Syndromes

[Emil Miller]

Has anyone noticed the prevalence of syndromes in recent years? They have long been with us but, whereas words like 'kleptomania' and 'dipsomania' were usually dismissed by most people as 'thieving' and 'drunkenness', these days, syndromes are taken up and bandied about without question: so that Dr Krumpelberger, an undistinguished psychologist seeking to remove the prefix un-, suddenly announces that people who habitually pick their noses are suffering from Krumpelberger's syndrome and, before you know it, people are going around nodding sagely and extending sympathy to nose pickers of every description. Living as we do in an age of self-promotion, celebrities start turning up on talk shows picking their noses and newscasters start behaving in accordance with the latest syndrome.
A good example of this was 'bulimia', which was unknown to the multitude until Princess Diana, perhaps the greatest self-publicist of all, confessed to being a victim and started a frenzy of media activity about this amazing discovery. Women began popping up on television and radio all trying to get a corner on this wonderful new complaint but like, others of dubious origin, it appears to have bitten the dust.
The reason I mention it is because there is something called SAD ( seasonal adjustment disorder) which I'm sure I suffer from because I hate cold dark mornings and the rain and snow that are winter's downside. In these conditions, I tend to hibernate by spending as much time asleep as possible. If I awake early, I return to sleep mode with a minimum of nine hours or even longer.
As I have mentioned, it's down to Seasonal Adjustment Disorder but, then again, perhaps it's simply self-indulgence.

[Lokasenna]

Some people (emphasis on the word 'some') like to turn their vices into diseases - it makes them victims, and thus not responsible for their own negative behaviour...


...but, on the other end of the scale, there are plenty of people out there with justified medical conditions who are victimised by a society which does not percieve the disease and thus singles out those individuals for punishment.

Exactly how one negiotiates between the two extremes is, I suppose, a measure of one's own opinions on one's fellow human beings.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Yes, my favourite syndrome is ODD - Oppositional Defiant Disorder.

http://www.chess.com/livechess/game?id=677541428

Otherwise known as YKT - Your Kid is a Twat.

But referencing ODD, through the links there I have discovered:

CD. Conduct Disorder.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conduct_disorder

And from the Conduct Disorder page, APD, Antisocial Personality Disorder:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisocial_personality_disorder

Which, apparently, is not to be confused with:

Asociality, Antisocial behavior, Avoidant personality disorder, or Schizoid personality disorder.

And so on, linking to other 'sufferers' of similar disorders..

...

I can tell you that one of the biggest issues in UK schools today is ADHD or ADD, along with general BESD.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_deficit_hyperactivity_disorder
http://www.priorygroup.com/ebd-education_d2s9

Now I know there are some very genuine cases here with these particular issues, but some schools are registered SEN for ADHD and BESD running into 40-50% of all students. At one point, the school I worked for had this recorded close to 70% of all students...and this was a mainstream school. Though I'm sure that parents receiving government money for children who have ADHD has nothing to do with the figures at all.

But all of this doesn't even scratch the surface.

So yes, I am noticing an increase of disorders which also takes the blame nicely away from parental or any form of personal responsibility for your behaviour.

[Emil Miller]

Yes, my favourite syndrome is ODD - Oppositional Defiant Disorder.

http://www.chess.com/livechess/game?id=677541428

Otherwise known as YKT - Your Kid is a Twat.

But referencing ODD, through the links there I have discovered:

CD. Conduct Disorder.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conduct_disorder

And from the Conduct Disorder page, APD, Antisocial Personality Disorder:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisocial_personality_disorder

Which, apparently, is not to be confused with:

Asociality, Antisocial behavior, Avoidant personality disorder, or Schizoid personality disorder.

And so on, linking to other 'sufferers' of similar disorders..

...

I can tell you that one of the biggest issues in UK schools today is ADHD or ADD, along with general BESD.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_deficit_hyperactivity_disorder
http://www.priorygroup.com/ebd-education_d2s9

Now I know there are some very genuine cases here with these particular issues, but some schools are registered SEN for ADHD and BESD running into 40-50% of all students. At one point, the school I worked for had this recorded close to 70% of all students...and this was a mainstream school. Though I'm sure that parents receiving government money for children who have ADHD has nothing to do with the figures at all.

But all of this doesn't even scratch the surface.

So yes, I am noticing an increase of disorders which also takes the blame nicely away from parental or any form of personal responsibility for your behaviour.

Yep, give 'em a inch and they will take a mile. I think the answer to these 'syndromes' is ASRTE: A smack round the ear.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

A couple of my favorites:
"RLS" = restless leg syndrome Aka- where's the nearest water closet? I gotta go now!
"IBS" = irritable bowel syndrome Aka - "the jitters", the runs, too much of uncle Charlie's chilli, etc.

[claytonk983]

A group of symptoms that together indicate or characterize a disease, psychological disorder or other abnormal condition. In recent research, the term has been used outside medicine to refer to a arrangement of phenomena seen in association.

[Delta40]

Downs syndrome - aka boy did I sleep with my face squashed tightly between the pillows (I hope you're all enjoying the great laugh)

[The Atheist]

Has anyone noticed the prevalence of syndromes in recent years?

Yes. Unfortunately, some genius decided that the best people to decide what constitutes a mental illness were the people with the most vested in mental illnesses - psychologists.

Ergo, we end up with mythical norms that any deviation from is labelled as a disorder.

I realised some time ago that most people could easily fit at least some symptoms of ADHD: http://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/10-symptoms-adult-adhd



A good example of this was 'bulimia', which was unknown to the multitude until Princess Diana, perhaps the greatest self-publicist of all, confessed to being a victim and started a frenzy of media activity about this amazing discovery. Women began popping up on television and radio all trying to get a corner on this wonderful new complaint but like, others of dubious origin, it appears to have bitten the dust.

Bulimia may not have been known by the masses, but mostly because the sufferers kept it secret, in the way that anorexia never got to mainstream knowledge until the 1970s.

Diana raised awareness of the disorder due to her immense profile, but it should take no more than realisation that Gordon Brown was a sufferer to accept that it hasn't gone away.

As others have mentioned, the danger is that the bludgers take the help away from people who really need it.