Druid Dementia

This is a Summer Camp article written AT GREAT SPEED! It has not yet been edited, so apologies for the copious typos and small text issues.

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Druid dementia is a degenerative condition that may affect druids in their later years, as well as other humanoids who frequently shape shift during their lifetime. The name is due to the fact it is most often seen in Druids.

Presentation

Druid dementia manifests during the sleep cycle of a sufferer. The patient - without their knowledge - transforms during their sleep into a creature. Anecdotally, patients have reported after an attack that they were dreaming of the target creature they became, or that they had last transformed into this creature before they slept.
Unlike a normal wild shape transformation, however, when a patient transforms during a druid dementia attack, they have no sapient control over their animal form. They become their most animalistic self - they hunt, mate, feed, socialise and travel without any higher-intelligent intention.
And attack of druid dementia usually ends around dawn, with the patient naked, and usually in nature. In rare cases, particularly in the early stages of dementia, the patient returns to their bedchamber as the attack is ending.

Possible outcomes

Due to the risky activies engaged in while in animal form during an attack, a patient may simply be killed by another animal. Especially if the patient transforms into a prey animal, their normal intelligence is significantly lowered and they are very vulnerable.
Another risk is that the change becomes permanent. In this case, the patient does not return to their humanoid form in the dawn. It is unclear what the threshhold is for this eventuality, but it has only been observed in advanced cases.

Risk Factors for developing druid dementia

To be at risk for druid dementia, a humanoid must have repeatedly wild shaped (or otherwise changed their form) during their lifetime. Patients are usually - though not always - advanced in years for their species.
For some reason, Halflings seem particularly resilient to this condition and Gnomes are especially susceptible.

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Treatment

Druid Dementia does have a treatment - silver. This silver must be untarnished and in constant contact with the sufferer's skin. This is not a cure, but does prevent accidental changes even during sleep.