2004;Jackson, 1978;Keck et al, 1988;Moghaddas and Nasseri, 2004;Nejad, 2007;Rosenstock and Vincent, 1977;Surawicz and Banta, 1975;Verdoux and Bourgeois, 1993). Indeed, psychiatrists and psychologists are still seeing patients with the strong belief that they have taken the form of a wolf (or other animal, frequently a dog or a cat).…”