2024-05-06 16:00:44
Also called “pet hoarding”, Noah syndrome is a mental disorder characterized by the compulsive accumulation of pets. People suffering from this syndrome are unable to care for these animals and ensure their well-being. People live in isolation and in great psychological distress.
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The name of this syndrome refers to the Bible and the story of Noah’s ark. This mental illness manifests itself by pathologically accumulating a very large number of animals at home: dogs, cats, pigs, chickens and sometimes even horses. But people do not have the means to house them all, feed them, care for them or even ensure a satisfactory level of hygiene.
An obsessive dimension
In April 2024, a couple from Aubagne were sentenced to two years in prison for neglecting a number of animals. He lived in a property where more than a hundred cats and dogs were found living in deplorable conditions, some of these animals were found in a dying condition. In 2023, the police found no less than 120 severely malnourished cats, but also corpses, in an apartment in Nice. For psychologists, this accumulation is called Noah syndrome. If the owners of these animals initially have no desire to mistreat the animals they collect, they quickly find themselves overwhelmed and unable to care for them. Cases of mistreatment or involuntary abandonment are then inevitable.
Asked by The health magazinethe psychologist Samuel Mergui, explains that it is a “obsessive dimension in Noah syndrome” in Noah syndrome. However, he adds that the treatment of this syndrome is “particularly complicated by denial and their compulsive behavior linked to a deep anxiety about fragmentation“These people are also convinced that by welcoming these animals into their homes, they will be safer.
Deep trauma
As Diogenes syndrome, Noah syndrome is one of the “hoarding disorders” in DSM V, the reference manual of psychiatry. In the first case, the person accumulates useless or defective items. Common points? The motive for accumulation is never very clear. On the other hand, for specialists, this syndrome is often caused by deep trauma, such as the loss of a parent, divorce or dismissal. These are people who live in such deep need that they live in isolation. Accumulating animals will help fill a void or an emotional deficiency. The psychiatrist and researcher at the University of Nice-Côte d’Azur, Jérôme Palazzolo, interviewed by BFMTVbelieves that this syndrome “is necessarily linked to a pathology such as schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s or severe depression such as melancholic depression“.
This syndrome can lead to dramatic consequences for animal health, but also for the owner who lives surrounded by urine and faeces. Animal overpopulation can cause health problems, but also debt and impoverishment, exacerbating feelings of isolation.
Just like before people suffering from Diogenes syndrome, Patients are not aware of this pathology. They live in denial, not only of the harsh conditions for the animals, but also of the pathological nature of the hoarding. Often it is those around you or neighbors who sound the alarm and sound the alarm. To help a person suffering from Noah’s syndrome, it is wise to notify the municipality, which will take measures to seize the animals. It is also possible to contact associations that work for the protection and well-being of animals. As for the owner, he will be cared for by psychiatrists and may be prescribed cognitive and behavioral therapy.
Sabine BOUCHOUL for TF1 INFO
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