This weekend my wife and I watched a very disappointing film which was primary set in Paris at Christmas time. The only thing that it had going for it was the romance of Paris all aglow with holiday lights. And even though we’ve both been to Paris many times, we oohed and ahhed at the glittering cinematic tourist version of the city and proclaimed a desire to return.

This set me thinking about the rarely mentioned Paris Syndrome. First reported in the nedia about 20 years ago, this syndrome primarily strikes first-time visitors and mainly tourists from Japan. Most cases are in visitors in their 20s and 30s. Paris Syndrome sufferers exhibit symptoms including distress, depression, paranoia, anxiety, delusions, and hallucinations.

It’s theorized that Paris Syndrome manifests more frequently in Japanese tourists due to an over-idealized view of the city in popular Japanese culture, which does not match the reality of the French capital. Other notions are that the language differences exacerbate communication problems. Or, that the syndrome is triggered by jet-lag due to the long flight time from Japan.

The frequency of Paris Syndrome in Japanese tourists is so significant that the Japanese Embassy in Paris maintains a 24-hour help-line for its affected citizens. Most of those afflicted improve after a few days, although some sufferers are returned to Japan for mental health treatment.