Truman Show Delusion: Is Reality TV Your Reality?
Shakespeare was right, "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players." But did the Bard of Avon know, 300 years ago, he'd be talking about the prying eye of reality TV?
Brace yourself for the mental health industry's diagnosis du jour -- "Truman Show Disorder," the creeping, pervasive feeling that your every move, inside your home and out, is being filmed without your knowledge for a reality TV show.
Joel and Ian Gold, two Canadian psychiatrists, say it’s the signature mental illness of the YouTube age, and they've treated at least five patients -- white men between the ages of 25 and 34, mostly college educated -- all of whom believed cameras were trailing them, recording their every move.
"Typically, the Truman Show Delusion is a combination of paranoia, grandiosity and ideas of reference, which means that patients believe they are receiving signals specifically meant for them from a newscast or something like that." Dr. Joel Gold tells Canada's National Post.
For those of you who don't recall the 1998 sci-fi comedy, Jim Carrey starred as Truman Burbank, an affable suburbanite who slowly becomes aware that his every movement to voyeuristic viewers around the world.
Sadly, that movie probably couldn't be made today. It's no longer science fiction -- and it accurately describes at least half a dozen shows currently on the air.
Weird News Highlights
- Who Needs Limbs: Athlete with no arms and legs finishes Pittsburgh Triathlon (Minor Miracles);
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- Sheer Annoyance: 'Pantyhose Bandit' litters Mass. street with black, queen-sized pantyhose (Dumb Crime Du Jour);
- Menacing Mustard Motorist: Utah driver allegedly pulls gun on another driver and asks if he has any 'Grey Poupon' (Driving Weird News);
- Nude Unpatriotic Cowgirl: Peruvian model faces four years in jail for being photographed with no clothing riding the country's flag like a saddle (Nude News);
Photo © Paramount Pictures
Comments
Great…now they are setting the groundwork for a “reality show rage” defense. People don’t need to be paranoid about being on TV, since everybody is trying to get on one of these shows nowadays anyway
You think a shrink can get “Analyze This” delusion, and blame Billy Crystal for his or her miserable life?
Well, I know that Billy Crystal has made my life miserable whenever I have sat through one of his movies….
I experienced this in the summer of 2007 when i
had ran out of xanax. I went for a month w/out
the medication… & slowly the television began to speak to me personally, actually threaten me
and it’s actually like like the part of the film when he finds out and freaks!!! But, no one can help you b/c they are against you in the fist place, when you are in such deep psychosiss. It’s well hinted about since the banning of QUALUDES (methaquoalone). Bottom line sheep!! These pills were created to aid in just this kind of disorder or intrusion??
W/ the 1960’s they accused the radio of hyptnotism, now we blame the t.v. Except now they have the means, the power & technology to do so. i.e satalitte, gps, telephones. My only question is why the DR’s are so cruel in treating this affliction?? Or why is billy crystal being paid to make 4 maybee 10 copies
out to harrass the insane, or (non consumers). Oh, well im back on xanax and steven colbert is no longer an asshole, cause for 3 weeks he was?? Do you?? t.v is normal life is normal, as long as i have my medicine.
people need to quit thinking that is all about self centered people who think the world revolves around them.. it has nothing to do with tv, usually the person believes a melevolent deity has thrust a reality upon them.Where a persong doubts his or her own famly or any genuine emotions anyone feels for the said person.
Andy Warhol said 40 years ago that in the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes. Thanks to the video camera, decades later, we barely have 15 minutes of privacy.
Hello!,
when things happen that shouldn’t happen (Aren’t possible and are completely evil) it makes you believe this world is probably a nightmare full of lies and illusions.
rene descartes (”i think therefore i am”) questioned reality:
René Descartes hypothesizes the existence of an evil demon, a personification who is “as clever and deceitful as he is powerful, who has directed his entire effort to misleading me.” The evil demon presents a complete illusion of an external world, including other people, to Descartes’ senses, where in fact there is no such external world in existence. The evil genius also presents to Descartes’ senses a complete illusion of his own body, including all bodily sensations, where in fact Descartes has no body. Most Cartesian scholars opine that the evil demon is also omnipotent, and thus capable of altering mathematics and the fundamentals of logic.[1][2]
from wikipedia
when things happen that shouldn’t happen and everyone seems to be involved you begin to think this world is just a nightmare full of lies and illusions and everyone is a puppet being controlled by some evil god.
René Descartes hypothesizes the existence of an evil demon, a personification who is “as clever and deceitful as he is powerful, who has directed his entire effort to misleading me.” The evil demon presents a complete illusion of an external world, including other people, to Descartes’ senses, where in fact there is no such external world in existence. The evil genius also presents to Descartes’ senses a complete illusion of his own body, including all bodily sensations, where in fact Descartes has no body. Most Cartesian scholars opine that the evil demon is also omnipotent, and thus capable of altering mathematics and the fundamentals of logic.[1][2]
rene descartes (”i think therefore i am”)
when things happen that shouldn’t happen and everyone seems to be involved you begin to think this world is just a nightmare full of lies and illusions and everyone is a puppet being controlled by some evil god.
René Descartes hypothesizes the existence of an evil demon, a personification who is “as clever and deceitful as he is powerful, who has directed his entire effort to misleading me.” The evil demon presents a complete illusion of an external world, including other people, to Descartes’ senses, where in fact there is no such external world in existence.
rene descartes (”i think therefore i am”)
What you know about being watch through your own eyes Like the camera your eyes?