26 Strange, Unbelievably Bizarre And Weird Mental Disorders
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They might sound like some Indie Rock band or the latest Japanese invention, but actually are rare, strange, bizarre and downright weird mental disorders and conditions. Some may sound familiar, others very few people even know exist. Here’s a compilation of some of the most strange and disturbing conditions of the human mind. 26 strange, bizarre and weird mental disorders:
Stendhal Syndrome – Shocked by beauty
We all like looking at beautiful things but for some people too much is just too much, mentally. Stendhal or Standhal’s Syndrome is a psychosomatic illness that can occur when an individuals is exposed to a large amount of beautiful art in a short space of time. The symptoms one would experience include: rapid heartbeat, dizziness, confusion and even hallucinations. It’s apparently quite common amongst tourists and seems to be triggered by famous works of art, areas of natural beauty, anything “breathtaking” and even whole cities of cultural/artistic or other importance. The Jerusalem Syndrome would be something most of us have never even heard about; it’s a phenomenon some people, regardless of religion, sex or race seem to experience when visiting the city. A mentally healthy person could suddenly become psychotic after arriving in Jerusalem. If you prefer to travel within Europe, how’s Paris sound? Beware of the Paris Syndrome though; it’s similar to the Jerusalem Syndrome but you’re safe, unless you’re Japanese. It looks like it affects primarily Japanese people working and vacationing in Paris.
Stockholm Syndrome – When being kidnapped isn’t so bad after all
Throughout the last several decades, there have always been reports about kidnap victims who, over time, become sympathetic and even loyal to their abductor. This condition is called Stockholm Syndrome and also appears in wife-beating, child abuse and rape cases. The victim will voluntarily comply. A few famous possible Stockholm Syndrome cases include: Patty Hearst, a millionaire heiress, who was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army. After two months in captivity, she actively took part in a robbery they were orchestrating. Shawn Hornbeck, who was snatched in 2002 at age 11 by Michael J. Devlin in Missouri and rescued in Jan, 2007, took Devlin’s name and despite having the chance to escape, Shawn Hornbeck did not seek the assistance of law enforcement.Natasha Kampush, an Austrian girl who was kidnapped in 1998 and held hostage by Wolfgang Priklopil for more than eight years until her escape in 2003. She was kept in a custom built basement “cell”, Priklopil would bring her books to educate herself and she later noted: “I spared myself many things, I did not start smoking or drinking and I did not hang out in bad company” and “I feel more and more sorry for him – he’s a poor soul”. Even though there were several indications that she suffered from Stockholm’s, she denied allegations and referred to her abductor as a criminal. Perhaps one of the most “famous” abductions happened in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2002 when 14 year old Elizabeth Smart was abducted from her bedroom and found alive and well 9 months later only 18 miles from her home. It appears that the girl was brainwashed while in captivity and may as well also suffered from Stockholm Syndrome.
Lima Syndrome – When kidnappers become attached
Lima Syndrome is pretty much the opposite of Stockholm Syndrome. The hostage taker becomes sympathetic and attached to the victim.
Triskaidekaphobia – Who’s scared of “13”?
What’s your lucky number? Maybe anything but the “13”? Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number “13”, while the fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia.The fear is deeply rooted in numerous cultural and religious believes, often referred to as “evil”. Tetraphobia is the fear of the number 4 in China, Japan, and Korea.
Alien Hand Syndrome aka Dr. Strangelove Syndrome
When your hand does what it wants… The alien hand syndrome is a neurological order in which one of the sufferer’s hands seems to take on a mind of its own. Having no control over “Alien hands”, they can perform complex acts such as undoing buttons, removing clothing, and manipulation of tools.
Foreign Accent Syndrome
It is a widespread belief that foreign accents will immediately make you more attractive to the opposite sex. But sometimes your average Macho with the foreign accent isn’t actually a foreigner or putting on an act to get laid: The Foreign Accent Syndrome is a rare condition following a head injury, trauma or stroke. This syndrome causes someone to speak their native language as if they had a foreign accent. Research has shown on that patients suffering from this condition, the brain’s speech center was affected and damaged.
Diogenes Syndrome
This mainly affects the elderly who live alone… Diogenes Syndrome is behavioral disorder characterized by extreme self-neglect, compulsive hoarding which sometimes includes animals and reclusive tendencies. From Wikipedia:
Diogenes syndrome is named after the alleged behaviour (not necessarily the ideals) of Diogenes of Sinope. Diogenes was never known to have hoarded items; he lived as an ascetic with only a robe and (for a time) a bowl.
Kleptomania
This isn’t very unusual anymore but I thought I’d include it anyway: Kleptomania is a disorder that compels people to steal things, from paper clips to toilet rolls. Basically anything and everything, things with little or no value whatsoever. Some aren’t even aware that what they are doing is theft until later.
Cotard or Cotard’s Syndroma aka The Living Dead
Out of all strange and bizarre mental conditions, I certainly wouldn’t want to suffer from this creepy one: Cotard’s Syndrome makes a sufferer believe that he or she is dead, non-existent, is putrefying or has lost his/her blood or internal organs. Rarely, it can include delusions of immortality. First described by neurologist Jules Cotard in 1880, it wasn’t until April 2007 when it finally received scientific legitimacy. 
Synesthesia
What sounds like the effects of mind altering drugs, is is a neurologically based phenomenon whereby the stimulation of one sense causes the automatic stimulation of another, resulting in the ability to taste shapes, see music ect… So for instance one could perceive the number “13” as the colour pink, or (2Girls1)Cup could taste like chocolate ice cream and “Islam” could smell like feces.
Capgras Delusion
This one is common in patients who suffer from Schizophrenia: Capgras Delusion is a rare disorder in which a person becomes convinced that (usually) a family member or spouse has been replaced by an identical looking imposter. One case demonstrates this (source: Wikipedia)
Mrs. D, a 74-year old married housewife, recently discharged from a local hospital after her first psychiatric admission, presented to our facility for a second opinion. At the time of her admission earlier in the year, she had received the diagnosis of atypical psychosis because of her belief that her husband had been replaced by another unrelated man. She refused to sleep with the impostor, locked her bedroom and door at night, asked her son for a gun, and finally fought with the police when attempts were made to hospitalise her. At times she believed her husband was her long deceased father. She easily recognized other family members and would misidentify her husband only
Fregoli Delusion
And on the opposite we have the Fregoli Delusion: A sufferer believes that different people are in fact a single person who changes appearance or is in disguise. The condition is named after the Italian actor Leopoldo Fregoli and was first reported in 1927 when a 27 year old woman became convinced that she was being persecuted by two actors whom she often went to see at the theatre. She believed that these people “pursued her closely, taking the form of people she knows or meets.â€
Bigorexia – Have you worked out lately?
Bigorexia is sometimes called reverse anorexia and is a disorder in which an individual becomes obsessed that they are not muscular enough. Symptoms include: constant checks in front of the mirror, becoming distressed if a gym session is missed, taking steroids and neglecting personal relationships / work.
Piblokto or Arctic Hysteria
Is a form of culture-specific disorder. A condition exclusively appearing in Inuit societies living within the arctic circle. Wikipedia says:
Symptoms can include intense “hysteria” (screaming, uncontrolled wild behaviour), depression, coprophagia, insensitivity to extreme cold and more. This condition is most often seen in dogs and Eskimo women.
(Not to be confused with PMS)
Reduplicative Paramnesia
It’s all a conspiracy: Reduplicative Paramnesia makes a person believe that a place or location has been duplicated, existing in two or more places simultaneously, or that it has been ‘relocated’ to another site. From Wikipedia: This patient had suffered a head injury after a fall in his home:
A few days after admission to the Neurobehavioural Center, orientation for time was intact, he could give details of the accident (as related to him by others), could remember his doctors’ names and could learn new information and retain it indefinitely. He exhibited, however, a distinct abnormality of orientation for place. While he quickly learned and remembered that he was at the Jamaica Plain Veterans Hospital (also known as the Boston Veterans Administration Hospital), he insisted that the hospital was located in Taunton, Massachusetts, his home town. Under close questioning, he acknowledged that Jamaica Plain was part of Boston and admitted it would be strange for there to be two Jamaica Plain Veterans Hospitals. Nonetheless, he insisted that he was presently hospitalised in a branch of the Jamaica Plain Veterans Hospital located in Taunton. At one time he stated that the hospital was located in the spare bedroom of his house.
Celebriphilia – Celebs watch out
This might be a bit too common to be classed as a mental disorder: Celebriphilia is is an abnormally intense desire to have a romantic and/or sexual relationship with a celebrity.
Bibliomania
What may be seen as educational collections, could very well be a an obsessive-compulsive disorder. Bibliomania is obsessively collecting books to the point where social and family relationships suffer or are damaged. A sufferer would also purchase multiple copies and editions of the very same book.
Munchausen Syndrome
Most people would know what this mental disorder is all about: the sufferer feigns, exaggerates, or creates symptoms of illnesses in himself or herself in order to gain attention, sympathy, and comfort from medical personnel. While we all have a tiny spark of “attention whore” in us, patients who suffer from Munchausen sometimes go to dangerous and extreme measures, like this horrifying story about Sarena Sherrard, who “injected fecal matter into her infant daughter to bring attention to herself.”
Androphobia – Fear of men
Androphobia is an abnormal and persistent fear of men, not to be confused with misandry, which is hate for men. Androphobia sufferers experience anxiety even though they know they know they may face no threat at all. Androphobia is one of infinite possible phobias, and as such can be traced back to a specific triggering event, usually a traumatic experience at an early age.
Trichotillomania
Is the urge to pull one’s hair out. Be it scalp hair,eyelashes, beard hair, nose hair, pubic hair, eyebrows or other body hair.
Exploding head syndrome
I imagine this syndrome to not being very pleasant: The person occasionally experience a tremendously loud noise as if from within his or her own head, usually described as an explosion or a roar. I wonder if this would be like migraine.
Paedophilia
One of the sickest and most disturbing mental disorders: Paedophilia involves sexual activity with a child, generally under age 13. The individual with paedophilia would most commonly be over 16 years of age and be at least five years older than the child. Personally I believe that convicted Paedophiles should not ever be released, I would not take the sometimes very low chance of rehabilitation. However, USA Today reported about a Paedophile who apparently “lost the urge” after having a brain tumor removed. This sparks the question whether or not an individual with a condition that could have caused them to become a Paedophile could be labelled a Paedophile? It is known that brain tumours can alter personality and behaviour.
Alice in Wonderland syndrome (AIWS) or Micropsia or Who shrunk my car?
This may sound familiar to drug users: AIWS or Micropsia is a condition in which a patient’s sense of time, space and body image are distorted. People may appear tiny or patients may feel that part of their body shape or size has been altered. A sufferer may perceive humans, parts of humans, animals, and inanimate objects as substantially smaller than in reality. Normal sized car may look like miniature models and your average size pet dog shrinks to the size of a mouse. Another name for the condition is Lilliput sight or Lilliputian hallucinations.
Apotemnophilia
Is quite disturbing: also known as Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID) or Amputee Identity Disorder is a mental disorder where a person experiences the overwhelming desire to amputate healthy limbs or other parts of their body. In extreme cases sufferers take it upon themselves to amputate their own limbs. BIID also applies to those who wish to alter their bodily integrity in general. Acrotomophilia is the sexual attraction to to other people who are already missing limbs. From Wikipedia:
In the BIID community, these people are referred to as ‘devotees’. However, there does seem to be some relationship between the two disorders, with some individuals exhibiting both conditions.
Hybristophilia
People with Hybristophilia are sexually aroused or attracted o people who have committed an outrage or crime. Fact:
Ian Huntley, the man charged with the Soham murders, gets bundles of fan mail every day. Meanwhile, more than 100 British women are engaged or married to men on death row in the US.
The Guardian published an interesting article on this subject. Link Why are women drawn to men behind bars?
The Jumping Frenchmen of Maine
This condition involves being extremely startled by an unexpected noise or sight. Patients with the disorder flail their arms, cry out and repeat words. First identified in some of Maine’s lumberjacks of French-Canadian origin, the odd reflex has been identified in other parts of the world, too. If you’re interested in mysterious, strange and bizarre disorders and illnesses, I recommend reading Nancy Butcher’s “The Strange Case Of The Walking Corpse”
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Site admin edit:
A great deal of attention has been drawn to the example of Synesthesia.
The article clearly states that the sufferer could relate Islam to the smell of feces, it does not state “Islam smells like feces”, as assumed by many people commenting. Religion in general could not be used in the example because the sufferer would not normally relate all religions to a single smell and/or relate different smells to different religions.
If in the example Christianity or Catholicism had been used it would also have been seen as offensive by the very same people who cannot understand the use of examples.
Some people have commented that they see the article as having a possible racist under tone, despite Islam being a religion, rather than a race. Some people placed their own link between Islam and brown skin, while there was absolutely no mention of skin colour in the example.
Some people wrongly assumed that the author of the article is male, while the writer of the article is in fact female. The assumption those people make could be seen as sexist.
Munchausen Syndrome is when a person dose things to themselves to gain attention Munchausen biproxy Syndrome is when someone dose something to someone else to gain attention. usually a mother making her child ill to get attention from doctors and making herself look like a “hero”
wow. this article mad me laugh. i liked all the crazy disorders. it was real interseting find. 🙂
in response to the alice in wonderland syndrome.
since i was a kid whenever ive gotten sick. ( not getting out of bed for anything sick) i would feel about the size of a mouse. the room would be massive. and i would hallucinate other stuff as well. what would cause this?
what about dermatillomania and coprophagia/pica?
i really liked this article im gonna use some of these disorders on my senior project. this is awesome
To Caleb: Often, when people have high temperatures and/or defficient immune systems, it sets off a chemical reaction to the brain, or the brain can simply be overworked, affecting depth perception, vision, subconscious mind, sense of reality, and sense of self, among other things.
Its often confused with the medication, but its really the fever causing these things. Its very common, actually.
thats so wierd wtf i did not know most of the stuff that was hear its so intresting! XD
I think I’ve learned of most of these before. They are all in movies.
how about the koro syndrome? It is a culturally specific disorder found in asia where they believe that their penis is shrinking and will go inside of their body and actually kill them
Although it is unbelievable that there are actually names given to these “disorders,” it is so much more unbelievable that some of them are considered a “mental illness”. “Oh no, she collects books shes a mad woman!” GIVE ME A BREAK.
Okay, these are great!
To bea: I agree with you, but they mean to the point of OCD, where the “collecting” consumes their life. If it weren’t that severe, I would have diagnosed myself eons ago. ; )
Anyway, some of these are freaky. Oh well, great! Thank you!
Thanks for your overtly racist comment comparing islam to feces because most people who practice the faith of islam are brown. While I am not of islamic faith, I still find this offensive and insensitive on your part. I came here out of curiosity for interesting diseases and you had to have that example in place. Shame on you. The least you could do is remove that example!
wow! i have like half of those lol!
i agree with jdog, i had to stop for a second when i read that comment of islam… was it really that necessary?
It’s best to remember something is considered a “disorder” once it starts to interrupt personal relationships and adversely affect/effect? the person’s life. Collecting books is fine, but when you start to cancel dates and ignore family over it, it’s a problem. Great post!
Islam smells like feces, it seems u urself have an ignorance illness that you need to have looked at too.. sheesh.. u’d think reading these articles would be open minded..
The article is about mental disorders and uses examples to discribe those disorders.
The article does not have a racist undertone, it uses a belief/religion as an example of the disorder, it does not single out Islam.
jdog, you’ve made a comment that you find this article racist, but you’ve described people who practice Islam as brown, to some people you would be a racist.
I too think that line about Islam is out of line. Of all the things to say it could smell like to people with that disorder… that’s uncalled for. Besides, it is different for everyone. One person with that particular form of Synesthesia may say it tastes like one thing, but to someone else who also interprets sound as taste, it could be like vanilla or grapes, or whatnot.
My point: that line needs to be changed. There’s no scientific or even logical reason to have it say: ““Islam†could smell like feces.”
Anyone ever head of a disorder wherein the idividual has a superior ability to remember every detail of an event/conversation but uses that information to manipulate other? I was told it was called “Polysign”, but I haven’t been able to find any information…?
Wowww…You ppl are way too observant it’s just an example.
Read the article and be happy that you’re getting answers,
rather than criticize everything somebody does.
Damn…I thought it was funny.
And Rose…What does whatnot smell, taste, sound, and feel like?
Because i think it smells kinda like feces, tastes like chocolate, and sounds like a burp and kinda feels like sandpaper to me :/
(sarcasm btw)
just thought i would ask :]
To the administrator:
Who cares what’s racist, you should not bring religion into this.
period.
if lets say you are christian, would you like it if somebody compared CHRISTIANITY or CATHOLOCISIm WITH ALCOHOL or WINE? because in our churches we drink wine and take communion?
that is pure ignorance.
and by the way, i have muslim neighbors and they are straight up light skin.
Couldn’t you find an inoffensive example? What’s your problem with Islam? After reading your example about Synesthesia using Islam, I stopped reading; and started to read the comments on this. As everybody can see, most of the comments here are about “that unfortunate line.” You should certainly change that inappropriate line.
With regards
Saney Skareem
From Turkiye.
there is a disorder where people are sexually drawn to machines. i forget what the disorder is called. its caused from a lack of certain emotions or somthing like that
okay to all those freakin people talking about the Islam dang thing..
I dont honestly know what it is and i dont care but it not being racist because it kinda like tourettes (not the syndrome)
but people that hae a tic or tourettes disorder can yell out (N****)
that racist but they cannot help it.
there problem is nouraligical.
i mean if someone with that disorder said that woiuld you tell them there racist or understand because they cannot help it she/he (sorry dont know) is just using a example.
i have tics and most people think im just doing it to get out of something or making faces or making fun of someone.
deal with it, it not intentional.
so shut up you dont like it leave.
I’m really surprised at how illiterate some people can be.
Please look in a dictionary for the word “Exampleâ€.
From the line “could smell like fecesâ€, please look in a dictionary for the word “Couldâ€.
If someone said “Islam smells like feces†it would be racist and would suggest that person suffers from the disorder that the article is about, but that is NOT WHAT IT SAYS, because it’s ABOUT THE DISORDER.
it sounds weird but i smell candles all the time like when we go shopping and walk past candles i will pick them up and smell them what condition is this?
I think some of you people are so damn sensitive!! Who cares what people think of you?? When I read that statement, I didn’t think that it meant people of Islam actually smell like feces!! Someone said they could have used another nationality. Well, then I am sure that nationality would have had their feelings hurt, too! Damn crybabies, all of you! Hey, lets just settle, ok??? They can change it to Polish people smell like Kielbasa and Feces, how’s that? Since I am polish, I will try not to take offense to it and complain like all these hypersensative whiners!!! Damn! Hey, is there a disorder for that??
The Islam line was attention seeking by the author of the piece. Maybe he thought he’d get more attention by being a little bit provocative. It was definitely gratuitous and certainly stopped me reading. It would have been the same if he’d said Christianity could taste like vomit. It’s not necessary and its childish.
You people have to realize that this isn’t something to laugh at. It may sound funny to you, but you have no idea what it’s like for the people who have these disorders.
I had a lot of respect for the person who wrote this article, it obviously seems like he has done more than his share of research on this and seems very intellectual, until I came across synesthesia mental disorder and his example of this disorder regarding Islam. Why would you put something that’s seemingly offensive?! ASSHOLE!
to lee: i agree with you completely, there is no reason to get up in arms about this.
to the rest: i was just wondering what the nationalities of all the people complaining are. i mean really, i have lived all over the world and the only people that i have ever met that get as up in arms as so many of these people have have been american. I AM JUST GIVING A LOOSE GENERALIZATION HERE. i understand that not all americans do so, but many do. i do realize that i just did what is being complained about (sort of, not really though) but you have to understand that i am speaking about the United States of America as a country and one people. in all of the other countries that i have lived, never have i been to a place that requires us to be so politically correct that we cannot even use a culture or religion as an example. only in america have i ever been told off for using an example of some other culture in class. in america, we cannot even joke with our friends (whom are aware that we don’t mean anything we are saying about their culture in an offensive or serious manner) without being scolded, because we may offend somebody. as a country, america is most likely to become offended or sue somebody. we all need to learn that not everything ever said that could have a negetive connotation is ment to be understood negatively.
If something I said can be interpreted two ways, and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, I meant the other one.
by the way, i would just like to say that i am fifteen years old, and if i can tell you that you are overreacting and not only completly blowing things out of proportion, as well as taking things out of context, but you are being baisically brainwashed by the media, you all need to grow up, and gain a better education and perpective of the world before you make comments such as you have.
All spelling errors are intentional and are there to show new and improved ways of spelling old words. Gramatical errors are due to too many English classes/teachers.
I don’t understand why people are being so sensitive about that “Islam smells like feces” sentence. You don’t know for sure if that was what he was trying to imply, and how is thinking that it is racist make you any different than the person who supposedly implied it? Besides, because it’s a disorder, it’s not like the person who’s suffering from it has the ability to control it, and if they smelled feces when they thought of Islam (or whatever), then does that mean they are a racist?
Hi
I think that weird line about Islam was so inappropriate and unnecessary – it confused me greatly, because the rest of the article was great. Don’t let ignorant personal views affect an article which should be neutral and enjoyable for everyone.
My boyfriend has synesthesia and apparently it’s actually quite common when people are younger, and it mostly wears off as they hit puberty. It makes him able to sight read music amazingly and have a perfect memory for music he learns. It also however means he can’t always watch black and white films because he finds them hard to engage with.
Ok, everybody calm down, the islam reference was clearly racist. How would you like it if (let’s say your name is Terry) I go on stage do a speech infront of all of terry’s friends and family and say “terry COULD smell like 3 day old poo.” Ok i did say COULD but still it is hurtful. GET IT? so the islam reference is clearly a dirty bad joke or a f’ed up persons narrow mind. you choose. But stop arguing ppl whatever you can’t censor the whole world your bound to hear this stuff everywhere, so live with it! wait… so who’s side am I on??
i have the disorder where i am sexually attracted to machines(robots) i want a sex bot!!!!!!!!!!
MENTAL ILLNESS is a myth. Psychiatry was made from the blood of innocent people, who the elite in soceity didnt want to have around, so they labeled them as having a “disease”. Did you know they stabbed hundereds of thousands of people through the eyesocket and into the brain as “treatment”? They created eugenics which is behind the Holocaust, it is meant to create a superior race. Psychiatry is nothing but lies and social control. They make anything into an “illness” that society doesnt agree with (such as homosexuality, which was an “illness” untill people protested, then suddenly it was no longer and illness. Millions of children are being drugged on brain damaging anti-psychotics and speed. Psychiatry is insane, not the hostages they call “patients”. Go to youtube and look up “Psychiatry: An Industry of Death” if you want to check it out for yourselves instead of just believing everything the elite tells you like stupid sheep lead to slaughter. I swear the public is so stupid, they believe anything someone in authority tells them!
This argument over the Islam comment just goes to point out how worried our society is about being politically incorrect. People have left comments laughing about serious mental disorders and yet one remark relating to religion and everyone gets so bloody uptight! The author meant no offense, get over it. And if anyone thinks I’m racist now for taking this view, talk to my nigerian mother, my polish father and my jewish best friend!
Enjoyed the article, really helpful with my research!
x
I also wanted to stop reading after that example where Islam is used, but i continued to see how further cheap and disgusting you can get. It is so clear that you did that intentionally. I mean, I am not a psychology student or anything, but I right away can give you a dozen examples that could be used in that place. You deliberatly wanted to say something bad about Islam. And some people here are stupid enough to make the author sound like naive. You are some anti-Islam Racist. This is the impression you managed to create on my mind. You have failed to create that scholarly image which you could have done through this article.
very distasteful and immature. was enjoying the list until that comment.
Oh my god. Are you jerks serious?! Racist and all that crap, give me a break. It’s an EXAMPLE and not meant to be taken seriously like that, and also mental disorders are NOT funny.
In case any of you ignorant people didn’t realize, they mean the word Islam smells like feces, not the place, nor the people. So stop calling it racist when it’s not. And mental disorders are NOT something to laugh at, since a lot of people have to deal with them every hour of everyday, and a many get riduculed for it, something they can’t help. It’s even worse for the people how aren’t diagnosed and have no idea why they act like they do and think they’re freaks. I’d like to see any of you go through one day of that torment.
christianity doesn’t smell like vomit! it smells like Bullshit!!!!
Oh no…………..I must have a shitty disorder too!!!!!
The author seems to rely on putting in an unnecessary, possibly offensive example to attract attention to the article rather than using skill to write it.
Poor guy. It’s only an example. Of course there were loads of examples he could’ve used. But he uses a provocative one and then people quote political correctness as some kind of excuse for his offensive comment.
I too found the ‘islam poo’ thing really offensive and totally unnecessary.
All my respect goes to those suffering, be it you personally or a family member. My hope is for quick medical advancement quickly to help all those in need.
@BellaRose: You are being extremely insensitive towards people who actually suffer from a mentaal illness. People with a mental illness have a chemical imbalance in the brain. I’m 14 and I have severe OCD and I am on medication for it. It has absolutely NO side effects. I was born with OCD and will die with OCD, so I am not ‘mentally ill’. I just have a brain condition. There’s a difference. I actually think that they should change the name ‘mental illness’ to a ‘brain condition’. People with OCD, for example, have a chemical imbalance of the neurotransmitter serotonin. Don’t believe me? Well, I got an MRI scan a while ago to confirm it, me along with 49 people my age diagnosed with OCD and 50 people my age not diagnosed with OCD. The results: all 50 of the 14-year-olds diagnosed with OCD had the same results, which was a chemical imbalance of serotonin and NONE of the other 50 showed the same results of the children with OCD. I suppose cancer and diabetes are myths too then? Psychology is NOT a myth. Educate yourself before making false assumptions. Sorry if I sounded rude, I just get really sensitive about things like this because my OCD has stopped me from doing so many things normal kids my age do.
HAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA……
I can’t beleive no-one noticed this but pedophillia is not a mental disorder, it’s a choice (and a sick one at that). It might occur as a RESULT of a mental disorder, EG, personality dissorder, but it is not one itself.
It was obvious that the “Islam smells like feces” statement was an example of a sound>taste synaesthesia. There is a well documented case of a synaesthete who tastes earwax everytime he hears the name Derick. Does that mean that Dr. Ramachandran is descriminatory to everyone named Derick since he documented this mans response? Of course not. In the same way the author of this page didn’t personally put any racist statements at all. Anyone who reads it as being one may themselves be making a racist link between Islam and feces. I read the description, and until getting to the comments, thought nothing of it. If he said that Mexico smells like feces he would have been making an observation… (For some reason Mexico-Mexicans don’t flush used toilet paper, they just throw it away… LMAO… really, its true. I think they have weak septic systems).
the comment is racist.
what’s MORE pathetic then the authors comment are the people arguing it was just ‘any’ random word and no disrespect as intended.
obvs disrespect was intended. common sense ppl! that’s part shouldn’t even be debated in the comments. the debate should be:
why cant the author grow some balls and stand behind his racist statement instead of backpedaling after the purposeful damage has been done?
god it makes me yearn for the 50s when ethnics knew exactly where they stood with the racist population, instead of now, these ignorant racists just pussyfooting behind the banner of PC’ness.
anyone who thinks his comment about feces and islam was made with no ill will needs to seriously re-evaluate the ‘reality’ they think they’ve been living in.
@ ShortR w/ your nigerian, polish, jewish friend having self: just stop. you are an embarassment to..well everyone. pleading your point as authority by waving ur multicultural card around only proves you are a dolt.
hey i’ve got ummm 3 black friends ( i keep a tally in my ‘in case i need cred’ book) and i’m half british so i can pretty much guarantee me calling you a little punk a#5 b1tc# is the absolute truth + fact.
i like this website totally helps me for my project in psychology class haha thank you
I love it how everybody’s whining about the islam crack when i thought the 2girls 1cup thing was far more offensive XD
And this article was pretty cool, Long Live The Author
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call me a troll, but: IF YOU WANT TO TALK CRAP ABOUT THIS ARTICLE, WRITE A BETTER ONE! If you are so offended by psychiatry,(BellaRose) then why the hell are you on this website? lemme guess: we never landed on the moon, cops are robots, you are the goddess of death, and Elvis Presley is a secret agent. Good job! look where the F*** our planet is headed!
I’m the owner of the site, not the author.
The acticle will not be altered or removed, I do not give in to demands from people who do not understand it correctly.
Islam has been used as an “example” because the “disorder” exists, the only racist undertone is the one created by the people commenting, who do not understand what “example” or “disorder” mean.
Religion had to be used because it is what the sufferer relates a smell to, using any religion would be offensive if it was not an “example” of a “disorder”.
The only hatred being spouted is in the comments.
Haha some of these made me laugh. and while the islam example was a little uncalled for i think that it was worth it to keep reading. i am not particularily offended by the comment you made but it might be in your best interest to take it down in the event that you will lose interested readers.
I enjoyed the entire article but the post on “”Islam smelling like feces”” was uncalled for. If a Muslim guy said “”Christianity smelled like feces”” it’d probably be on the news.
WTF move the frickin comment then! cant you see ppl are offended by it. just change it you racist ****** CHANGE THE EXAMPLE!
Hatred has already been sproulted by you comment with islam. and you frickin are offensive.next time be carefull what you write or dont write at all. honestly ppl need to show more sensitivity toward religions SHOWING respect.
I have already replied regarding this, but people did not understand it.
Islam is used as an “example” for a “disorder” and not written as a statement or fact, if you don’t understand what the words “example” and “disorder” mean, simply look them up in a dictionary.
If the “disorder” hadn’t existed, then the example would not exist either.
To John, if the article offended you so much, why did you place a link to your own sites in the comments?
You cannot take the high ground on someones website with foul language and demands that an article be altered.
To Mea, when disorders like this exist people should be free to write examples of how the disorder affects people. The example had to feature a religion, not religion in general, and in doing so would have offended anyone who could not see it as little more than an example.
To Francis, the article does not say Islam smells like feces, it says Islam could smell like feces and only relates to the sufferer of the disorder.
To RC, The article relates to a real life “disorder”.
i totally agree with u john. i cant believe it either.
people need 2 show more sensitivity otherwise whole groups of people will be disrespected. and those who dont care GET A LYFE becaome a human.
I liked this article for the most part, except for one thing.
The root word “pedo” means feet- so by saying “pedophile” you’re just saying a foot lover. The correct term is “paedo”, the root word meaning child. Hence, paedophile. (:
@Joe, it’s not a choice at all. Can you choose who you’re attracted to?
Okay, I read through all of the comments about the “racist remark”, and I have something to say about all of this:
I’m a 13-year-old Jew with synesthesia and dyslexia. Although I am conservative and go to temple every week, every time I hear th word “Jewish” or “Jew” it tastes/smells like I have glue in my mouth. Why does the word “Jewish” or “Jew” taste and smell like glue? I don’t know- people with synesthesia’s brains randomly connect a word with another sense.
That being said, I’m not saying that the author couldn’t have chosen a different word. But I’m also not saying that all of you are overreacting. What I’m trying to say to you is that for synesthesia sufferers ANY word in the world could make us smell/taste/feel something else. Even though I am a Jew, my brain still connects that word with a horrible taste.
ALSO- remember that in other countries, where people speak different languages, they still might have synesthesia and maybe the word for “water” in English may mean something else, and so maybe what words we think are racist may not be in other countries.
And for all of you who are saying that this is racist, although I can agree, I just hope that you realize that the point of showing examples was to educate what goes through the minds of someone with synesthesia, and you have to admit, none of us are perfect. We all accidentally say things that seemed good to us, but not appropriate to others. When I see people trashing a temple, I do get a bit mad and I can get a bit prejudiced against people. But really, since we can’t be pefect, why don’t we keep the hateful, mean comments to ourselves?
I didn’t write this for debate, sympathy, or for any other reason other than to educate more that what the article said. I hope that you learned a bit, and maybe will think of this all differently.
PS: English hasn’t always been my best subject (and being dyslexic doesn’t make it any better), but wouldn’t the remark be ‘prejudiced’, not ‘racist’? I’m not sure, but I think that a racist comment would be more straight toward the people. Prejudice is more toward the object/religion. But I don’t know.
I have Synesthesia, but it’s not really dramatic or anything. I can just list a colour for every single word, whether it has anything to do with colour or not. (For example, strawberry is obviously a red-pink colour, but 15 is blue, 6 is yellow, ect, ect.)
I do think the Islam comment was unnessecary, and a bit insulting to some people, but it shouldn’t be taken so harshly.
To BellaRose, until you have a disorder, or meet someone with one, you wil be ignorant, as you are, and think that they don’t exist. They are givin to people by doctors who depend on what you are tellng them, or observation. You could be lying, or acting strange for the attention. But most of the time, people become afraid of themselfs when they think they have a mental disorder and want help. Others don’t want to be seen as crazy, so they lie, and most likely get diagnosed with the wrong disorder because of their own secruity issues.
I was enjoying the informative list then i came upon the uncalled for comment and I no longer had the desire to read the rest of the list. It was there that I stopped reading. I don’t really care if this was a real example or not, it is still racist. That comment was not about synthesis or educating the masses it is about creating some drama. Admin I am sure that was not the only example of synthesis. What ever it is more than apparent that you are a racist.
PS. A better example would be that when one hears music they could see swirls of colour.
The Islam comment was most definitely uncalled for, out of all the things you could have compared feces to why did u have to choose Islam. You could have just said “religion could smell like feces.” Even if you didnt mean it as a poke at Islam, you would have to be completely dense not to know that people would be offended by the comment.
Well said Sophie…to administration, you sound a wee bit irritated, however, people do have a right to comment. I personally enjoyed the info. Thanks.
the comment on islam was deliberate and ‘hateful’
…and just to let you people know, Muhammad said, “cleaniness is half of faith” and which other religion teaches men & women to wash their naughty bits after peeing or shitting with water. Or that both men and women have to take a bath soon after intercourse…
hello 🙂
i loved this article. it was really awesome, what i did not like was the line about islam… haha, kidding :DD no, srsly, i’ve googled “top ten rare mental disorders” and all the lists i can find feature the same ~25 of them :> that’s a little sad, cause i thought maybe i could find some i didn’t already know.
i’m looking for a disorder that makes people who suffer from it drawn to death… i’m not even sure if it really exists, but it has to be somekind of strange alteration in the personality of a person. i think female lead character in “fight club” had it, the way she always went to those meetings for terminally ill people and that it made her feel alive…
about the islam example – i just have to say it :DD
i’m from europe, and god you americans are out of your mind! everything for you is politically incorrect! what the hell does that even mean? things aren’t just black and white… even if i said “islam smells like feces” what am i not allowed to have my own opinion? you think you live in a free country… but from the looks of it, you’re some kind of control freaks 😀 and i guess i’m being totally politically incorrect saying that right 😀 well good for me then 😛 cause in europe we would NEVER make so much fuss about a innocent little remark like that even if it didn’t say “example”. but since it does, where’s nothing even to argue about 😀
After reading the article and the comments, things started to become a bit tedious. This whole argument seems pointless. The Islam thing was an EXAMPLE. I assure you that the author was obviously not being racist. There are real people with this disorder, and what the author was trying to get across was that any word or number can be interpreted as another sense.
There was no need to pull that phrase out of context. As I said the author was just generally explaining, with examples, that this disorder causes them to taste color and smell sound and words, ect.
Im only 14, and even I found this racism thing to be extremely silly.
personaly i think people agreeing with the point thats its a racist fact about islam a very self obsorbed, he was just giving an example to how the symptoms affect the individual, and you make it out to be something worse than it is, if your so offended by this why dont you donate some money to charity to try combat mental illness’ so it wont happen again in the future
I was told that there is a disorder that causes the affected person to trivialize everything. Is it flauccihilipilification or something like that?
okay. so to all the people commenting about the rasist thing.. i think it’s time to grow up. i think most of the comments people are leaving about it are more rasist than what was said. i’m islamic and i’m not “brown” you could say that was rasist. why don’t y’all stop worrying about what other people say. if you’re so worried about rasism why don’t you start somewhere else. most of the people on here are just ignorant children looking for something to fight. if you truely feel that strongly about it you wouldn’t be on here crying about it, you would be out in the real world doing something about it.
When there’s a simple way to avoid an issue, especially one so potentially charged as an Islam-feces reference, it seems silly not to change the example in the first place. Not to do so distracts from the otherwise excellent summary of these conditions. I fully understand the example and was not put off by it. It just distracted me. I realize that feces could have been flowers. Maybe the author was inviting some controversy. Any publicity…
Okay about the Islam line… attack Islam I really don’t care as long as you attack Christianity and Judaism as well.
“brown skin”… Ya because all Muslims have brown skin right? (sarcasm)
Okay, you are all idiots. How could you be offended by that comment? How many of you making that comment are Islamic? I would have to bet it is a very small percentage. I know a large number of Islamic people, and I would assume they are smart enough to understand an example when they see one. I’m and Orthodox Christian. I would not be offended if your example had been that the diseased person may believe that “Christianity could smell like urine” or whatever else. The diseased person cannot control what their mind does – if they could it would not be a disease. I would have to believe that the people that are “offended” by this comment are ignorant. You are so fixated on that one EXAMPLE that you are avoiding the actual issue – the disease itself. Stop targeting people. It’s vexing.
Although, I must admit, knowing how idiotic the world can be, the author should have known that people would freak out about it.
As for the article, I found it to be informative and helpful. As a neuropsychology student, I am very interested in the inner-workings of the mind, and found these descriptions to be beneficial to my research. I would like to thank you for posting it for myself and others curious about the diseases of the world to peruse.
@Sofie
THANK YOU! Really I was getting tired of reading ‘racist’ every other comment.
Seriously? You’re crying over religion and because he wrote that islam smells like shit? Fuckin grow up. There’s always one dumbass that has to start shit over small nothings. Get over it.
Alright. If you’re one of the people who stopped reading after the so-called “racist example”, you missed out on an amazing article. I learned quite a bit, and will use this for my health project. 🙂
I think that most of you people need to reread the Islamic part. As stated above MULTIPLE TIMES, the author of the article said COULD.
As in, ‘This tape COULD smell like sushi.’ But it does not say the Islamic religion DOES smell like feces.
Did any of you realize that NO religion has a smell?
You people need to grow up and quit taking WORDS ON THE INTERNET so seriously and stop critisizing. I’m American and I found that the Islamic example wasn’t racist. If it would have said, “Americans COULD smell like Big Macs,” I would have laughed my ass off. Who cares if it’s offensive? It’s not MEANT to be offensive. Do you people *not* get that?
the comments give good examples of a few mental conditions.
very amusing
I agree; this article was really good and anyone with issues about the religious stuff are just being a.) sensitive and b.) pains in my ass. Obviously, you are here in the first place to read about the disorders, not critique and scour the article for things to complain about! I guess that was a bit hypocritic, but I was just getting really annoyed by some of these comments.
yes, we all know the fucking comment about Islam. now stfu about it and don’t drag racism, politics, and religion into this
ANYWAY, I think it’s sad how peoples’ minds can develop such beliefs as believing omeone was replaced. mental illness is very depressing 🙁 al though it is cool, it’s just sad how it effects people. BUT, this article was very ingteresting! I plan to take psychology in college as a side class. can’t wait!
Why do some people think the disorders are funny? They’re not! Imagine how horrible it would be if you had one of them.
This article was really informative, thanks for writing it. 🙂
You know how they say there is truth behind every joke?
I think there is a hit of your beliefs behind that Islam line.
I would’ve shared this article with my friends but i wont because of that idiotic sentence. As for the reason most people who complained were American line. Damn straight just because its on the internet doesn’t mean you can just spew out nonsense.
I have Alice in Wonderland Syndrome…
sharon morales,
The article is not a joke, it relates to real mental illnesses.
In regard to spewing nonsense, I will state once again that Islam is not a race, Muslims are not a race so complaints of racism are incorrect and untrue. 90% of people complaining of racism were American and displayed a huge misunderstanding of race, racism and the use of examples.
Yes, you are right, islam is not a race therfore the comment cannot be classified as racist. However, you know it’s inapropriate, so why did you write it? And why not change it, you fool?
Sonia,
I did not write it, I have repeatedly stated I am the administrator, not the writer of the article.
The article has not been changed because the disorder does exist and the word Islam is only used as an example.
If you’re having difficulties understanding what examples are please look in a dictionary.
It’s no use name calling when you completely fail to understand what you are reading.
i think yall need to chill because if they do they do i have it and i get music mixed up with colors and its not my fault i perosonally realate brown to the note G
imagine if a person would obtain all those weird disorders all at once! how would that look like?! an alien perhaps!
To the comment by BellaRose “Millions of children are being drugged on brain damaging anti-psychotics and speed.”
Ok, no doctor prescribes speed..and you sound very medieval in your knowledge of medical practices…this isn’t back then mmk? Now you let me know the day a doctor prescribes speed to a child and then we will talk. Also, what you are refering to is a lobotamy which doctors used to drill through the eye to perfrom surgery on the brain. Doctors have a much more sophisticated method of brain surgery these days. People also used to lock up mental patients in small, iron crates, but does that mean we do that today? No it does not..so next time do some research first.
To the author: very interesting article. I enjoyed reading about the fascinating disorders.
Really good article 🙂 found it very interesting and filled in my Saturday somewhat 🙂
Stopped reading the comments halfway threw though cos they were bringing me down /: so much hate… Some ppl need to take a chill pill.
why do ppl freak out when ppl say oh that black guy or something? Lol they ARE black, and you have not dissed them at all lol makes no sense!
Question. Is putting a phobia in this article on topic? Like phobias should have there own group xD though then again the symptoms of all phobias are simmilar right? Lol and unpleasent xD I have a phobia of ants O_O
anyway 🙂 like your comment on all the comments lol
good article! Keep up the good work! 😀
First, since everyone’s voiced their opinion on the Islam line, I will say this: I think a better example could have been used, if not only for clarity. Is the author saying THE WORD Islam, THE RELIGION Islam, or ISLAMIC PEOPLE /could/ smell like feces to the victim? Also, since it is clear that this is a bone of contention, the author/admin would be wise to remove/edit it, at least to improve traffic to the website. Isn’t that what you want? If you’ve upset such a large number of people, don’t you think you should remove the line to please the majority? Isn’t that a webmaster’s JOB?
Anyway, thanks for the article. Nost people commenting on the Islam line are missing something very important: this was an excellent article, Well-written and informative.
Please don’t think all Americans are ignorant. It just happens that the majority of the dumb ones team up to comment on everything. I saw no racist undertone and I rather liked the article. I must admit, I did read this article in a Britishy male accent. As rule 17 of the internet says, there are no girls on the internet, but I’m all for breaking the rules.
While all these are greatly interesting, the last bit about your justification to the comparison of Islam to feces is not very satisfactory and the comparison itself is very offensive.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a race, or a religion. You know it’s controversial and offensive, you could just remove it.
I was enjoying reading about all the disorders, and then that one example. It’s a religion like all others, you need to respect it and should really remove that example.
Alright, first, Paedophillia is misspelled, it is properly spelled Pedophillia. And research has gone into it, it isn’t a mental disorder, its just a paraphillia, a sexual attraction to something some people consider odd. Do a bit more research before you do these types of articles. As you have seen, alot of people have already been insulted by this article.
an example it maybe, but it is filppant, ungraious, unnecessary and clearly adds nothing to the article except controvesy and confusion
Anybody can post as “admin” can’t they?
I have exploding head syndrome, and it does not include migranes; it happens while I’m in stage one sleep, I’ll suddenly hear a loud noise such as fireworks or brass instruments playing a quick dissonant note. It lasts a few seconds, but startles me into full awakeness, and my heart races. It’s kinda like the auditory form of when you have the sensation of falling when you fall asleep too fast.
people, shut the hell up about the Islam thing. Who gives a crap.
I have Synesthesia, but it’s not like that. I have a rare type called Lexical-gustatory Synesthesia which is like tasting sounds.
I also used to have Capgras Delusion. I used to think my mom had been replaced by someone else because she never listened to me when I told her that I didn’t like my step dad, but I’m Schizophrenic, so that explains why (I don’t think that anymore luckily)
Here’s a weird one that I randomly know. Wendigo Psychosis.
Wendigo Psychosis is the uncontrollable urge to eat human flesh while fearing becoming a canible at the same time.
I thought it was absolutely fascinating, interesting and I just loved it 🙂
I myself have Synesthesia, however I’ve never considered it a disorder. I doesn’t have any negative affects on my everyday life. I’ve always thought of it as just an interesting quirk. My Synesthesia manifests in a different form than the examples given here though, there are several different forms. I have Number Form Synesthesia and Personification. Number Form, meaning I see a patterns and mental map of numbers when I think of them and Personification means that I interpret colors, numbers and letters as having different personalities. I can describe each letter, color, and number’s very distinct and different personality. Another odd aspect of Synesthesia is that I can ‘see’ music and certain names have different colors and patterns.
Oddly, my older sister also has this, but her’s differs from mine.
Fascinating, all of this is just fascinating. The mind is such a tricky thing.
Wow, some of these are really awkward, but the whole celebrity syndrome is so fake. Do you know how many little girls are drooling over people like Justin Bieber and Cody Simpson nowadays? (i know they are over rated LOL) Constantly wishing they were married to them.
Not much of a ‘disease’.
Ignorance is awry..I get it..the comment was hazy and on the line of prejudice. If you’re not Islamic then please proceed to keep your mouth shut about the issue because you were not offended other than for the fact that you like to be offended.
Anyway, the article was interesting and obviously well researched. Personally I am an editor and though there were a few less than professional wordings in the article and a slight few grammatical errors I would publish this due to its thorough nature.
Very interesting.
Hey I made out with a stuffed animal and have been feeling really bad.It was a Kermit the Frog.Does any body know what this is or was I only did it once.Sorry.Even though it was just a stuff animal Im sorry and didnt mean it.
There’s one big problem I see with this article: pedophilia. Pedophilia is sexual attraction towards children. HUGE difference between a pedophile and a child molester. Huge difference. Might want to make a note of that before calling pedophiles sick, because I’ve got some great friends who are pedophiles but would NEVER harm a child.
islam does smell like feces. That is why the women wear circus clothes, to distract attention from the odor. Mohammed married a whore twice his age, this is an undisputed fact.
I’m hungry. Biology class sucks.
I have exploding head syndrome. It is nothing like a migraine. It is just that you hear a really loud noise, like your ears are breaking and the sky has fallen down and nothing can ever make a noise ever again. It’s like the loudest noise you ever heard – a gunshot or an explosion or something really heavy falling down- then multiply it by a hundred and it’s kinda like that. But it’s there for such a short time, a second, half a second, a millisecond, like it never even happened and then you realize it didn’t happen. It’s so confusing. And it’s over and that’s it.
I also have synaesthesia. Like memories have smells and emotions have tastes and tastes have colours and stuff. But if I remembered eating strawberries, I wouldn’t smell strawberries I would smell some random smell I can’t describe. I like orange tasting foods best. And I used to play video games a lot, and when I played nintendogs I wouldn’t smell dogs I would get another random smell but I would always remember it and I could never smell it any other way. It’s cool.
And I have Alice in wonderland syndrome. In some cases, including mine, you can control how small things look. it really messes up your perspective.
I have another mental thing called derealisation. It’s when you often feel like your dreaming or things aren’t happening. Not the average ‘I’m so shocked I can’t believe this is happening’ thing or like when you are si tired your Luke half dreaming. This is like properly believing you’re dreaming without even thinking about whether you are you just accept that you are. But you’re not. Or like your somewhere else or you’re watching someone else be jn your body.
Interesting article ^__^
I really liked it.
And come on people. It’s an example. Let’s forget it and enjoy the awesome article provided for us. I loved the comment at one of them saying “not to be confused with PMS”
It cracked me up.
The guy who wrote this definitely has a sense of humor.
(btw I love how the 13 and 14 year old commenting on this are being more mature)
umm. this shit over that little ass example is fucking stupid. at first i thought the authors sentence was jumbled, then i realized that she was making a point to tell how extreme the disorder is. fuck this politically correct bullshit. if the author was your college professor that shit would still be in your notes to this day. the author isnt racist prejudice or even scared of islams. the author is an author. for that comment to stop you in your tracks is obsured.<that probably isnt spelled right, now im a racist. And none of you have even taken into effect that the author could be atheist or agnostic, both of which don't give a shit about your petty fucking religious bullshit. most of these idiots acting as if their so high and mighty probably agree with the West Borough Babtist church and stupid shit like that. HA!!!! you politically correct morons sicken me. this shit has been a big part of the downfall of american society over the last 20 years. Cant speak your mind, but you can watch South Park, Family Guy, comedians of all sorts, etc… this mentality of everybody having to conform to hat you believe is donright baffling to me. It doesn't matter what the author said you all would pick something to bitch about. The administrator could revise this page like this. "….and Harley Davidson motorcycles sound like a beautiful opera", and you fuckers would still think thats an insult to harley riders…idiots man! And yes I'm a White(oh I'm sorry, Caucasian) 18 year old from West Virginia. (:DOUCHEBAGS:)
Wow I never know I have Capgras delusion & Reduplicative Paramnesia. When I was a kid I always thought that my sister and my parents were cloned and anytime they would kill me.lol I thought it was just part of my over imaginative mind when as a child.
First, the person who wrote this, doesn’t even know what a “mental disorder” is. Half these things aren’t even disorders. Phobias, philias, and manias aren’t mental disorders.
Oh and to Insanelyawesomeandawesomelyinsane: Seriously, you don’t have all these disorders. Trust me. I’m pretty sure that if you had all these disorders, you would’ve gone mad.
It’s like me saying that I have Pica because I’ve eaten grass before. Or saying I have cutaneous porphiria because I got a heat rash from being in the sun too long.
I’m just saying.
People seriously!! Where is the freedom of speech???? If an Islamic person was reading this and got offended then i guess that is okay but for all you people who aren’t Islamic then you are just being stupid and while you claim that the author is wanting to create drama,in fact you are yourselves creating drama by commenting when it doesnt really have anything to do with you.
For those laughing, seriously hw old are you? Grow UP! It isnt funny, imagine what you would feel if you had a serious problem like these and people laughed at you?? Its horrible and really sad. And if you were the administrator of this website, trying to stop people from overreacting then yeah i am pretty sure they kind of have a right to get a little annoyed. Especially hen they have to repeat what they said because people arent listening.
So thank you admin, for trying to keep the peace, and thank you to the author who wrote an interesting piece that was helpful. Shame on you who laughed and on those who complained it was racist. As someone else said, Islam is not a race it is a religion so therefore not racist anyway. Please take your swearing and profanity somewhere else, because i personally find that offensive. Quit attacking the author, it was an example, and because you are too lazy to actually look up the definition i will include it here for you! ‘an instance serving for illustration’ or ‘a way of helping someone to understand something by showing them how it is used’ So the comment was used to help you understand not to make offense at anyone!
Very interesting! Im curious to know where the author did the research for this. I’m very fascinated by mental disorders and appreciated the wide variety of neurological maladies of which many, I’ve never heard of. Thanks for the interesting read!
Just thought I’d mention that the example you gave for Munchhausen Syndrome was actually Munchhausen By Proxy Syndrome. Very similar in a lot of ways, but it is also a form of child abuse.
Just as interesting though!
Also people should stop getting so upset by something that is on the internet. She didn’t say anything bad, she said a loose example of what islam COULD smell like.
Plus who cares whether she meant it bad or not? It’s her opinion. In my opinion the whole religion of Islam offends me. But I don’t pull people up on every little statement they make that i disagree with.
Lol.
i have read all arguments for and against “the racism theory” and i am here to pronounce the final verdict…..
FOR THE ACCUSERS:YOU ALL FAIL TO GRASP THE ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE…THE WRITER MADE AN EXAMPLE NOT A DIRECT STATEMENT….SO FOR MAKING A STORM IN A TEACUP(IF I AM RIGHT)I SENTENCE YOU TO LIFE WITHOUT THE ABILITY TO READ,WRITE AND SPEAK.AND TO DRAW ATTENTION TO THOSE CRYING OUT LOUD…HOW COME YOUR RESPONSES FAILED TO BE DECENT AS YOU WOULD HAVE ME BELIEVE YOU CARE SO MUCH.
THE WRITER:YOU HAVE REALLY CAUSED QUITE A STIR….KEEP IT UP.THE COURT LEARNED A LOT.
THE ADMIN:I LIKE YOUR STANCE DONT WAIVER FOR CHEAP IGNORAMUSES…YOU HAVE A GREAT SENSE OF JUDGMENT…ONLY DONT KEEP RESPONDING TO THOSE MAKING REFERENCES TO THE PUBLICATION.
i have read all arguments for and against “the racism theory” and i am here to pronounce the final verdict…..
FOR THE ACCUSERS:YOU ALL FAIL TO GRASP THE ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE…THE WRITER MADE AN EXAMPLE NOT A DIRECT STATEMENT….SO FOR MAKING A STORM IN A TEACUP(IF I AM RIGHT)I SENTENCE YOU TO LIFE WITHOUT THE ABILITY TO READ,WRITE AND SPEAK.AND TO DRAW ATTENTION TO THOSE CRYING OUT LOUD…HOW COME YOUR RESPONSES FAILED TO BE DECENT AS YOU WOULD HAVE ME BELIEVE YOU CARE SO MUCH.
THE WRITER:YOU HAVE REALLY CAUSED QUITE A STIR….KEEP IT UP.THE COURT LEARNED A LOT.
THE ADMIN:I LIKE YOUR STANCE DONT WAIVER FOR CHEAP IGNORAMUSES…YOU HAVE A GREAT SENSE OF JUDGMENT…ONLY DONT KEEP RESPONDING TO THOSE MAKING REFERENCES TO THE RACISM THING.
This is a great article that you have written, and it seems to me like you have put in a lot of research into it. Thanks a lot for the interesting things you have spread around.
However I seem to find that the “Islam smells like feces” example was somewhat inappropriate at this juncture, and that ruins your entire article. Your intentions may be harmless, but the written word states deep and you have to be careful. There are a lot of other examples to state, and going by the depth of your knowledge, I am sure you can always quote better.
You are simply spoiling your name, and (knowingly or unknowingly) spreading a lot of malice and hatred. I do not think you would be very happy if somebody quoted your religion to “smell like feces” even if they did so unknowingly, just for an example. Please think a moment putting yourself in the heads of other readers. This is not a light issue, as said by some people.
I kindly request you with a lot of respect to delete that statement and replace it with some other example.
Again applauding your great article…siddarth
I too have exploding head syndrome. I have had 3 experiences and unfortunately one experience was in the sixties on acid! Sounds to me like a huge steel door slamming shut. Always the same sound and very, very loud inside your head.Iread somewhere that it can be a neurological indicator of mini-stroke. Also, people please stop haranguing the writer for her mistake. It probably was never intended to be an insult, but the way it came out it sure was! No biggie…surely?
Uhhh… im 12 and at night usaully after she beats me and i cry at the windown of my room. When i look outside onto the 2 white umbrellas in the night sky when i look left-right-left-right while focusing om them they start becoming big and. Bigger and when i look at a light for a long time them close my eyes i see figures and stuf and other stuf. And colours and when i look at a light then quickly look somewhere else they follow the place i just looked at in a ray of light
(I still thimk english is strange in norsk we have uhhh… 8 vowels. E u i o a Ã¥ a and others i cant seem to find on my mothers xperia phone umm… hadde bra!!!
it sure fuckin does
Some of you people are so damn sensitive. So please shut the fuck up, and stop whining.
I didn’t mind reading this – right up until you drew parallels between Islam and “faeces”. I chose to stop reading – why would I waste my time reading an article written by an uneducated bigot?
I AM CHRISTIAN, AND I HAVE RESPECT FOR ISLAM.
You know what I am also? A medical intern. And sorry to burst your bubble, but most of these so called “mental disorders” are not coded in the DSM-IV (the official diagnostic manual for mental disorders) – but just a bunch of “syndromes” romanticised by pop-culture, that provide a bit of entertainment for idiots like yourselves, who really have no knowledge of mental health issues.
Also
1) You’re not fooling anyone by saying that comment was just an “example”. You may have not directly said that Islam reminds you of faeces – but the undertones of the statement are more than enough to tell us you’re an uneducated bogan.
2) You’re being inconsiderate and rude towards all those with mental illnesses. Most patients would take quite a bit of offence to having their illnesses being labelled as “weird”, “strange” and “bizarre”.
BLOG FAIL.
Must you add that 90% of the idiots we’re Americans? I know you don’t mean it TOO rudely, but that was a bit disgracing for you too add that… Not all of us are that inept.
Anyways, I love this article. It gave me some really nice thing’s I’d really like to research further! Thanks!
-A American blond 12 year old…Anything else to stereotype? 😉
(- Ah well, have a nice day, alright?)
It’s pretty obvious the Islam example was used to incite controversy. Of the hundreds of thousands of better examples the author could’ve used, they just so happened to use that one. Saying it’s just an example with the word “could” is a poor excuse. Too bad, the article could’ve been good but the author ruined it with their cheap “example”.
I am a muslim! Daddy died in car bomb! He smelled of feces! You all are prejudiced because, we take pride in our odor! Nah for real though, get over it. If the author put that in on purpose, it worked, didnt it?? Christian pastors touch little boys, satan shoves pineapples in hitlers ass. Come on watch some american movies and tv shows. And pretend like theres a shred of humility among you. Great article, I wanna make up a disease and say I have it… I have a compulsion to smoke marijuana with my rectum. *cough cough* *fart* who’s next? And once again, this is your friendly neighboorhood muslim, reminding you to respect our right to smell like feces. That is all.
I was enjoying the article, halfway down that Islam thing came up and I was totally disgusted. It was like eating a nice red juicy apple and suddenly biting on a big slimy worm. It was disappointing and of course, offensive.
Lets get this clear with the author, we all know what an example is, the problem is not with your choice to use an example to explain the disorder better, the problem is the word you use in the example. It was a complete wrong choice of word, there were a billions of other words you could have used but you choose to use Islam, and you paired it up with feces. You Could have said,
Islam COULD smell like cinnamon.
Islam COULD smell like freshly mowed grass.
Islam COULD smell like hand soap.
All this example would have equally proved your point, we would get the idea that the patient is ‘smelling’ something that does not have any scent. But you didn’t, you choose the smell of feces to be paired up with religion that people respect. Why pair it up with feces or urine? And if you were looking for things that existed but were not tangible, why not say;
Integrity Could smell like strawberry.
Attraction Could taste like honeydew.
And then your article COULD have been so much more fun to read. You put down a great article then ruined it by this cheap ‘example’ that didn’t only just undermine the content of your blog, but made you look really insensitive!
And Yeah, Pedophilia is NOT a disorder. It is not a mental disease. You can not choose who you are attracted to, but you can choose what you want to do with the attraction. Either you leave the child alone or you molest him/her. So I have no idea why it made it to the list.
first of all i have to say this article was awesome.the author seems like a well read guy.very comprehensive and interesting.im a muslim myself and a practising one at that. i didnt find the comment offensive but i guess it could have been avoided because religion is a sensitive topic for everyone.
Boo hoo about the Islam line. You don’t like what you read tough shit! Get over it! As I recall, the fucked-up Islam faith attacked and KILLED thousands of people on September 11. Have you forgotten that?! How DARE any of you try to stifle someone else’s thoughts, feelings, and/or opinions?! There will ALWAYS be something/someone you don’t like, but it doesn’t give any of you blowhards the right to try and silence someone else. Shame on ALL of you!
To all of you people getting pissy over ‘islam could smell like feces”, shut the hell up. Its saying that the people with the disease could associate a religion with a smell. Its no different than saying the color purple tastes like chocolate, meaning that the person associated color with a taste. You idiots need to use common sense. I’m 13 and I understand that the example was not meant to offend anyone. So grow up.!!
Do you know what? When i read some of this article, i think i will insert this article to my school work. But when i know this article is insulting Islam, i think i will search the other article.
I want to ask something to the writer of this article.
Do you want your religion to be insulted by the Muslims and the other person with the different religion that hates your article?
I know, the Christians are hate the Muslims, but you don’t need to do this far.
You insults Islam, on public.
Do you want to feel how we feel after read this article? Do you want it?
And yet, to the religions have scents? No, right?
If all the religions have, all of us has start insulting about our own religions’ scent from the start.
Now, tell me. How much you hate us, Islam? Are they much big than Earth or anything at this existence?
But, thanks to you. This article reflects how you hate us, and now we can repair your hatred to us or maybe ignoring all your hatred to us.
I tell you, even our religion are different, we still respects you.
Thanks to you again, you’ve declared a war to all of Muslim in this world.
Almost forgot, @Jessica : If the thing that related to religion, we can’t be insensitive to that. Because it’s related to our own pride, and yet you just thinks that religion’s matter are just like stepping at dirt.
And the person that named himself/herself ‘Trying to keep the peace on’, you’re right.
-A 11 years old Muslim
It’s okay for me to feel offended by this article 🙂
(Sorry, my words are a little too much. Once more, i am sorry.)
@admin,
Did you say the ‘ “Islam” could smell like feces ‘ word is an example?
That’s an insulting word, not an example.
That word is far from an example, remember that.
-A 11 years old muslim
Thank you to the author of this very well written article :). I will defnitely be using some of these for my psychology project. For all you people obssessing over the Islam comment, get over it. Whether the author did or did not mean to be offensive, simply get over it ! I didn’t even notice it until I read the overly dramatic comments on here. Anyways thanks again to the author for posting such an insightful article.
Ps: If y’all don’t have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Simple as that.
I personally love this article. I loved reading about the weird disorders and their symptoms. to everyone complaining about the line on islam. get over it the author used it as an example and shouldn’t have to change it because people are stupid and get offended over everything. i say keep that line in!
is it just me or did anyone unless not even realize the Islam comment ’till the end? I mean what’s the big deal it was an example of something anyone could make and example of anything. And I’m sure that all of you have made a prejudice (cause that’s actually what it is) or racist joke/remark some time in your life.
I am completely embarrassed by my own country right now. America is a very politically correct country, but even this is taking it a bit far.
Please just shut up. Almost everywhere I go here someone is being racist, and it’s usually the types that call other people racist (hypocrites).
It was an example. Sure, with a bunch of idiotic Americans roaming the internet, a better example could have been used, but I’m not blaming.
What happened to the earlier comments where Caleb wanted to know if he had AIWS? Roxxanne, thank you for pointing out that not all Americans are inept. It annoys me to hear how many people are, er, against our country. These “u r like, so racist and i cant spell” people are a bad example, but we aren’t all like that, promise. I want to note that a bunch of the people defending it are American too.
~A brunette American 13 year old (I think I actually managed to almost avoid stereotypes there, actually)
Oh, and I liked the article. Just not the comments.
How dense does the author, admin and their defenders have to be to not understand that, in these days of an intense campaign of Islamophobia and profiling, and good old American bigotry that the use of the “example” given wouldn’t raise fear and suspicion of some other, hateful agenda? How dense?
Sure, a person of the Islamic faith can understand the use of examples, but, what do you think their next thought might be after buying that, given the cultural environment in America at present?
Excuse us, but some of us try to uphold a certain standard of public discourse in the social and cultural environment.
I teach high school freshmen. In this homophobic environment, do you think that I would let derogatory comment about homosexuals, used as an “example” pass unchallenged? ” I just used “fag” as an example, Mr. X!”
The use of this expression as an example of mental disorder is unfortunate and insensitive, at best, and hatefully bigoted and challengable, at worst. I take your word that there was no ill will intended, but, please cut the “It’s just an example!” defense and fix it.
I agree. Many American’s are overly sensitive and willing to call pretty much anyone Racist. Many of them are ignorant to the facts and just looking for something to complain about. The sad thing is…I am American, and I think it’s sad that there are so many people looking for something to gripe about and be offended about all the time. You’re all adults i’m sure, so stop crying over words that weren’t even meant to be offensive. Get over it already. I guess i’m just a strong minded person because I don’t get offended so easily.
Oh, come on. Example or not, you knew when you made the article that people would freak out about Islam smelling like feces. It was stupid and unnessecesary. I didn’t find it offensive, but when I read that comment, I was like “that guy is going to have so many rage comments”. It would have been just as easy as saying something innocent like the painting tasted like cheese. So why would you use an example comparing religion and feces?
Kelly on June 29th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
Anyone ever head of a disorder wherein the idividual has a superior ability to remember every detail of an event/conversation but uses that information to manipulate other? I was told it was called “Polysignâ€, but I haven’t been able to find any information…?
ANSWER-> Its called “Wife”.
This is a great article! I love reading about the examples and different disorders that were not covered in my Abnormal class. If my professor had covered those I probably would have spent more time paying attention.
One thing on the controversial example. Quite frankly I think it is a very accurate example because individuals with that disorder have no control over what their mind might associate with an experience. I had a friend who heard music in color but he had no control over what colors different notes and cords created. This lead to experiences were music from some cultures caused him to hear very ugly colors which lead to him genuinely hating the music from those cultures. All of these examples are plausible for this disorder. The author is obviously trying to show that anything can have an associated experience with a different sense and those associations are not always pleasant or to align with the morals and beliefs that people claim to have.
Reading through these comments I have noticed something from the haters: Ya’ll tend to assume the author is male, white, Christian, and comes from a culture that construes the word feces in a negative light. A basic point in constructing any logical argument not based sole on ideology. By the way, basing an argument on ideology tends to negative the argument because ideology is a social construct that is rapidly shifting and changing for every individual. Moral of this paragraph for those who got lost: lay off unless you have a ligit argument not based only on the assumes in your head or what you think is the most PC thing to say.
And as for using derogatory comments in examples, how has the meaning of words changed overtime? such as the word faggot for example?
— n
1. a bundle of sticks or twigs, esp when bound together and used as fuel
2. a bundle of iron bars, esp a box formed by four pieces of wrought iron and filled with scrap to be forged into wrought iron
3. a ball of chopped meat, usually pork liver, bound with herbs and bread and eaten fried
4. a bundle of anything
— vb
5. to collect into a bundle or bundles
6. needlework to do faggoting on (a garment, piece of cloth, etc)
Historically: a contemptuous term for a woman (from circa 1590)
It also can mean bassoon or cigarette depending on language and context.
I can see that this offensive term is an excellent example to demonstrate this concept, high school freshman teacher thank you for providing such a useful example. I now understand that it is productive to use both offensive and non-offensive terms to appropriately demonstrate academic concepts but to not use them if my sole aim is to insult or hurt someone. Also, your classroom is only a homophobic environment if you make it one.
Are people honestly getting all that hung up on the Islam example? Clearly the examples that the author was giving of Synesthesia had no relation between the stimulus and the individuals perception. 13 has nothing to do with the colour pink. Islam has nothing to do with feces. If anyone is that offended by unrelated words, perhaps you are
a bit too touchy.
(Completely unrelated, but many of these are not technically mental disorders..)
attractive, every of this is now charming. The brain is such a difficult article.
Obviously, you don’t teach English, Mr. Lavrentii. I’d like to bring your attention to one little piece of evidence that clearly proves the writer or this article did nothing wrong except bad judgement.
The “Islam” example sparked some kind of fire in you. In your haste, you used an imaginary qoute from an imaginary student. In this qoute you used a certain derogatory word for a homosexual. So your example is somewhat better than the writer’s?
I’ll ask you one thing; why did YOU choose that word as opposed to any other derogatory word for persons, places, religions, or sexual orientation?
And Megan… top of page;post in 2008. Please, for the love of God, homosexuals, Islam, high school students and Mr. Lavrentii use spell check.
I started reading this article and thought it was great. Then I got to the example about islam. And I still thought it was great. And guess what? I am Muslim. So everybody complaining about how it is racist and chilish etc., just shut up.
BTW: The author never said anything offensive. They said that a person with that disorder might think “Islam†could smell like feces. Note they said COULD not does, and they never said anything about Muslims skin colour. I found some of the comments offensive because they said that Muslims are brown but I am white as snow. So everyone just get over yourselves and shut up, you’re just looking for attention.
PS: Everyone is spelling ‘feces’ wrong. It’s FAECES! Get it right!
Oh my god, for fuck sake! I’m 14! I know that that example was soooo not meant to offend anybody. those who complained are sad idiots who are bored with their life so start looking for attention. Would you have complained if the author said “Islam could smell like chocolate”? Probably, because it is favouritism to muslims. I will make it ok for everyone,ok? Christianity could smell like sweat, Buddhism could smell like wet dog, Judaism could smell like vomit, Hinduism could smell like farts and every other religion could smell like sour milk. Oh no! now I’m sectarian because some of those smells are worse then others!And, btw, racism is completely different to sectarianism because a religion is not a race
oh and,btw Lavrentii, if I was a teacher and one of my students said that homosexuals/gays were being deprived of their human rights because they are sometimes called a ‘fag’, I would give them an A.
@Lavrentii
First of all, this is not a classroom. Different rules apply for different places. I am a college professor. There are words I would not use in the classroom, but I use elsewhere. Compartmentalizing is inappropriate in most situations.
Second, I am also a healthcare provider and have treated many patients with psychological disorders. I have been called just about every derogatory name there is and have had assumptions made about me that are in no way accurate–it is the nature of the business sometimes. I accept that. If you saw someone on the street who made similar comments, would you stop and berate them not knowing whether or not they had a mental condition that caused such a thing? I would hope not, but it sounds you are more concerned with how things look or seem rather than how things can really be.
Examples such as these are not pleasant, but neither is mental illness. There are times when education comes at the expense of sugar-coating and political correctness. I came to this site to get some ideas for one of my classes–something a textbook doesn’t include. I will use that very example. I am sure my students–who understand that mental illness and political correctness are many time a world apart–will take the example just as it was meant.
Loved the comments.. I was actually looking for the name of an illness. I did one quick search about an hour ago and ended up reading the comments since then so got nowhere really.
To list my favorite parts:
-the Christians blindly defending Islam
-The fact that everyone list there age nationality and hair colour like that means something special
-The pedophile syndrome thing that someone pointed out. Basically let’s pedophiles off the hook for there actions.. No one cared
-The racist thing when it’s not a race it’s a religion- predjudice not racist as pointed out by someone who said English was not there first language
-the lady who doesn’t believe in mental illness and talks about “the elite” (she’s obviously a looser)
And so much more.. Not too sound like an old lady but what a storm in a tea cup! Good read tho thanks peopl. Oh yeah and I don’t believe the kid who called himself a Jew is really Jewish.. In Australia no Jewish kid would refer to himself as a Jew.. Maybe it different elsewhere I could be wrong..
A 27 year old blond Australian. Of all religions and of no religion. Loving life. Laughing at all.. no, just most of you.
nice article, it really is useful. But of course there arent any other words in the dictionary. you could only use faeces, not ‘wet earth’ or ‘jasmine’ or anything pleasant. you just wanted to offend and sound cool. i enjoyed the article until the cheap example came. then i found out your a cheap ass motherfucker. just like christianity smells like fresh bull crap. just an example.
If you ever wanted to extend this to list more phobias, I suggest you use Phobophoiba (fear of acquiring a phobia) Ablutophobia, (fear of washing or bathing) dromophobia, (fear of streets or crossing the street) Ambulophobia or Stasiphobia (fear of walking r standing) Anablephobia (fear of looking up) Briophobia (fear of human feet) Cathisophobia (fear of sitting) Clinophobi (fear of going to bed) Deipnophobia (fear of dinning conversations) Dextrophobia (fear of things on the right side of your body) Levophobia (fear of things on th left side of your body.) Hedonophobia (fear of pleasure) Novercaphobia (fear o one’s stepmother) Phronemophobia (fear of hinking) and lstly Pteronophobia (fear f being tickled by feathers.)
Do you think these are real? I found them on a Google search when I was looking for a specific phobia for a characer in a novel ‘m trying to write, and I wrot them down
Sticky keys, shoot!
what would exonerate the example of synesthesia under discussion from bias would be the confirmation of the hypotheses that this example is used just because it was taken from an actual case. the example of a tourettes sufferer yelling out the n word is perfect. It is the forbidden quality of the word that triggers the outburst. could work for synethesia also.
“On a personal note, I noticed that 90% of users who felt the article was racist were American.”
Really? I find this ending comment to be highly ironic… You’re going to generalize against Americans for being racist? It seems like a bit of a double standard.
The Islam remark, whether intended to be insulting or not, is very disrespectful, and should have been removed. This article came off as highly unprofessional, when instead of correcting an flaw – which any competent writer would proudly do – you chose to insult those yet again who pointed out your error.
I enjoyed the article besides that, but I will not be frequenting your site after this display of unprofessional writing.
I have to admit that I have bibliomania.
i sense this article is really funny and creepy and disturbing and scary but hallarious
I’m an American and frankly all these comments is a prime example of why our country is going to pot. Stop being so quick to jump down someone’s throat about every little thing. You can never say anything if your with out offending someone because this country is full of over sensitive idiots who have nothing better to do then to over think their own and everyone else’s feelings. Hell no one really used to get offended by this kind of stuff until we told them they should be. No other place in the world has this kind of crippling over sensitivity about everything and frankly this comes from entitlement and being comfortable to the point where we as a society don’t have anything real to complain about. Wake up and concern yourselfs with what really matters in the world. The older I get the more I realize just how much Americans as a whole act like whiny spoiled brats. Get a hobby!
I enjoyed the article, just ignore all of those sad and bored people who are complaining. Yes, I’m sure that most of them are American, and sadly this country is full of very ignorant, silly, and petty people who just want to argue about things. Rather than do something constructive with their lives, they find perfectly good forums and ruin them. This is what America is now. We as a nation send soldiers to fight and die for “freedom”, and then expel kids from schools because their pop tarts looked like a gun. These are the same sheep who calls a person “crazy” for asking questions about inconsistencies policies and practice, and gets naked in the airport while a guy airmails himself across the country with no problem whatsoever. I’d leave here gladly, if good ol’ uncle sam hadn’t sucked up all the money to who knows where…. Anyway, good article.
You are all being ridiculous about the Islam example.
I suffer from synaesthesia (words, letters and numbers have colours) so I understand where the writer is coming from.
They’re not saying ISLAMIC people themselves smell like faeces, they’re saying that people who suffer from that specific form of synaesthesia in which words have smells may believe the WORD Islam to smell like faeces.
However, I do believe that considering the uproar in offense to the example that writer should have just changed the example rather than put a note at the end of the article.
Change it to “the word wedding could smell like dishwashing detergent”
If people get offended by that then I give up on society.
When trying to defend yourself against accusations that you are discriminating against a group of people, you probably shouldn’t then go and make a derogatory remark about another group of people. The line I’m referring to is “On a personal note, I noticed that 90% of users who felt the article was racist were American.” That comment was rude, condescending, prejudiced, and uncalled for.
As for the note: “Some people have commented that they see the article as having a possible racist under tone, despite Islam being a religion, rather than a race.” I would like to refer you to a dictionary.reference.com definition of “race”: “any people united by common history, language, cultural traits, etc.” Therefore, while Islam is a religion and not a general term for common physical characteristics throughout a group, it can be considered a race.
Though you may not have intended your comment to be offensive, it can undeniably be viewed as insensitive and derogatory. When addressing this in your note you should therefore display some more maturity.
What the hell you have to do with Islam…..Stick to your topic please! I don’t understand why non-muslims are so insecure of Muslims that they don’t lose any chance to debase them. Pity on you! Really I feel sorry for you people…Poor infidels!
I don’t think synesthesia could be cited as a mental ‘disorder’. I think it is more appropriate that it be considered as a condition. I did a report on this in school, and it’s a rare case wherein one’s senses get mixed up, like, when they hear a word, they get a corresponding taste, regardless of social conventions, totally random taste. Or they could personify numbers. Or they could see letters and numbers in certain colors, making their memory a bit better than most people. So yeah.
I think that the author could have used any other sentence but if hhe deliberately did it then he should apologise. Maybe the author just made a wrong move and didn’t realized it would make such big mess.Besides I totally agree with Senntenial.
Dudes, she also said 2girls1cup might taste like chocolate freaking ice cream. Does that mean she like eating feces? I would certainly hope not. Lighten up and just read some disorders. My favorite is stockholms syndrome by far. 🙂 It reminds me of pets and Pokemon. It definitely is interesting.
Muslims belive in jesus ,moses and others,but that is what is being misused unfortunately ( knowing that muslims cant utter against jesus or moses).Muslims have hedith(sorry if spelling is wrong)that insulting or critising people from a particular religion or their gods is a sin, now doesn’t our Christianity teach us that? We shouldnt be so insensitive even if it is an example.
Don’t most Islamic people smell like feces?
Great article never mind the winers
I HATE boys for some reason is that a disorder like I think there annoying and I don’t want to do anything with them there just rude and insane
Cognitive misery and intellectual nescience are alive and well in the moral majority of this forum who “stopped reading” once happening upon the comment regarding Islam and its atypical association with the smell of feces. Ironic how the most ignorant of the lot make most frequent use of the word ignorance. I am a synesthesiac, as is my son, and my father before me. No need to belabor the logical misstep required in conflating race with religious orientation, so I will aim at other snakes in the barrel of downright, forthright, outright mental lethargy and manufactured morality. First off, those who claim personal umbrage to the example this author used most likely feel no such offense at all, rather they invent it for themselves as a matter of standing up for something they don’t actually regard with conviction. I am not sure who spoke of the social and cultural construction of mental disorder, but that person was actually quite right in saying so. It is important to remember that abnormalities are absolutely and fundamentally necessary in order to install so-called normalcy into the human population. Because abnormality sets the ontological limits to normalcy, both are mutually implicated and therefore no different than any other either/or binaristic dichotomy–Derrida and Foucault are both adduced in this philosophical trajectory. I would also take this a step further and call those ignorant whom not only believe in religion , but who accord to it some special privilege of silence–“oh no, you are so insensitive to have proffered a view on religion, better elide those remarks…” Ridiculous as the subject of religion itself. Islam indeed does promote a dangerous and deleterious sacred script that promotes universally egregious acts against humanity. Sam Harris in his “End of Faith” posits arguments that are near impossible to refute, as does he in his groundbreaking “The Moral Landscape…” Have we no right to say that Sharia Law is aversive to to the well-being of all of mankind… How about suicide bombers and other acts of Martyrdom that are explicitly rewarded with lascivious sexual fantasies for the MEN “brave enough to sacrifice themselves and countless innocent lives once they reach their male-dominated afterlife of sexual hedonism. Give me a break. The he betide is astounding, as is the incredible myopia in people’s inability to recognize the fallacy inherent to their own (spurious) convictions regarding intolerance. For it is impossible to take a position of tolerance without staking a commensurate and proportionate stance if intolerance–another problematic binary that lazy thinkers fail to notice. Can one be tolerant of intolerance? Turn off the news and pick up a book people. Yes, political correctness and religious moderation are positions to be occupied by the craven poltroons not the bastions of reason.
Very interesting article. Entertaining and useful. Please dont bother with these whining closedminded people. You are the writer, this is your work, and the example was appropriate. People dont realize, the more you fixate on demographical sensitivities, the more you reinforce their existence.
My feces smell like teen spirit.
Who cares if Islam smells like baby mice, anyway. My pet mouse gave birth to several feces, and I don’t care what religion they are – I love them all the same. my mom says religions aren’t supposed to have a smell, and that anyone running around sniffing them probably has a disorder.
If people think that Islam smells like crap thing is racist then they need to grow up I for one like the example because it attaches two totally unrelated
Lovely article, madam, very informative. I got further intrigued by the comments. Quote a good read as well. The mind off the uneducated is a hellfire of close-minded accusations. If Islam is such a touchy, “racist” subject, then I despise Catholic, Christian, Buddhist, and every other”race.” Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed the read, and feel compelled to say, “Islam COULD smell like feces.”
Im more worried about the fact that people want to excuse the author for deliberately make a racist comment and refusing to apologise for it or that they cannot recognise racism when they see it. Even a little comment makes things worse, this author and this article is contributing to violence and hatred, that’s the end of it.
People be in mind this is an informative website. The line about islam wasn’t “hey the place smells” it’s that someone with this disorder could perceive it to smell like it.. just like America could smell like cheeseburgers. Don’t be so soft when reading about disorders. It’s a disorder you really think it’s not going to be somewhat controversial? The diseases are sad, even the book one. People who perceive it as fake are the reason these disorders go unknown and ignored. “DID” which is an awful disorder had the same reaction back when it was concidered part of a girls hormonal cycle. Don’t be ignorant.
To all of the people saying that the comment about “islam smelling like feces’ is racist…that’s not what was said at all. It was an example. It said “Islam COULD smell like feces” it was just giving an example of an effect the disorder could have. It wasn’t racist in any way.
Some common side effects with over-the-counter diet plan tablets consist of heart palpitations, high blood
pressure, mood swings, insomnia and other individuals.
For girls and men alike, consuming a balanced diet
that is high in excellent proteins, fibers, healthy carbs, a lot of fresh veggies and fruits and foods
cost-free of unnatural fats and sugars, can help you lose weight the proper way.
@hilton btw you overused sarcasm. Bc their are different people born to be exactly the way they are. I do think that is a little ridiculous bc it’s like saying Americans still abuse Africans bc of slavery. I mean I understand its a disorder. I have some disorders, but none from this site. But if anyone wants to judge an example of a disorder it’s like saying oh so and so has bipolar so they are completely insane (which they’re not) I don’t like racism bc I’m actually a bunch of different races (German,British, Blackfoot, Irish, French, and African)
Another ridiculous thing is when people say ” you’re German so you’re a nazi.” No just stfu did I say bc I’m German that I’m a nazi, bc you dk If I’m Jewish or not so… You just shouldn’t be racist in the first place:)
It would be nice to live racist,sexist, etc, etc. free
Islam smells like feces ha. I thought it was great. Calm down.
I just wanted to say that Islam is not a race, it’s a religion. So, if you all could stop using the word ‘racist’, that’d be great. Maybe you could use ‘intolerant’ or ‘communal’ instead. Just saying.
Do you know what I find offensive? The fact that everyone feels the need to take up valuable space and time writing about how offended they are about everything anyone else says, thinks, or does. Everyone has the right to feel however they want, but why must you insist that anyone else should feel or think like you do? Honestly, if I was a gigantic loser with nothing better to do then maybe I would care. But I don’t. And I won’t. And every time I read or hear some twit commenting about their poor, sad, offended self, it just makes me hate people like you. Please, do everyone a huge favor and put on your big boy/girl panties and move on with your life. This political correctness is ridiculous. If someone says something you don’t like or think is insensitive then just don’t respond. I refuse to have some twerp tell me how to think or behave. If I hurt your feelings, oh well. I think you will survive. And if my words cause you to be so distressed that you do something terrible, well that’s what I like to think of as culling the herd.
Why so many comments?
The “Islam might smell like feces” statement is clearly racist. Those who agree with this example are also racist. You don’t belong in our society or in any society.
There are no examples of synthesthesia where anyone has confused islam and feces, nor could there be. Synesthesia is there triggering of one sense by another. Not a religion. This is horrific. stupid. and as a neurologist I am shocked someone would make this up as an example. The depth of racism, and of the comments imagining somehow this is a normal statement are deeply disappointing… including the primitive “europeans” here.