Clinical lycanthropy

Clinical lycanthropy is a rare psychiatric syndrome that involves a delusion that the affected person can transform into, has transformed into, or is a non-human animal. Its name is associated with the mythical condition of lycanthropy, a supernatural affliction in which humans are said to physically shapeshift into wolves. Although lycanthropy is defined as transforming into a wolf, current-day researchers often use the term to refer to a broad range of transformations into animals. In earlier years, transforming into animals other than wolves was commonly described as zoanthropy.