Truman Syndrome Diagnosed
As I read the article on the Truman Syndrome I was in shock. In my twenty years of life I have never heard of something like this. I have read about people having delusions and even saw movies with the stars being delusional or having a heavy case of schizophrenia. But growing up through all that I’ve never heard of people having delusions believing that their on a reality television show. That had me thinking a lot because I tend to joke about stuff like that, for example one time I saw Lion King and after the movie was over I pretended to be a lion and pounced on my sister. But to find out that it is happening to people, I couldn’t imagine how crazy it would be if I truly believed I was a lion and really attacked my sister. After reading the article and seeing what the psychiatrists, scientists, and philosopher all had to say. I began to try an answer their questions, and claims that they made. One question asked in the article to simply put in my own words said “Is the Truman Syndrome just a new version of an old paranoid or big delusion or is it something totally new in our culture?” And another claim stating that culture and technology can have an effect on people making them delusional.
When I think about the Truman Syndrome I truly feel that it is far from being just a new twist on an old paranoid or grand delusion. But I also wonder is it something new that is beginning to occur now in our generation due to our culture. And can ones culture and technology have an effect on people that may already have schizophrenic behaviors.
I believe that the Truman Syndrome is something new that we are facing in our culture and it isn’t just a new version of an old problem. I chose my answer mainly because of society today. To me you got to look at how society is now and how it looked twenty years earlier. And realize that the Truman Syndrome is happening now because of our culture and technology. Back then when we really didn’t have the internet and most people didn’t even have televisions like that; and a person with schizophrenic illnesses would just show symptoms of being crazy with whatever case of it that they had. So back then you couldn’t try to connect this syndrome with the way our society was and make it seem like it have something to do with our culture.
In the article I read some of the scientist and Doctors made a claim stating that culture and technology can have an effect on people making them delusional. I agree with this claim but not one hundred percent. To me if you already are a person with a schizophrenic background this might sometimes give a little bit of fuel to the fire that’s already blazing. But I choose to believe that; that isn’t always the case it may not always be because of the culture or technology it can be problems they are facing at home or in the streets. For example abusive parents or boyfriend, or something as drugs that takes a toll on the family. My opinion is that culture and technology can have effects on some people making them delusional, but not that much of a percentage if you ask me.
I believe that society itself meaning all of us need to come up with ways were we can catch people with symptoms of these psychiatric illnesses beforehand. So that when it comes to a point and time in their lives when they are on the web and using all these technological things don’t further engross themselves in it and fall into these crazy delusions. The only thing I can say about our culture is that where ever we are, and there is a certain culture most likely we are part of it. That’s something we will just have to deal with. I just hope since we are somehow affecting people by our culture and technology that we will be willing to put and effort to help the people that are pressured by it and do more to help make the world more aware of the Truman Syndrome.
