stendhal syndrome is basically when art hits a little too hard.
the name comes from the writer stendhal, who described feeling overwhelmed, dizzy and physically affected by the art and beauty of florence in 1817.
more than a century later, a psychiatrist in florence noticed similar reactions in tourists visiting museums and started calling it stendhal syndrome.
it’s not an officially recognized psychiatric diagnosis, but the idea is fascinating: sometimes beauty can apparently overwhelm us enough that the body reacts too.
what does stendhal syndrome mean to you?
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