prometheus' blog

a new psychological disorder

 abuse

 The American Psychiatric Association has just issued a press release announcing a newly recognized psychosis.  There were signs of this rapidly spreading and mentally debilitating disease during the previous election cycle and it's sudden re-appearance has prompted the APA to add this psychotic disorder to  Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or DSM as it is commonly known.

PALIN DERANGEMENT SYNDROME (PDS)

PDS  is psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality". People suffering from PDS are said to be deranged.

People experiencing PDS may report hallucinations or delusional beliefs, and may exhibit personality changes and thought disorder. This may be accompanied by unusual or bizarre behavior, as well as difficulty with social interaction and impairment in carrying out the daily life activities.  The primary observable symptom is embitterment. Some psychiatrists are proposing PDS as a mental disorder because they believe there are people who have become so bitter they can barely function.

Indicators

1. The patient expresses an idea or belief with unusual persistence or force.
2. That idea appears to exert an undue influence on his or her life, and the way of life is often altered to an inexplicable extent.
3. The individual tends to be humorless and oversensitive, especially about the belief.
4. An attempt to contradict the belief is likely to arouse an inappropriately strong emotional reaction, often with irritability and hostility.
5. The patient is emotionally over-invested in the idea and it overwhelms other elements of his or her psyche.

Features

1. It is a primary disorder.
2. It is a stable disorder characterized by the presence of delusions to which the patient clings with extraordinary tenacity.
3. The illness is chronic and frequently lifelong.
4. The delusions are illogically constructed.
5. If disturbed behavior does occur, it is directly related to the delusional beliefs.
6. The individual experiences a heightened sense of self-reference and low self esteem.
7. Incessant ranting and raving in local internet forums

Psychiatric

Functional causes of PDS include the following:

• brain tumors
• drug abuse amphetamines, cocaine, alcohol among others
• brain damage
• schizophrenia
• bipolar disorder (manic depression)
• severe clinical depression
• severe psychosocial stress
• sleep deprivation
• some focal epileptic disorders especially if the temporal lobe is affected
• exposure to some traumatic event (publishing of a book that questions their views, a drop in a democrat president's approval ratings etc.)
• abrupt or over-rapid withdrawal from certain recreational or prescribed drugs
• Voting for Obama during the last election cycle
• voting as a democrat in any general election
• liberalism

Filed under: Health