[1] Its name is associated with the mythical condition of lycanthropy, a supernatural affliction in which humans are said to physically shapeshift into wolves.
The authors note that, although the condition seems to be an expression of psychosis, there is no specific diagnosis of mental or neurological illness associated with its behavioral consequences.
Canines are certainly not uncommon, although the experience of being transformed into other animals such as a hyena, cat, horse, bird, or tiger has been reported on more than one occasion.
It has also been associated with drug intoxication and withdrawal, cerebrovascular disease, traumatic brain injury, dementia, delirium, and seizures.
"[15] A 2009 study reported that, after the consumption of the drug MDMA (Ecstasy), a man displayed symptoms of paranoid psychosis by claiming that his relatives had changed into various animals such as a boar, a donkey, and a horse.
[16] Catherine Clark Kroeger has written that several parts of the Bible refer to King Nebuchadnezzar's behavior in the book of Daniel 4 as being a manifestation of clinical lycanthropy.
[17] Neurologist Andrew J. Larner has written that the fate of Odysseus's crew due to the magic of Circe may be one of the earliest examples of clinical lycanthropy.
[20] Even King James VI and I in his 1597 treatise Daemonologie does not blame werewolf behaviour on delusions created by the Devil but "an excess of melancholy as the culprit which causes some men to believe that they are wolves and to 'counterfeit' the actions of these animals".
[22] On August 15, 2016, Martin County Florida Sheriff's Office deputies found a 19-year-old male on top of a bloodied 59-year-old man, gnawing on his face, eating pieces of flesh, and making growling sounds.
Inside the garage of the home on Southeast Kokomo Lane, just north of the Palm Beach County line, deputies found a 53-year-old woman, beaten, bloodied and unresponsive.
The patient was started on ziprasidone and his symptoms gradually responded and his animal-like behaviors eventually ceased altogether.
[25] A 25-year-old man was sent for treatment during a period of excessive hand-washing, irritable behavior, decreased sleep, and acting like a buffalo.