Skip navigation.
Home
Mon Mar 22 05:23:37 2010 | [Write for us] | [Subscribe to RSS] | [Advertise with us] [Editor's Blog]

To some psychiatric patients, life is a TV program

New York, November 25: Psychiatrists have said in a recent research that life indeed seems like a television program for the patients suffering from Truman syndrome. These patients are under a delusion that they are playing some part in a TV reality show.

To arrive at their finding, researchers studied the people suffering from Truman syndrome, a psychological disease in which patients believe that they live in a dreamy world where their actions, talks are carefully recorded in a camera and other people and some government agencies are watching their programs like the character in The Truman Show.

Dr. Joel Gold, director of psychiatrics at the Bellevue Hospital Center, has experienced five patients of Truman syndrome in the last two years. Many of them particularly mentioned The Truman Show, a 1998 film which was about a character who spent whole of his life on camera, though he did not know about the camera.

After this, Gold has found 50 more people who believe their lives are merely TV reality shows. Gold stated that some patients were feeling happy while others were deeply upset.

Dr. Gold said, “The question is really: Is this just a new twist on an old paranoid or grandiose delusion ... or is there sort of a perfect storm of the culture we're in, in which fame holds such high value?"

He said that delusions are basically sensory hallucinations. It is a psychological disease as well as neurological problem. But "Truman" delusions are more comprehensive, involving not just a few friends or relatives but society at large. This research has shown that culture and technology both can affect the people.

Dr. Joel Gold’s brother, Ian Gold, a philosophy and psychology professor at McGill University in Montreal, said that reality shows not only make healthy people delusional, "but, at the very least, it seems possible to me that people who would become ill are becoming ill quicker or in a different way."

Other researchers still think that "Truman syndrome" is a culture based delusion. Vaughan Bell, a psychologist affiliated with King's College, London said, “I don't think that popular culture causes delusions but I do think that it is only possible to fully understand delusions and psychosis in light of our wider culture."

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
 
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Glossary terms will be automatically marked with links to their descriptions. If there are certain phrases or sections of text that should be excluded from glossary marking and linking, use the special markup, [no-glossary] ... [/no-glossary]. Additionally, these HTML elements will not be scanned: a, abbr, acronym, code, pre.

More information about formatting options

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
For daily updates in your mailbox Subscribe for free via email, or grab our feed.
 

Swine Flu Updates

pregnant woman.jpg

According to the results of a new study, pregnant women infected with H1N1 virus are at a greater risk of succumbing to health complications than non-pregnant women having the condition.

User login

TheMedGuru on Facebook

Latest Classified Ads

 
I n   F o c u s
Being pregnant doesn’t inhibit you from leading a normal lifestyle, so why compromise on traveling during that period?
traveling during pregnancy.jpg

Traveling while you are pregnant has never been a hindrance. A few guidelines, couple of precautions, a quick medical advice from your practitioner, and you are set to go.

    Everyone faces embarrassing situations at some point of time. But some are particular to female gender only. Here's how to deal with those.
    embarrassing situations.jpg

    By applying some common sense and keeping in mind a few tips, you can save yourself from such embarrassments.

      A must read for all those women planning to get pregnant, here's how to ensure a healthy pregnancy and enjoy this very special time.
      healthy-preg.jpg

      So, you have decided to become pregnant. First of all, congratulations! The first-timers must realize that this is the most important time of their lives; and their babies'. The following guide helps you plan for a healthy pregnancy:

        R E S O U R C E S I N D US T R Y   N E W S M Y   H E A L T H

        Glossary

        Events & Conferences

        Healthcare Classifieds

        Hospitals Directory

        Forums