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Home , Cotard delusion, Delusion, Fregoli delusion

Personality Disturbance Gathering, nr.36 (Mostly-Shakespeare Edition) (key to possible disturbances)

Every person may be used only once, except for a single condition which will apply to three characters; there is also one condition which is not represented at the party.

1. – An adjustment disorder is characterized by the development of emotional or behavioral symptoms in response to an identifiable stressor occurring within 3 months of the onset of the stressor.

2. Apotemnophilia / Body Integrity Identity Disorder – A neurological disorder in which otherwise sane and rational individuals express a strong and specific desire for the amputation of a healthy limb or limbs

3. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder / ADHD – ADHD is a problem with inattentiveness, over- activity, impulsivity, or a combination of these. For these problems to be diagnosed as ADHD, they must be out of the normal range for the child's age and development.

4. Avoidant – Characterized by a pervasive pattern of social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, extreme sensitivity to negative evaluation, and avoidance of social interaction.

5. Cotard / Cotard’s – a rare neuropsychiatric disorder in which people hold a delusional belief that they are dead (either figuratively or literally), do not exist, are putrefying, or have lost their blood or internal organs. In rare instances, it can include of .

6. Cyclothymic disorder – A mild form of Bipolar, it is characterized by swings from mild or moderate to euphoria and excitement, but the patient stays connected to reality.

7. Grandiose Type / – a delusion of having some special relationship with a deity, such as receiving messages from God or being an agent of God. The phenomenon is when a person who seems previously balanced and devoid of any signs of becomes psychotic after arriving in Jerusalem. (The religious focus of the syndrome distinguishes it from other phenomena)

8. Delusional Misidentification Syndrome / – A rare disorder in which a person holds a delusional belief that an acquaintance, usually a spouse or other close family member, has been replaced by an identical looking impostor.

9. Delusional Misidentification Syndrome / – A delusional belief that different people are in fact a single person who changes appearance or is in disguise. The syndrome is often of a paranoid nature with the delusional person believing themselves persecuted by the person they believe is in disguise. The belief that seemingly different people seen at different times are in fact one person in disguise

10. Delusional Misidentification Syndrome / – The belief that people in the environment swap identities with each other whilst maintaining the same appearance.

11. Delusional Misidentification Syndrome – A person believes there is a doppelganger or double of him/her carrying out independent actions. Depersonalization is a symptom.

12. – Falsely believing they are infested with parasites; may experience a hallucinatory crawling sensation on the skin that they attribute to the presence of insects, mites, or other vermin.

13. – Impairment in short and long-term

14. Dependant Personality Disorder – Characterized by the surrender of responsibility to other people. Affected people may submit to others to gain and maintain support.

15. Dermatillomania – an impulse control disorder and form of self-injury characterized by the repeated urge to pick at one's own skin, often to the extent that damage is caused.

16. Eisoptropbibia – A of mirrors

17. Grooming Patterns – saying or doing things designed to make another person feel well of them.

18. Intermittent Explosive Disorder – Characterized by extreme expressions of anger, often to the point of uncontrollable rage, which are disproportionate to the situation at hand.

19. Neurotic Indecisiveness – Characterized by a pattern of indecisiveness

20. Neurotic Trait / – Characterized by a pattern of anxiety, including anxiety attacks

21. Neurotic Trait / Depression – Characterized by , difficulty concentrating, and general apathy.

22. Neurotic Trait / Midlife Crisis – Characterized by a sense of worry and second-guessing the direction ones life has gone in. Often occurs in middle life, (40s) but may happen earlier.

23. Neurotic Trait / Mind Control – refers to a process in which a group or individual "systematically uses unethically manipulative methods to persuade others to conform to the wishes of the manipulator(s), often to the detriment of the person being manipulated".

24. Neurotic Trait / – Falling or staying asleep at odd times, or sleeping walking. This may include interacting with others while in a state of sleep.

25. Objectophilia – A pronounced emotional desire towards particular inanimate objects. Those individuals with this expressed preference may feel strong feelings of attraction, love and commitment to certain items or structures of their fixation. For some, close emotional relationships with humans are incomprehensible.

26. Oppositional Defiant Disorder – An ongoing pattern of disobedient, hostile and defiant behavior toward authority figures which goes beyond the bounds of normal behavior.

27. Pediophobia – An irrational fear of dolls

28. Picks Disease / – Characterized by changes in character, socially inappropriate behavior, and poor decision making, progressing to a severe impairment in intellect, memory and speech. (Pick's disease tends to shrink the of the brain.)

29. Psychotic Delusions (unspecified) – Characterized by delusions or which do not appear connected to other preexisting conditions.

30. Reduplicative Paramnesia – The delusional belief that a place or location has been duplicated, existing in two or more places simultaneously, or that it has been ‘relocated’ to another site.

31. – Schizoaffective Disorder combines the symptoms of and a ( or depression). Schizoaffective disorder is considered when a psychotic patient also demonstrates mood symptoms.

32. Separation – Recurrent excessive distress when separation from home or major attachment figures occurs or is anticipated

33. Stendhal Syndrome / Hyperkulturemia / Florence Syndrome – A psychosomatic illness that causes rapid heartbeat, , fainting, and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to art, usually when the art is particularly beautiful or a large amount of art is in a single place.

34. Voyager Syndrome – Characterized by a number of psychiatric symptoms such as acute delusional states, hallucinations, feelings of persecution, , depersonalization, anxiety, etc. It is basically a severe form of culture shock, as tourists who expect an idyllic view of a city are confronted with the reality of a modern, busy metropolis. Name: ______Period: ______Date: ______

Personality Disturbance Gathering, nr.36

Please write the name of the person whom you think the condition best describes. All may be ascribed to only one person, and there is one condition which is not represented at the party.

1. Adjustment Disorder – 2. Apotemnophilia / Body Integrity Identity Disorder – 3. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder / ADHD –

4. Avoidant Personality Disorder – 5. / Cotard’s Syndrome – 6. Cyclothymic Disorder –

7. Delusional Disorder Grandiose Type / Jerusalem Syndrome – 8. Delusional Misidentification Syndrome / Capgras Delusion – 9. Delusional Misidentification Syndrome / Fregoli Delusion –

10. Delusional Misidentification Syndrome / Intermetamorphosis – 11. Delusional Misidentification Syndrome – 12. Delusional Parasitosis –

13. Dementia – 14. Dependant Personality Disorder – 15. Dermatillomania –

16. Eisoptrophobia – 17. Grooming Patterns – 18. Intermittent Explosive Disorder –

19. Neurotic Indecisiveness – 20. Neurotic Trait / Anxiety – 21. Neurotic Trait / Depression –

22. Neurotic Trait / Midlife Crisis – 23. Neurotic Trait / Mind Control – 24. Neurotic Trait / Sleep Disorder –

25. Objectophilia – 26. Oppositional Defiant Disorder – 27. Pediophobia –

28. Picks Disease / Frontotemporal Dementia – 29. Psychotic Delusions (unspecified) 1 – 30. Psychotic Delusions (unspecified) 2 –

31. Psychotic Delusions (unspecified) 3 – 32. Reduplicative Paramnesia – 33. Schizoaffective Disorder –

34. Separation Anxiety Disorder – 35. Stendhal Syndrome / Hyperkulturemia / Florence Syndrome – 36. Voyager Syndrome –

Which three of these characters would you most like to meet?

Which three would you most like to avoid meeting?

Personality Disturbance Gathering, nr.36

ADRIANNA is having difficulty sleeping. She is physically tired, but once she lies down, while her body may suddenly feel rested she nevertheless can not actually go to sleep. She is apathetic, and her mind starts to race, reflecting on the philosophies of Nietzsche and Locke

BEATRICE feels that animals are spying on her. Anywhere she goes, they seem to be there, as if they know her destination before she does! Birds, cats, dogs, mosquito’s, even ants…they seem to be unavoidable. Once she tried to challenge one, confronting and demanding answers of it, but this seagull remained secretive. Yet BEATRICE knew from its grin that the animal was choosing to not disclose what it knows. While at times detached from the moment, she also experiences extreme mood swings

BERKELEY has been experiencing an odd array of emotions. He is engaged to a woman who ANASTASIJA believes that her husband is carrying their child, yet had been replaced by another man (who he finds himself stressed looks identical to him). She refuses to be with an undercurrent of with the impostor, locks her door at night, depression. While he has asked her sister for a gun to defend much to be happy for, he herself, and fought with the police when finds his thoughts attempts were made to hospitalize her. preoccupied by concerns She easily recognized other family and about the uncertainty of would misidentify her husband only. the future, such as how was very pronounced the life he has known will change. It is this unknown future which he finds disconcerting

CLARENCE was exhausted from a long day at work when he arrived at the gathering. Once there, he was unsure how long he wanted to stay until he see’s PHOEBE leaning against the siding, removed from the others. He approaches her. While she seems to be uncomfortable and of few words, he continues to direct shallow compliments toward her, hoping to get her to open up and laugh. He is taken by her beauty and perceives a hint of vulnerability in her. He is hoping to ask her out, but it having a tough time getting through the unsocial facade she is putting forth.

CLEOPATRA has been feeling awkward of late. She will look around anxiously, pondering whether she has seen before those who are around her. She suspects she is being stalked by someone who changes their appearance through disguises. There are just too many people on the streets who ‘look familiar’ to her. For instance, she thinks that ROMEO, SHYLOCK and BERKELEY (who she has not seen all at one time in one place) are, to her, the same person.

DAUPHINE feels that there is an exact copy of her somewhere who is the same in appearance but with different, possibly more nefarious (evil) personality characteristics and behaviors. COLVILLE often allows the needs of She has a conviction that this other people whom he depends on to doppelganger is trying to supersede their own. He lacks self- unsettle DAUPHINE’s life, confidence and feels intensely by trying to pass herself off inadequate about taking care of himself. as DAUPHINE to friends, He believes that others are more coworkers, advisors and even capable, and is reluctant to express to strangers. views for fear that the perspective will offend the people he needs.

EMILIA had relocated from Oregon to London and, unable to find employment, had become homeless. It was after three days in jail (having been arrested for trespassing) when her depression seemed to begin, in conjunction with an intense fever. In time, these symptoms became more general feelings of unreality and steadily grew into a sense that she was deceased. Her mom came and brought her to South Africa for a vacation. EMILIA was convinced she had been taken to hell (which was confirmed by the heat), and that she had died of the fever months earlier, or perhaps from AIDS (after she had read a story in The Oregonian about someone with AIDS who died from fever), or from an overdose of a small pox vaccination injection necessary prior to moving to England. At one point she thought she had "borrowed my mother's spirit to show me round hell". EMILIA expresses a profound sense of nihilism (ie, feeling there is no point of existence). EPONINE is not particularly FALSTAFF believes that the Raelians (a HAMLET is a very sociable religious, yet upon arriving in Israel religious cult) is out to get him. Anywhere person. A month ago he was for the first time – she shared with he goes, FALSTAFF feels that he is being hiking through the wilderness in her friends at the gathering – she felt spied upon, and when he looks certain the California Sierra-Nevada a particular presence, a feeling as people in the eyes, he “see’s the same soul Mountains when he started to feel though she was being pulled to the and identity”, believing they to be the an on his forearm. He didn’t holy sites. Going to Bethlehem, same person even though he is looking at think much of it at the time, but it Masada and Jerusalem, she felt an different bodies. “The Raelian emphasis persisted and strengthened. At overwhelming urge to remain there, on extraterrestrial technology has given work earlier in the day he felt as to pray and to repent for everything them the perfect cloak for their deceit!” he though the sensation were actually (even though she has lead a good exclaims. the ‘steps’ of microscopic life). She felt an intense closeness organisms crawling underneath his with a higher spirit. It was when skin. He jumped up from his desk seeing the architectural remains of at work and yelled in terror, old sites which promoted a feeling scratching at his arm with scissors. that she, her soul, was there, perhaps At the party his arm is bandaged, from a different time. These feelings but he still feels uneasy that his subsided about two weeks after her arm may have been infested with return to the States, buy nevertheless some parasite. left a powerful impression

HARCOURT has always been a bit forgetful, but during the summer a few years back his memory got worse. Sometimes he didn't remember a conversation from the previous day. He seemed distant; he stopped answering the phone. At first his girlfriend ROSALINE interpreted his behavior as signs of midlife . He had been working long hours at the computer firm. He experiences insomnia, difficulty concentrating and apathy. Anti-depressants proved ineffective. ROSALINE got more worried when her normally serious boyfriend had begun acting uncharacteristically "goofy." Once while talking to his niece he suddenly began dancing around the front lawn like a child. He often laughed at inappropriate things. He discounts comments about his behavior as . He kept repeating himself and had more difficulty focusing. His productivity had slipped dramatically at work, and at home his behavior remained especially odd.

HELENA is living with a sense revolving around fear. She has a pervasive worry about some harm befalling her family, particularly her older sister DAUPHINE. HELENA is terrified about the prospects of being lost or separated from her traveling group. Even the thought of being kidnapped is on her mind, as if it is equally plausible as getting lost. This fear of separation also manifests itself in her

A few days JULIET has long been after her interested in cheesy romance admission to novels and ‘true crime’ tv a Portland shows. In recent months she Hospital, has gotten interested in a HERMIONE rather eccentric group which could give has many odd beliefs, and details of the they have been accident (as communicating these related to her perspectives to her regularly by others), and persistently such as at she could their beach dances. She remember her joined this cult, which doctors’ worships anything claimed names and to be reality television. she could Their characters – from learn new Survivor, Real World, Lost, information and retain it. She exhibited, Jersey Shore, etc – reflect however, a distinct abnormality of orientation honesty the reality of the for place. That is, while she quickly learned way the world really is. This and remembered that he was at the Portland, makes her suspicious of all she insisted that the hospital was located in others in her real life which nearby Tualatin, her home town. Under close do not act in the same questioning, she acknowledged that Portland manner as those depicted was part of the city and admitted it would be through the television. strange for there to be two Portland Hospitals. Nonetheless, she insisted that she was presently hospitalized in a [nonexistent] branch of the LAVINIA has come to feel Portland Hospital located in Tualatin. At one discontented with her time she stated that the hospital was located in body. Her left arm has the spare bedroom of her house been pitted with the scars of childhood chicken pox and there are times when it seems as though it is a foreign entity, as if it is not a part of her. She has expressed that she actually contemplates removal of this otherwise healthy limb

Upon seeing someone drop a grape on the ground accidentally, LUCETTA explodes at him, unleashing all sorts of verbal lashings about how horrible a person he is. In her yelling, she occasionally references his “carelessness” and no one can get her to calm down

LUCIUS is under a tremendous amount of stress at work and due to his university studies, yet he finds that picking at his skin is a stress reliever and has even found emotional gratification (ie, he relaxes) when doing it. He strives to keep his actions hidden from others, but sometimes he has left work due to the emotional distress he feels it necessary to relieve.

MARTINA reached the rank of lieutenant in the military. She is a former champion in archery, propelled to success, she believes, by her love for “Lance”, a bow. She now claims to be married to “Eiffel” (as in, the Eiffel Tower), to which she pledged eternal love following a ceremony last summer with supportive friends in Paris. “There is a huge problem with being in love with a public monument,” she says with an air of melancholy. “The issue of intimacy – or rather lack of it – is forever present; that is, I can never just sit down and speak to my husband without other walking all over him, literally.”

N ERISSA is visiting France for the first time. She had an idealized image of the city, of what she expected everything to look like. Yet when she got off the plane she was immediately struck by a sense of unease. She struggled through the language barriers with anxiety. She came into contact with a French waiter who she thought was rude, but she was unable to argue back and instead forced to bottle up her frustrations. This leads to increasing mental anguish. NERISSA cannot reconcile between her of what she expected to find with the reality of the city of Paris. OCTAVIA enters the party Exhaustion makes it worse. NERISSA is the twin sister of MARTINA. but does not interact with anyone. She rather mechanically walked across the room. When OPHELIA spent a month PERCY says “hello”, she studying in Italy. Once she and mumbles a greeting. After her friends ventured into strolling past the food line, F lorence and explored all the a piece of cheese in hand, museums and other sites of she steps to the balcony Renaissance art. At one such and leans on its edge. Her site, she stepped in and was voice is low, and words awestruck by every aspect of its direct. Yet there seems to beauty; so overwhelmed by be no energy in her; she is image was she that she began to removed from the moment feel lightheaded and dizzy. She and setting in her fainted mannerisms.

PEMBROKE has found that his struggles from high school have continued into his college studies. He finds that his professors are not teaching fast enough to keep his attention, and he is often inclined to ask related-but-not- quite-on-the-topic questions. It is not that he is disinterested, only that he is easily distracted. When people speak to him directly, he seems to not be listening, as his eyes dart around the room rather than maintaining eye contact

OTHELLO turned the television one day long ago, and he randomly came across a channel which was showing the entire Indiana Jones series. A week afterwards while staying in a motel on a business trip he saw a Bible.

Suddenly, he came to believe that he must take on a quest to locate the Holy Grail. Now he is devoting his weekends to learning everything he can about the topic, from watching the Di Vinci Code to actually traveling to religious centers. PHOEBE had long He thinks he is seeing hidden PERCY is very stubborn. While all considered herself to be codes everywhere; in may seem ok on the surface at socially inept and personally newspapers and textbooks. times, he could suddenly and unappealing. She strives to Due to his “discoveries”, he abruptly shift to temper tantrums, avoid social interaction for thinks he is begin followed by stealing, bullying and vandalism. fear of being ridiculed, the church, and sees any He is very confrontational at these humiliated, rejected, or reference to religion as proof moments. When not in this frame disliked. She is preoccupied of this. As the December of mind, however, PERCY is with her own shortcomings. holidays roll around, he feels outwardly calm and civil. But one She has already shyly this is their psychological must be cautious of an rejected the approach of two warfare against him. emotionally-charged explosion young men – CLARENCE

and OTHELLO – at this party. In fact, she has a tendency to gravitate toward and form relationships with In the middle of conversation ROMEO people whom she feels will suddenly feels uneasy. His stomach feels accept her. Loss and upset, and a sudden dizziness, headache rejection are so painful that and shortness of breath cause him to sit she has chosen loneliness down to collect himself. As those rather than risking herself in symptoms subside, he is progressively a relationship irritable and has difficulty concentrating. He feels as though something horrible is about to happen, but he knows not what.

SHYLOCK has been steadily losing his memory. It has become so profound that his memory and intellectual impairment has affected his personality. What used to be a sharp, comprehensive to events has been cluttered as he presses his mind to recall common events, like his own birthday or the names of his siblings. Pita bread with Mediterranean humus, or tortilla Furthermore, his chips with cheese drip? ROSALINE has been judgment and ability to hovering over the snack table for over ten conduct abstract thinking minutes deliberating which to have. She’s are likewise affected. hungry, and has tasted both, but when it comes to choosing a particular one to put on her plate (taking both is not considered by her) she is left wavering, constantly changing her mind in spite of the unimportance of this choice. To her, it is indeed importance.

URSALA has had a good, stable life, wherein she has attended the University of Oregon and then moved to Canada for a job and quiet life on Victoria Island. Life is good, until, one day in her early-30s, she expressed anxiety and suddenly doubts the direction of her life. She feels it is passing her by. She abruptly quits her job and purchases a one-way ticket to Uzbekistan, whereupon she pursues archaeology and enjoys her time with the village youth. This new life is timeless and has returned her to a world of simplicity

When ORSINIO was young he, like many, was superstitious about breaking mirrors, thinking it would be the harbinger of seven years of bad luck. By the end of his teenage years, however, his have evolved to the point of where he would make every effort to avoid looking at mirrors. He fiercely believes that were he to do so, he would be put in contact with the spiritual world, a plain of existence which no mortal should ever come in contact with. Whether he would be pulled into this spiritual world or if something from it would pursue him in his world were possibilities which kept him up at night.

FANTINE in unable to go into any store which caters to children as well as into any department store which has life-like mannequins. When she looks at dolls and mannequins, she feels they are a false representation of sentient begins. While she understands this is an irrational fear, she nevertheless has nightmares of these things coming to life – everywhere at once all around the world – for the purpose of murdering and enslaving the human species. This thought is all-encompassing

MACDUFF is in the corner of the room, leaning casually with his left elbow against the wall and a Starbucks drink in his right hand, index finger extended to illustrate the point he is stressing. While mostly civil, at times his rhetoric becomes heated and his voice is raised. He is deep in conversation, debating the meaning of human existence and other pressing questions which plague humanity. He is talking to/with his reflection in a six-foot tall mirror

MACBETH believes that thoughts are bring inserted into or withdrawn from his consciousness, perhaps to be broadcast to other people. At times he hears hallucinatory voices which comment on his actions or tells him what to say, or even voices which have a conversation with one another (as though he is a passive auditory “onlooker”). His arrival at the party was not by choice, but rather because he felt he was being controlled by an external force