anybody with Stendahl's Syndrome? [weeping at beauty]

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i've not found much on the web or psychiatric literature concerning Stendahl's Syndrome, but i can tell you i have it. generally-speaking, it seems to manifest as a broad inability on the part of the brain's emotional regulation center as well as other areas handling physiological responses to stress, to properly process exposure [visual, aural, cognitive] to things that are beautiful, magnanimous, outstandingly grand. it could be a noble human gesture, a beautiful work of art [music, painting, movies et al] a grandly transcendant thought, beautiful scene in the natural world, lots of different things. the sufferer will upon exposure to this beneficient type of stimulus, become flushed, short of breath, intensely emotional and tearful as well as feeling emotionally overloaded/overstimulated. stereotypically, women tend to show this more than men. in anycase, i'd like to know who else on WP "suffers" from this also. it is truly a bittersweet thing.

Last edited by auntblabby on 07 Mar 2010, 11:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Sometimes I get teared up reading, or listening to music, but its usually the result of deep thought and the feeling of understanding something in a complete way, or in a lot of cases, seeing the associations something has with something seemingly unrelated.

I can definitely relate to the feeling of overload upon seeing something beautiful, however I certainly don't experience it to the level where it would be classified as stendahl's.

count your blessings. it is very embarrassing to me, i could be in mixed company when i see something on the tube that sets me off, and i have to go run and hide. nobody i know would understand this. they would think i was even crazier than they initially thought i was/am.

I experience this sort of thing, all the time. I'm also a very sensitive person, to begin with.

I do this often with music or when recalling a story.

Something about the subject matter of the song or the story touches what passes for a human chord in me.

The song "The Green Fields of France" (by many artists, but the Drop Kick Murphy version is one I hear often) is one of these songs, as is "SoS (anything but love)" by Apocalyptica

Something about them stirs up something in me.

Poems do this as well... Specifically "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley as well as "Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson. Both of them speak to qualities of the human spirit I am never sure that I possess. One is about a man that refuses to submit, the other about a man who has everything according to the people who "Knew" him, except he felt empty.

That's an actual thing?! I think I might have it. I tend to cry when I see something breathtakingly beautiful, or that deeply moves me. But they are things that wouldn't cause most people to cry. An example of this that I can think of are the Improv Everywhere videos where a bunch of people get together and stage a dance in the middle of a public place. Those bring up some weird emotions for me and I always get really emotional. I've always thought it was weird that I cry at things like that. And actually I can think of many times when all those things you mentioned (a noble human gesture, a beautiful work of art [music, painting, movies et al] a grandly transcendant thought, beautiful scene in the natural world) have produced the same effect on me. It's embarrassing if I happen to be with someone at the time and suddenly become overwhelmed by the sensations that arise. I usually turn around or walk away if possible.

I've never heard of Stendahl's Syndrome before, but now I'm intrigued.

I have a meltdown when someone won't let me touch an irrestibly cute animal. Maybe it's just supressed rage. So what if it bites? Since when are meerkats poisonness? When has a meerkat mauled someone to death. Never! Now let me hold it before I attack you, you stupid ugly zookeeper person!

Thank you for alerting us to this condition - - this was an interesting post to me, for sure.

I have been doing this all my life, as does my father, who I believe has AS himself. How incredibly validating to hear that is an actual, known, and named phenomenon.

Over the years I have learned to curb the reflex to tear with thoughts which turn my attention elsewhere (usually somewhere annoying). But I only curb it when in social situations that call for that, of course. Much more fun to be around people who don't care! Nevertheless, to have to think of Rush Limbaugh every time I'm at a concert...haaah...jeesh.

I don't know if I have it or not. But I know I have a terrible tendency to weep during things like films that are emotionally manipulative to try to make them seem touching. Even if I find the film terrible, manipulative, and icky, I still cry. I know someone who says she doesn't cry in such situations because the manipulation makes her angry. I have no such luck and cry angry or not.

I have found this getting more intense as my health has deteriorated. It's like I don't have the energy to do even the little I used to be able to do to hide the crying. I also cry at things I find genuinely beautiful. But... I don't like to. I don't know why I hate it so much but I do, even when the weeping goes with my real feelings. I also cry too easy when bad things happen. I actually tell people to ignore the tears because they are disproportionate to the situation and do not mean what they would mean in a person with more control of themselves.

Mozart's Mass in C Minor
Beethoven's 9th Symphony and Moonlight Sonata Movement 2

I dont know If I fall into this category. I do cry at a lot of things that others do not- especially media. I have cried at my daughter's Pokemon movies when someone does something heroic. A lot of family type movies have very happy endings that make me bawl like a baby. I think the reason I watch horror a lot is that I am guaranteed to cry at everything else. No one I know cries at movies and books as much as I do, and I find it very embarrassing.

Hmm wikipedia says it's when viewing art and causes dizziness, fainting, rapid heartbeat, and sometimes even hallucinations. I don't do any of those. Doesn't mention weeping which is the only thing I do and then just sometimes.

that is a VERY good idea
but if i thought of "that man" in public i would probably vomit on somebody.

the wiki article is incomplete, very sparse. it needs updating. as for having parts of it, maybe it is like aspergers in that some folk have the traits, others have more. just a thought.

This seems like a bogus condition to me. I can't find the syndrome listed in any medical source. Any other source seems to describe it in a mythical manner.

how can you be so sure of something you have not experienced? let it happen to you and i am sure you would not so brusquely dismiss us as a bunch of fakers. for you to say "bogus condition" is callous and tonedeaf. learn some tact, man. there is nobody superior under god, believe it or not. and don't just spit-out a bunch of medical data to silence us all with arguments of authority either. as i said originally, there is not much written about this condition but that doesn't take anything away from those of us who FEEL it inside. we are NOT imagining this!

i should not be feeding you-know-who.