Truman Show Syndrome and "ATS paranoia"

Reality bites

Joel and Ian Gold, brothers and psychiatrists from Montreal, believe they have discovered a signature mental illness of the YouTube era: patients who claim they are subjects of their own reality TV shows.
They have named the malady the "Truman Show Delusion," and though they are in the process of putting together a medical paper on the topic, their discovery is already causing a stir.
While traditionalists insist that this delusion offers nothing new -- it is no different from, say, a deranged man who believes that the CIA has planted a microchip in his tooth -- the Gold brothers argue otherwise.
It's really a question of the extent of the delusion," said Joel Gold, 39, who has been on staff at New York's Bellevue Hospital Center for eight years. "The delusions we typically treat are narrow: There is Capgras Delusion, where someone will think his family has been replaced by doubles. Or the Fregoli Delusion, where someone believes that one person is persecuting him: a doctor, mailman, butcher. The Truman Show Delusion, though, involves the entire world.
....
Ian Gold, who holds a Canada Research Chair in philosophy and psychiatry at McGill University, added that there are unprecedented cultural triggers that might explain the phenomenon: the pressure of living in a large, connected community can bring out the unstable side of more vulnerable people.
"The wish for fame is a form of grandiosity, and the fear of threats such as surveillance can bring about paranoia," said the Montrealbased Dr. Gold, 46, who specializes in delusion.
"New media is opening up vast social spaces that might be interacting with psychological processes."

Link to full article:
www.nationalpost.com...

I have seen members claiming to be followed or watched since they joined ATS. After reading the article about the Truman Show Syndrome, it struck me that posting on a large internet forum like ATS in some ways is like being on a reality show. Your comments, thoughts and your behavior towards other members in this forum can be read (watched) by a vast number of people all over the world, not just the other ATS members.
So is it possible that this feeling of exposure in some cases can trigger a form of paranoia..? Just a thought...






[edit on 23-7-2008 by ziggystar60]

I see what you are saying and it kind of makes sense.

In that context, the whole net is a "reality show". We can choose to be a cast member of the show by participating.. or just a viewer by sitting back and watching the flamewars/discussions unfold in real time.

Intriguing line of thought.

reply to post by TwiTcHomatic


You know, I recently followed a thread which went totally crazy. Otherwise calm and collected members ended up flaming and bashing each other in a way I have never seen before here at ATS, and one member actually got banned because of it.
It was in fact just like watching an episode of Big Brother. It made me feel embarresed. But somehow I couldn't look away either...

Originally posted by ziggystar60
reply to post by TwiTcHomatic

 

You know, I recently followed a thread which went totally crazy. Otherwise calm and collected members ended up flaming and bashing each other in a way I have never seen before here at ATS, and one member actually got banned because of it.
It was in fact just like watching an episode of Big Brother. It made me feel embarresed. But somehow I couldn't look away either...

Any chance you could link to the thread?

This is NOT a one-line post.

Honest.

reply to post by Psychopump


It wouldn't be much point in giving you a link to the thread. Most of the posts were removed by the mods within minutes, and the thread is closed. Sorry.

it's funny that this thread appears for me just now. I am dealing with a bit of paranoia in U2U as we speak. Someone's claims seem a bit far fetched to me.

i remember having paraniod thoughts after seeing this film as a kid, it was creepy sh*t to me. I find it interesting that i found this thread about it

It's crazy that a era (youtube, reality shows) can basically culture people to the point where it spawns illness.

This is funny and sad to me at the same time, but in the same breath...I see how it can happen. It's just the same paranoia that has afflicted people throughout the ages, finding a new way to rear its ugly head.

In terms of ATS paranoia...I don't see why anyone would be following/watching a poster here unless they did something wrong, gave out information they shouldn't have etc.

What will really bake your noodle is knowing that The Truman Show was based heavily upon Gnostic notions of interior cosmology.

That would mean that the psychologists who are so excited about their discovery are either really dense or they're shamelessly trying to grab credit for knowledge that the Gnostics have held for a few thousand years. They're reading it upside down.

Originally posted by applebiter
What will really bake your noodle is knowing that The Truman Show was based heavily upon Gnostic notions of interior cosmology.

Could you maybe elaborate on this, or at least provide links to your sources?
It sounds interesting and I want to know more.

EDIT: PLEASE bake my noodle!

[edit on 26-7-2008 by Psychopump]

Anyone here ever get ready to post some pretty on target relative material and just as you are about to finish, a dreaded cookie loops you back around so you have to start the post all over again. I generally say screwit and not repost so if it is by design it works on me

Originally posted by fastwalker23
Anyone here ever get ready to post some pretty on target relative material and just as you are about to finish, a dreaded cookie loops you back around so you have to start the post all over again. I generally say screwit and not repost so if it is by design it works on me

Yes, I have done that too. I guess I am more superstitious than paranoid. Besides, my thoughts on here are usually pretty free flow, with not much censorship from me, and I don't think I could reproduce the same thoughts exactly... so I just move on.

I've noticed youtube does appear to be an addiction to these people and also has way too much abuse, trolling, stalking etc. It has it's quality video information at times, but, much of whch appears to be plagiarism. So, what happens to them when they get banned? Do they become serial killers, rapists or what? maybe an ATS member?

I haven't noticed any mention about ats on youtube. I would assume there will come a day when most of this will disappear from these sites, suggesting a major shift in our freedoms. Even google search now seems to be already dumbing down as mentioned in other threads.

I think ATS paranoia can suggest more of the same type of mentality spilling over from youtube, just to get people to respond. I've had my own share of paranoia believing I myself have been in a life long Truman type conspiracy. But, at least I don't start any threads over it or post youtube videos. That has to speak for something, even if just some paranoia.

So, I do think you can do your own "personal" member profiling here as well?......How about a more clinical type of survey?

But, as for delusional, the idea that you're going to see the holy grail of disclosure here on the internet before it's taken down, seems just as elusive and obvious whether it's real or a hoax. Internet karma?


[edit on 26-7-2008 by aleon1018]

I heard Ian Punnit talk about this syndrome, last week on Coast to Coast AM.
When I heard this I remembered reading that Charles Manson had this delusion.
He thought there were cameras that followed him around, wherever he went.
I know a woman who thinks that certain events in her life were all staged, with actors playing the parts and it is all on tape but she does not know where the tapes are.
She claims that she will be vindicated when it all comes out and everyone will know she was right.

I used to think I was surreptitiously starring in my own tv show. Then I put down the bong.

Besides, I'm really not that interesting.

The OP is actually quite interesting, however. Residuals...

[edit on 11.4.2008 by ItsTheQuestion]

Originally posted by ItsTheQuestion
I used to think I was surreptitiously starring in my own tv show. Then I put down the bong.

Besides, I'm really not that interesting.

That is just way too funny!

Paranoid people have big egos or big bongs? LOL

Yes, if you did feel you were being followed or watched like in Truman Show it would mean that you were special in some way, well, extraordinary.

Jeese I hope I not in some sort of show, cos really that would be kinda weird, I mean if I even think one person is watching my I feel I should remove an item of clothing, and if all my clothing is removed I have the urge to hug and gyrate against members of the cast... public. In my head I have a normal life, but it is hard to find time for that lie when I have to cook cats.

I wouldn't mind loosing the plot actually.

If you watch that movie closely, he was a prisoner everyone was in on it for a very long time everyone lied about the truth. He got psycotic questioned existence he was just kept oblivious for whatever reason. All of reality started crumbling apart when he noticed and became suspicious. He crashed into a wall painted like the sky and thought he was talking to god. It would never work nowadays had a leave it to beaver 50's feel said on dvd had to be uplifting charming something that made you feel good wanted to watch.

I never actually believed I was a part of a television show, but it is more of an inability to escape reality as it is presented to you. That's what I believe the true Truman Show Syndrome is.

Is it triggered by ATS? Very well could be. Although I know a certain crowd that may disagree with that assertion.

just thought i'd share my story since i am a truman show survivor (if you can call it that? idek) a few years ago while i was living on the boardwalk in san diego california i thought that my friends and i were part of a cops vs. street kids reality t.v. show. i use to think that i was getting followed around by cameras and that the police and government were in on it. i was under the influence of methamphetamine at the time and therefore believe that played a major role in it. i thought i was alone in this for a long time until i heard about truman show syndrome. to be honest i felt elated that i wasn't alone in my delusions. i haven't thought that i was in a reality show for over two years now and every day i am grateful for it. i can say from first hand account that Truman show syndrome is a terrifying hallucination. it really has nothing to do with egos or being full of yourself. i wasn't anything to special (although i was sort of a trendsetter at the time and would notice people "copying my style") every day i am happy to be free from these delusions as well as the hell that is drug addiction. i wonder if any other cases were drug induced.