AZ: Losing It
 

Hey folks, I'm just looking for a bit of help diagnosing one of my characters in a story I'm writing. She suffers from difficulty or a complete inability to seperate fantasy from reality, is a compulsive liar, is often concerned that others around her know what she's thinking, and tends to feel as though mundane, random events are directed at her, ie: while waiting a longer than usual amount of time to cross a busy road, she begins to feel that all the cars whizzing by are doing it on purpose to make her late for work, etc.
The symptoms have always been present, but haven't been pronounced enough for anyone around her to take notice, aside from thinking she's a bit 'odd'. Now, however (in her early 20s) the symptoms have grown progressively worse, prompting her to visit a psychiatrist who eventually tells you "You seem to be suffering from-" And that's where I'm stuck because I've just realized I don't know.

Anyone have any ideas?

Re: AZ: Losing It
 

Are you making us do your clinicals? lol

Re: AZ: Losing It
 

Sounds like the character your describing could suffer from any number of things, nothing is that hard-fixed when it comes to psychology. I'd recommend reading through this Wikipedia article, it might help in some way http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychosis

The sections on Hallucinations, Delusions/Paranoia, Lack of Insight and Thought Disorder might be what you're looking for.

Re: AZ: Losing It
 

Sounds to me like a combination of disorders.

Paranoid Schitzophrenia (Might work for thinks people know what she's thinking, random events directed at her)
Mythomania (Compulsive lying)
Not entirely sure what you'd call failing to separate fantasy from reality.

Re: AZ: Losing It
 

There was a man on the "Dr. Phil" show a short while back that had very similar symptoms to what you describe in your character. This particular man was described as "bipolar."
In his manic phase he was obsessed with Hollywood, heard voices, and couldn't distinguish fantasy from reality.

Re: AZ: Losing It
 

I used to tell my parents I was psychotic and they said "no, psychotic means someone who can't distinguish fantasy from reality"...
Hmmm, does that mean the Thermians from the Klaatu Nebula who need your help are psychotic? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...ies/tongue.gif

Re: AZ: Losing It
 

Bipolar disorder and schizophrenia would most likely fit your bill.

Bipolar is the new "buzzword" as many mental health specialists think that it is underdiagnosed. Most have a depressive phase - sadness, poor energy, suicidality, with or without intruding psychoses (voices, visions). Some have a manic phase (the "bi" in bipolar) - spending sprees, sexual promiscuity, poor judgement.

Schizophrenics have walled themselves off from the world in various ways. They don't interact with stimuli that others can see and hear. They have deeply intrusive thoughts/voices and visions. Schizophrenics are more often born in the winter months, and have their first psychotic break in their late adolescence (late high school or college age) and are typically quite intelligent.

Suicide rates for both problems are much higher than the general population.

Re: AZ: Losing It
 

I think bipolar is being overdiagnosed, personally. The way some of these doctors talk at times, they make it sound like anyone who had a bad relationship is mentally disturbed.

That doesn't mean there are genuine cases, I just think more time should be spent on geniune patients and not making sure one has enough new clients to make put down for a new boat.

Re: AZ: Losing It
 

Isn't it a little odd that those who suffer those sorts of disorders tend to be more intelligent than average? I know it's true, just a little strange.

Re: AZ: Losing It
 

From Personal Experience I wouldn't exactly say that was true http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...ies/tongue.gif

Generally speaking though it does have some ground. It might interest you to know that one of Albert Einstein's sons, Eduard, was institutionalised for Schizophrenia.

Re: AZ: Losing It
 

"You seem to be suffering the effects of a Khan worm infestation", Dr. Katz sighed.
"Really?" Sally asked.
"Most definately," the doctor said as he scribbled notes furiously on his legal pad. "The good news is that we can contain the infestation." He looked up at her. "Unfortunately, we'll have to destroy you to do it," he smiled.

Re: AZ: Losing It
 

Sounds like plain old psychosis, actually. "Inability to separate fantasy from reality" is the short "layman's" definition of it. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

http://www.mental-health-today.com/a.../psychosis.htm

Psychosis - Understanding it

...

There are many psychotic symptoms, all of which can be described as disorders of perception (the way we experience or make sense of the world). People suffering from psychotic disorders can exhibit any or all of these at different times depending upon the exact nature of their illness.

...

Thought disorder means non-hallucinatory psychotic symptoms which have to do with problems in interpretation as well as understanding. This is not an exhaustive list by any means. However, here are some of the more common symptoms:

[Your character doesn't have all of the symptoms given in the list, but here are two that she does have...]
...

Thought broadcasting:

This is the opposite of thought insertion. Here sufferers believe that their thoughts are being broadcast to one or more others. This can be extremely distressing, particularly when the sufferer is thinking about past regrets or secrets. Even without such thoughts the lack of privacy they perceive is very difficult to come to terms with. Conversations become strained and often bewildering for others, especially if the sufferer believes they only have to ‘think’ their part of the interaction. A particularly interesting version of thought broadcasting, Gedenkenlautwerden, has sufferers believing their thoughts are openly ‘bouncing’ around the room for all to notice.

Ideas of reference:

Quite simply this means that sufferers believe innocuous things refer to them. For example the people on the television may be talking about or even to them personally. A bird settling in a tree or the fact that there were exactly three people on a passing bus may represent some incredibly complex fantasy which may be extremely threatening. Other people’s casual conversations take on a whole new significance and can be extremely frightening. This is one of the most common symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia although it can occur in other disorders too.

--

So, it sounds like your character's diagnosis is Schizophrenia. At least she's not seeing and hearing full-blown hallucinations. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif