History
The syndrome is named after Jules Cotard (1840–1889), a French neurologist who first described the condition, which he called le délire de négation ("negation delirium"), in a lecture in Paris in 1880. He described the syndrome as having degrees of severity that range from mild to severe. Despair and self-loathing characterize a mild state. Severe state is characterized by intense delusions and chronic depression.
In this lecture, Cotard described a patient with the pseudonym of Mademoiselle X, who denied the existence of several parts of her body and her need to eat. Later she believed she was eternally damned and could no longer die a natural death. She later died of starvation.
Read more about this topic: Cotard Delusion
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