[Risks of psychiatric decompensation in travel]

In the general consideration of travel-related illnesses, not much attention is given to mental health, while a significant proportion is due to psychiatric problems. Any trip is a source of stress that may trigger or worsen mental disorders ranging from culture shock to a pathogenic trip via the classic pathological trip: for a tourist seeking exotic adventure, young people in initiatory journey, an expatriate, a political refugee or an immigrant in search of better economic conditions, any traveler may stumble upon the traces of his own family history or of his home culture fantasy, and show symptoms at some stage along his path of psychological disorders. Indeed every culture identify appointed destinations where its members are seemingly more likely to falter: the roads to the east or the search for paradise lost for westerners (the Florence syndrome, the India syndrome or the island syndrome), those of the West (the Japanese in Paris syndrome), or places rich with mystical associations: Mecca for Muslims, Benares for Hindis, Jerusalem for the monotheistic religions. A return to the home country is mostly a necessary requirement for the subject to regain a footing in his culture.