Dean Burnett - described in his bio as a Neuroscientist who is also a part-time comedian - has written an interesting blog post for The Guardian. In it, he talks about how he accidentally created a new psychological condition, called "Lonely Potato Syndrome." It's the condition of always wanting to cook more than one of something (often a potato) because one would seem lonely.
The weird and interesting thing is that when I say he "created" it, I don't mean that the condition existed and he gave it a name. Rather, he mentioned this concern of his as an example of a personality quirk. But other people recognized it in their own behaviour, and - combined with his authority on things mental - mentioned it to other people, and the idea took off.
Aside from being funny in a weird, surreal, British, help-I'm-trapped-in-a-Douglas-Adams-book sort of way, this incident brings up a lot of issues. One is the authority we give to the words of experts, regardless of the evidence that backs them. Another is the concept of labels. That's a tough one in the world of mental health, where people take labels very personally. I don't think anyone would be offended at being labelled as a Potato Sympathizer, but it does show how labels spread. Once the label is created, it becomes easy to apply to more and more people.
Personally, I think labels get a bad wrap. Obviously, no one likes the idea of being pigeon-holed with others who may have a very different experience. But that seems to be the way to get taken seriously these days. I find it interesting that society is making headway in getting people to care about mental illness at the same time that society is becoming less caring and accommodating in general. We're quick to call people weak or lazy, yet we're more willing to sympathize with those diagnosed with depression. So it may be that we'll have to slap labels on things just to make people take our problems seriously, and treat one another with dignity.
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