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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009
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Doc, I Think I'm on Reality TV

Psychiatrists see Truman Show delusion so often it's got its own syndrome

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(Newser) – In The Truman Show, Jim Carrey's life was nothing more than a reality TV program, with actors playing his friends and family and millions of viewers watching his every move. Those themes of surveillance and artificiality pervade the lives of a growing number of psychiatric patients—people who think they are always on camera, surrounded by performers, the New York Times reports.

Some practitioners think so-called Truman Syndrome represents a bona fide psychiatric phenomenon—that TV and the Internet are literally driving people crazy. Others disagree; for them, psychosis is psychosis, and the fear of surveillance is a natural successor to paranoia about the Nazis or the KGB. As for those who suffer from Truman Syndrome, one doctor said, "Most likely these people would be delusional anyway."

Psychiatrists have observed an increasing incidence of delusional patients who believe they are on a reality TV show.
Psychiatrists have observed an increasing incidence of delusional patients who believe they are on a reality TV show.   ((c) ansik)
Psychiatrists have observed an increasing incidence of delusional patients who believe they are on a reality TV show.
Psychiatrists have observed an increasing incidence of delusional patients who believe they are on a reality TV show.   (Getty Images)
The Truman Show, starring Jim Carrey, has often been specifically mentioned by psychiatric patients who say they're stars of a TV reality show.
The Truman Show, starring Jim Carrey, has often been specifically mentioned by psychiatric patients who say they're stars of a TV reality show.   (AP Photo)
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Delusional patients who suffer from the so-called Truman Syndrome believe that they exist in a world of artifice and surveillance.   (martinbrufal)

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Full article outlining the 'Truman Syndrome'
British Journal of Psychiatry Subscription

An earlier report on research into the phenomenon
National Post (Canada)

More on 'The Truman Show'
IMDB


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psychiatry • psychology • surveillance • psychosis • Jim Carrey • delusion • paranoia • The Truman Show • Truman Syndrome

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