The human mind is a powerful, beautiful, terrifying thing. It's capable of some incredible stuff when it's working exactly as expected, but when starts to do the unexpected, that's when things get really interesting. The mind is capable of fake pregnancies, feeling limbs you don't have, "seeing" from eyes that you no longer have (speaking from personal experience on that one) and so much more.
One Reddit user asked:
Psychologists/Psychiatrists of Reddit: What Was The Most Interesting Case You Have Seen Or Heard?
Here are some of the most interesting responses. Content may have been edited for clarity.
Water
I volunteered in a homeless crisis drop in centre which was full of people with mental health issues. The most interesting one was this women who had an obsession with water. I believe it was called Angelman Syndrome.
She was homeless because her condition made her unable to work and she was unable to stay in housing commissions because every house she had stayed at she had flooded. Meaning she would just plug up the sinks and let the water run. She would come in daily to wash her clothes and use the shower facilities but she would never dry herself or her cloths. She also came up to me one time and asked if I could fill up a container or bucket to take with her back her her camp site. Nice woman but a strange one.
Working For The Weekends
My Adult Psychopathology professor talked about the one and only case of genuine Disassociate Identity Disorder he'd ever encountered in his 35 year practice. A woman was a group home worker for kids with mental health issues, a christian, relatively conservative, and concerned that she was finding skimpy underwear in her closet and car.
Turned out her alternate personality was stripping.
Genital Mutilation
During my psych rotation in medical school, I had the pleasure of meeting a man who cut his own penis off. He was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder and Schizophrenia. It's rare for those two illnesses to be diagnosed together, and so in my limited psych experience, that was the most interesting case.
Celine Dion
One of my professors in undergrad told us a story about a client that he worked with who became convinced that Celine Dion owed him a million dollars, and tried to murder his brother the week after a Celine Dion concert (that neither of them attended) because he became convinced that his brother had met with Celine Dion and stolen the money. This is a fun field.
- Xaviira
Exploding Head Syndrome
I work in the mental health field. A woman I knew couldn't fall asleep naturally due to exploding head syndrome - a condition where you hear loud noises like explosions, bombs, loud thunder, a slamming door etc. in your head. So she drank heavily to get herself to blackout just for relief. She could be a real mean bugger, but who could blame her?
A decade without being able to get a decent night's rest? She was nearly continually suicidal because of it. Stayed alive because she loved her dog so darn much. Animals are amazing and we don't deserve them. Anyway, don't know how she's doing currently, but her body was starting to fail from the alcoholism, and likely the lack of quality rest.
Hurting Her Kids For Attention
Not psychologist. Social worker here who spent two years with a family as their support worker. I suspected munchausen by proxy as kids were constantly sick and she quite enjoyed the attention it got her. Trouble is, no one believed me - or should I say could do anything because all sicknesses had been diagnosed by doctors. She was constantly at doctors, so from a child protection perspective it was hard to find cause of neglect which would've then allowed an investigation and a mandatory psych evaluation. The most telling feature was that she thrived when she would tell me that her kids are sick. This weird, almost grinning/smirking face when she'd tell me that doctors told her her child is suffering from ... whatever it was. I always felt uneasy. In hindsight, I had to watch three kids suffer through so much medical intervention. Above I said they were diagnosed by doctor. This is because the children arrive with presenting issues, something that she was able to manipulate.
It all came to blows when her last child was born early and stayed in hospital for a bit. A month tops. Baby was tiny but healthy. No issues when she left. Next week baby has respiratory issues, allergies (like older sibling). This launched a report of concern. They investigated and interviewed oldest child (Age 6, adhd, speech impediment) The right questions were asked which ended with the kids being removed and put into an alternative family member's care. The kids went from weekly doctor visits to almost nothing. Child who was allergic to peanuts and dairy wasn't actually. Baby didn't suffer another respiratory issue. It was crazy how this is really uncharted territory. In my job you have to prove neglect or abuse before more action can be taken... But how do you do that when a mother takes her kids to the doctors? Hospital? Presenting your kids and telling an on-call doctor with no notes that your child has allergies they just have to note that and believe a mother because why would she lie about it right?
- Das0nzo
Was Any Of It True?
My "most interesting" case is actually one that just bothers me years later. In grad school I worked at a free clinic for homeless people. During my rotation there I started seeing this man who had recently gotten out of prison (13 years). He'd been convicted of drug crimes. Shortly after he'd being sent to prison his mother died and he was unable to attend her funeral. During the 13 years both his father and only sister also died. He reported extreme guilt over their deaths (particularly his mothers). Our early work was CBT-based and focused mainly on his guilt. His symptoms started to improve and he started going to church. Through the church he met a woman who allowed him to rent a room in her house. He got on food stamps and started cooking. He met a woman who he started dating. He found a job at a lumber yard and even did deliveries. He was doing much better. One day he gave me a business card from the lumber mill. He wrote his name on the back and told me that if I had any clients who were reliable, to give them the card and mention his name, that he'd get them a job there.
He stopped coming to sessions a couple weeks later. Eventually I gave his card to a client who was doing well and looking for work. The next week that client came in and told me that he'd called, but that the company had never heard of the guy. I decided to google him and found nothing, not even his arrest or sentencing. To this day I have no idea if anything he told me was true.
- Ayzmo
Werewolves
During a psych rotation in nursing school we got to go to a meeting where they talked about cases they needed help diagnosing. They were talking about a kid (12ish years old) who acted like a zombie or a wild animal. All of the sudden he would snap and bite people in the room, and growl and run around on all fours. I guess he bit his cousin and his cousin started acting like this too (same ish age).
I think he told the therapists that he had some big secret that was eating at him or causing stress at school (of course the joke passed around was "his secret is that he got bit by a zombie or a werewolf"). The therapists believe its something to do with sexuality, like his discovery of being gay. In any case, this kid was out of control, biting and scratching people.
Eventually the team sort of decided on a diagnosis of conversion disorder. Conversion disorder isnt super well understood, but they believe it is brought on by extreme stress in many cases. It can cause people to have pseudo-seizures, numbness, paralysis, weakness, etc. But having symptoms like this kid had is very weird and rare for this disorder. They think the cousin started doing the same thing for attention.
Aware He Was Suffering
My most interesting person was a young man probably around his early twenties who had schizophrenia and anger and violence problems. He was a candidate to go to one of the state run psychiatric hospitals. He was the type that would do things like self harm acts. My heart really broke for him because he would constantly say he would hurt himself because he didn't want to hurt another person from his anger or violence issues, he wanted to be in the facility to get help and be safe.
Not many people know what is going on with them is not normal or they try to act like nothing is wrong. But he was aware of his mental illness even though it was probably the most severe case I saw. His file was probably two inches thick that was just notes on his previous visits (this place used paper still not computers).
"I Don't Even Have A Favorite Color"
Background: My mother had graduated top of her class , she had always been an outstanding student and was a respiratory therapist. At the age of 35 she started drinking , she was a SEVERE alcoholic for the next ten years. In that time she developed Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome , also known as ''Wet Brain''. This presented itself in only what I can describe as seemingly possessed. She wouldn't eat for days , I often found her crawling on all fours through the kitchen opening cabinets in search for ANYTHING edible. She would wake up from a dead sleep and run into my bedroom with excitement and start yelling things like ''Happy Mother's day'' or ''Happy Birthday'' , it was neither of those days. Her sleep was inconsistent. Her entire personality changed , she lost memories , she became extremely selfish in a child like way.
She would experience these episodes which seemed to last all day , she described them as not being able to tell if the day was real or not. She had to stop going to therapy because she couldn't ever remember what was talked about last time which made her paranoid that people were lying to her or planting false memories in her head. This condition took away my mother. I came to terms with this about a year before she passed. She stared at me with a blank face , crying and said '' I don't even have a favorite color'' , she had just become a shell of someone I had loved.
H/T: Reddit
Everyone has their travel bucket list.
The list of places they absolutely must visit before they die.
There are those, however, who also have a rather different list of destinations.
The places that have no intention to visit.
Be it for safety concerns, language barriers, or simply that there's nothing at these places that calls to them, there are places some wouldn’t dream of spending the time and money to visit.
Redditor TrooperJohn was curious to hear which places were at the very bottom of the list of travel destinations for his fellow Redditors, leading them to ask:
"What is a popular tourist destination you have no interest in visiting?"
Oasis in the desert? No thank you.
"Dubai."
"Why and whats special about it?"
"Its a modern city in a desert."- Maximum_Calendar_791.
"Dubai."
"A fake city with fake people, no human rights, where the world's tallest buildings hide corruption and slavery in their shadows."
"It's like someone decided to take every problem of mankind and concentrate it in one spot."- PayNoNoticeOfMe.
"Dubai one i think it is ugly two I would die in two minutes of me being there I can't stand anything above 40 c°."- BookWormPerson.
One of the seven wonders is one too many for me.
"The pyramids. "
"Too many horror stories of Egypt."- Aemiom.
Landlocked.
"Not really a destination, but taking a cruise."- Shortbus_Playboy.
Mountains aren't really my thing.
"Everest."
"Just why."
"You use a bunch of money to get in there them come down."
"And trash your whole way there. It's literally a corner in the Earth insufferable for humans and we still made a way to go there to trash it."- ACLullaby.
It's in my own backyard... but still not interested.
"I have lived about 15km away from the Burj Khalifa ever since it was made."
"I could not care any less besides the occasional pointing out the 'shiny tall building' to my nieces.- legolosss.
The pictures are enough for me.
"Mount Rushmore."
"Friends who've made the journey to Mount Rushmore mostly say it was no big deal and not worth the effort or expense to travel there."- Back2Bach.
Hustle and Bustle? No thanks.
"Anything busy.'
"Whether it's cities, structures, I don't care."
"I'd rather go to a boring empty quiet place than a place full of people."- TheSmeep.
They're watching us.
"That creepy a** place in Japan with all the realistic dolls."
"No thank you."
Some dream of paying a visit to these places.
Others hope they never have to set foot there, and will choose to leave it to the other millions of tourists.
To each, their own.
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When it comes to electing a leader, the choice is an easy one if a potential candidate shares the same values as yours.
And while a candidate is fit to lead remains to be seen, we rely on our instinct to choose someone with whom we can relate.
But sometimes, our options are limited and we inevitably go with someone who is the lesser of two evils.
Curious to hear from strangers online about a hypothetical, Redditor Cashmeresquid2309 asked:
"Americans of Reddit, would you vote for an openly Atheist presidential candidate? Why or why not?"

Redditors were quick to point out the answer was a no-brainer.
We Already Know The Answer
"Asking Reddit if they'd vote for an atheist..."
"I feel like the answer would be obvious."
– sarahmagoo
Sci-Fi Analogy
"Americans of Reddit, would you vote for a Star Wars fan who heckin loves doggos?"
– WitnessChemical
For The Atheists In The Crowd
"Atheists of atheistville, would you vote for an open atheist?"
– nixcamic
Others weighed in with a range of opinions.
About 45
"What's funny is how many of them would probably say no, even though they voted for Trump and would do so again. Say whatever else you want about him, but I seriously can't understand how anyone could genuinely believe Trump is a Christian. He's so obviously faking it and is undoubtedly the most atheistic president we've ever had or are likely to have for a long time."
"This is a guy who's never even so much as read the Bible or attended church, who told a conservative radio host his favorite Bible verse was 'an eye for an eye', who told evangelical interviewers that he's never asked God for forgiveness because he's never done anything wrong, and who routinely commits all 7 deadly sins (pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth) without remorse."
– empfindsamkeit
From A Different Perspective
"Not an american but interestingly according to this survey on 1006 people from 2007, being atheist was the worst thing you could be as a candidate (of the things asked) with only 45 % of people saying they'd vote for one."
– ilovecatfish
An atheist candidate isn't necessarily a big strike.
Double Negative
"I wouldn’t not vote for someone just because they were atheist."
– HabitualEnthusiast
Credibility First
"This is it. If they’re running on platforms I support with a history to back up those campaign promises, I don’t care if they belong to the church of the flying spaghetti monster. They could literally be a member of the satanic temple and I, an actual practicing Christian, would give less shi*s than a constipated sloth."
"Edit: yes, I realize the Satanic Temple does not actually worship satan. I used it for that purpose. The Church of Satan has some…problematic views and I probably would not vote for someone who literally holds a platform of eugenics."
– Phoenix_of_Asclepius
Some view the role of religion in politics as important.
It Depends
"Religion can be relevant: I would have strong reservations about voting for a Scientologist, even if I agreed with the policies they proposed. I would have strong reservations voting for a member of an apocalyptic cult or, possibly worse, a follower of the (highly heretical) 'prosperity gospel,' which unfortunately includes more and more so-called 'evangelicals' — I didn't vote for George W. Bush, but it's not because he was an evangelical."
"It depends on the role: I'd probably be more flexible with a legislator than an executive (mayor, governor, president), as their character is IMO more important than for a legislator and their policy stances somewhat less important relative to a legislator."
"Satanic temple — well, that's just an organized group of atheists and humanists with an intentionally inflammatory choice of name. They're generally fine people."
– alyssasaccount
A Bad Rap
"The Satanic Temple is an excellent organization that every decent person should be able to respect. A Church of Satan member, not so much."
"There's a huge difference between them!"
– StarsEatArtBooks
And Redditor boganvegan said it best.
"Better an open atheist than a fake Christian."
It all boils down to trustworthiness. Without full transparency, how could anyone put their faith in a candidate who spews nothing but lies?
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Being home alone isn't always the most tranquil thing.
No one is there to help or protect you.
And things that go "bump" in the night... sometimes they do more than bump.
Redditor ag9910 wanted to hear about the times home felt like an unsafe place to be. They asked:
"What is the scariest, strangest, most unexplainable thing that has happened to you while home alone?"
I'm always freaked out when I'm home alone. Lights on. Yeah, my electric bill is high.
Dorothy?
"I dreamed the front door blew open at the exact time the house alarm went off... I hopped up and sure enough, the front door was open. No intruder."
fatowl
I See You
"Not home alone but only one in right side of the house. Went to my mom's bathroom to wash my hands and saw a pair of feet behind the half open door. Laughed and said 'very funny Ma, I see you.' then finished up and left. Bumped into my mother in the kitchen unpacking, nobody else was in the house. I'm glad whatever was behind the door didn't peek out."
SatanWithFur
“It’s Doug!”
"One night I had forgotten to lock my apartment door and woke up in the middle of the night. My bedroom door was about 2 feet from my front door, as you walked into the apartment. First a big dog ran by, then a person. Holy crap I was so scared and I screeched 'Who is it?!?!!'"
"A man said 'It’s Doug!' As I was thinking to myself, who the f**k is Doug, he said 'oh, crap.' He turned around to go back out the front door saying 'Sorry.' I asked 'Didn’t you have a dog with you?' He said 'Oh, yeah. Hey, c’mon!.' He left, his dog ran out after him and I locked my front door."
"Edit: glad you all thought this was funny, because I did too, once my heart quit trying to beat right out of my chest! The next day the girls at work thought I was crazy for not being upset, but eh, done is done. Peace!"
scarletohairy
Confused...
"My sister and I were home alone and we heard someone big running up the stairs. The stairs make lots of noise with slight pressure so when there’s someone big on them you can tell. I went out of my room to check but saw no one anywhere and my sister also came out of her room and she asked if that was me I said no and we both looked around to see if there was anyone but found no one in the whole house. We were confused and called our parents and just waited until they got back and that was that."
JtSudbury04
I See You
"I very clearly saw a guy walk into my room. But when I went after him there was nobody there. I checked in the closet, under my bed, everywhere one could hide in my room."
HighlyOffensive10
This is why home video surveillance is key.
"NO"
"My parents were on a road trip, just left, and I sat down at my desk. I thought 'Weekend alone by myself' and a voice yelled into my right ear 'NO' so loud it hurt."
Th4ab
Wild
"I managed to lock myself out of my house on my birthday during a tornado while trying to bring my cats to the basement for safety. I later found out that the tornado was approximately a couple miles or less from me at that exact time. The sky was green and it got weirdly calm and then I could hear what sounded like a train coming before I found an unlocked window to climb through. Wild times."
SilverGnarwhal
Saturday morning in the 80s...
"I wasn't home alone but I was awake by myself one Saturday morning in the 80s when I was around 7 or so. I believe my mom was the only one home because my dad went to the lake to go fishing that weekend, and I'm not sure where my older brothers were, maybe they went with him, idk."
"Anyways, my mom's sleeping in, and I'm in the living room by myself, watching Saturday morning cartoons and making a fort out of sheets and cushions. Something made me turn around and I saw my dad in his pajamas standing in the hallway entrance with his hands on his hips, looking the mess I was making and shaking his head."
"He then turned around and walked into my room, which was just off the hallway entrance. Dude. I didn't even look, I just booked it to my parents room and woke my mom up. I don't remember what happened after that, this was around 35 years ago. And yes, my dad was fine, nothing had happened to him."
smriversong
Get the Bat...
"I was at home by myself on a call with some friends when all of a sudden my dog begins to bark like crazy, which was odd since it was the middle of the night and he's usually sleep. I go downstairs to check on him and find him barking at our hall closet, terrified I grabbed my bat that I keep in my room just in case and open the door. There was nothing out of usual at first at then I look down and notice a familiar looking object at the bottom of the closet."
"It was my mom's necklace she had lost when I was 9, (i'm 15 now just to put in perspective how long it's been). I showed it to my mom at breakfast and she was just as shocked as I was. I still have no clue how it got there or how my dog knew it was in there, definitely one of the oddest occurrences of my life."
SomeRandomIdiot14
Meow
"Many years ago, I was 14 or so, my first night alone in the house when my parents were out. Lying on the living room floor reading, my cat sleeping next to me."
"Suddenly, cat wakes up, stares intently into the dark corner of the room behind me, hair on end, growls and then bolts out of the room and upstairs. I look behind me and see nothing, but follow cat upstairs and hide under the covers. Freaked me out."
LairdofWingHaven
Thank God for alarms. I hate being home alone.
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The human body is still such a mystery.
How much do we really know?
Not a lot apparently. We're learning more all the time.
And most of it is gross.
Redditor BathNo7713 wanted to discuss the ick factor of anatomy. So they asked:
"What is the most disturbing fact about the human body?"
The body freaks me out. But it's all I've got. So teach me some things.
Minutes...
"The fastest killing virus takes around 4 days to kill you. That would be Ebola. Your immune system can kill you in 15 minutes."
will477
'locked-in'
"If your brainstem (the part of the brain that mediates most motor control for all of the body) is damaged, you can get 'locked-in' syndrome. That means you're fully conscious and aware of your surroundings but unable to move or speak. The only muscles that remain unaffected in most people are the muscles that move they eyes and the eyelids."
"You're essentially trapped within your own body with your only way of communication being blinking or moving your eyes It can be caused by toxins, blockage of the basilar artery which is the main artery of the brainstem, or other brainstem damage."
4oodler
Explosions
"Some people suffer from Exploding Head Syndrome, which causes them to hear a loud bang when they wake up."
ToraMix19
"When I was younger I believe I experienced this a few times. Sounds I heard were: about a million people talking and laughing all at once, a train that irl would've been about a foot away from me based on the volume of the sound, and a door slamming loudly."
aliaisacreature
Pain
"Not sure if this is by design, but I totaled my car once, almost completely uninjured somehow. Then I looked down to my right hand which I remember jabbing into my dashboard at 55mph. Luckily (unluckily?) only my pinky took the blow. But instead of a floppy-udder full of bone-sand, my pinky was 0.5 inches long."
"Broke no bones, but instead perfectly stacked my phalanges, or finger bones, INTO my hand. This is fixed by a muscular Russian murse grabbing your pinky with both hands and pulling very hard. God I wish they gave me more lidocaine."
TelevisionOlympics
Functions
"If you have a surgery where they need to move your organs around they might not function for a day as the body assumes that they are dead."
tonythebutcher13
Move things around? You mean that's not fake when it happens on "Grey's Anatomy?"
"The only reason you are not aware of it is because the ambient noise kind of drowns it out because your ears focus on it. If you go to one of those super-silent rooms that absorb all sorts of sounds, it is a really weird way to reacquaint yourself with your body."
Black_Handkerchief
The Mouth
"Idk about the most disturbing but how bad human teeth are. We’d think it’s our sugary and processed diets these days that cause it, but even Otzi the iceman discovered in Italy was found to have terrible teeth, mouth diseases and cavities. It’s odd that even with the most basic of diets our teeth are so bad."
Dorianisconfused
In the bowels...
"I noticed this after my abdominal surgery. When I turned over in bed my guts seemed to fall from one side to the other. Mentioned to my doc and she confirmed it was my bowels rearranging themselves."
squatter_
"Apparently the doctor just throws your intestines back in there higgeldy-piggeldy because there isn't a correct way to pack them neatly."
LostDesigner9
A Quick Burst
"There are a vast number of ways that your body can malfunction and kill you with little or no warning. An aneurysm can go undetected until it bursts and kills you. Getting hit in the chest just the right way can stop your heart. You can encounter an allergen that never previously provoked an immune response that freaks out your body so badly that you die. You literally just never know if your body will just... die."
Unsolicited_Spiders
The body is such a conundrum. Sexy and gross all at once.
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