The Truman Show Delusion: Real or Imagined?
The Truman Show Delusion: Real or Imagined?
Though limited, their findings are creating a buzz in the media and the psychiatric community: Is it possible that reality TV is shaping delusions?
In an interview with WebMD, Joel Gold says, The Truman Show delusion encompasses a patients entire life. They believe their family, friends, and co-workers are all reading from scripts and their home, workplace, and hospital are all sets. They believe they are being filmed for the whole world to see.
Joel Gold, who is on the psychiatric faculty of New Yorks Bellevue Hospital and serves as a clinical assistant professional of psychiatry at New York University's School of Medicine, first began to see the symptoms dubbed Truman Show delusion in 2002 with patients at Bellevue Hospital. He initially treated five white male patients with middle-class upbringing and education, all who likened themselves to actors on reality TV shows. Three specifically referenced the movieTheTruman Show, giving rise to the disorders name.
Its important to state that Truman Show delusion is a symptom of psychosis, Joel Gold says. People who choose to be the center of attention, have concerns about social standing, or who may fear being in public eye or seek it out, may be more drawn to identify with this delusion. I dont think people are making it up or choosing it.
Both Golds are careful to say that the Truman Show delusion is not a new diagnosis, but rather, as Ian Gold says, a variance on known persecutory and grandiose delusions. Ian Gold, PhD, holds a Canada Research Chair in philosophy and psychiatry at McGill University in Montreal.
Although some psychologists scoff at the notion that cultural Zeitgeist can shape delusions, the phenomenon has precedence.
Joseph Weiner, MD, PhD, chief of consultation psychiatry at North Shore University Hospital/Manhasset and associate professor of clinical psychiatry and medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, weighed in via email about what he saw during his psychiatry residency.
I recall two patients in one week who stated that they were Elizabeth Taylor; in the 1940s, psychotic patients would express delusions about their brains being controlled by radio waves; now delusional patients commonly complain about implanted computer chips, Weiner says. Because reality shows are so visible, it is an area that a patient can easily incorporate into a delusional system. Such a person would believe they are constantly being videotaped, watched, and commented upon by a large TV audience.
via WebMD (Continue Reading)
