:: Obsessive-Compulsive Politico-Dichotomous Syndrome AKA "Brooks' Disease" ::

Tuesday, June 15, 2004

DSM-IV-TR Axis 1 disorder

Obsessive-compulsive politico-dichotomous syndrome is an Indolent Media disorder characterized by the repeated and urgent need to delineate large, highly-heterogeneous groups into two homogenized sub-groups of diametric political affiliation. The determinant(s) for such divisions ranges from the specious and/or fallacious amongst the less afflicted to the downright delusional and perverse in extreme cases.

Diagnostic criteria for obsessive-compulsive politico-dichotomous syndrome:

1. Rambling generalizations punctuated by stereotypical examples intended to shore up illusion of factual basis.
2. Attributing personal ad hoc observations to larger, more credible bodies such as "political scientists" or "economists".
3. Fixation on income, wealth, and consumptive habits.
4. Overdependence on inductive reasoning drawing from self-fabricated anecdotes. This creates a logical Möbius strip in which the person posits theories based on evidence expressly created to lend credence to said theories.
5. Persistent attribution of aggregate demographic and political norms to every individual of a particular population, using statistically indemonstrable factors including, but not limited to: nebulous professional categorization, academic performance, geographic origin, and taste in furniture.
6. Recurrent term coinage.
7. Affinity for salmon-tinted oxford shirts perhaps not entirely unrepresentative of party inclination.

Specify if:
With Poor insight: if, for most of the time during the current episode the person does not recognize that the obsessions and compulsions are excessive or unreasonable.

Treatment: If torture is impractical, resort to sacking and ostracism.

Posted by morland @ 06:06 PM

:: Comments ::

That's damn funny. I'd comment on Brooks being the perfect case study of a widespread phenomenon, but am undergoing a 2 week regime of politics/news abstention. My own case of obsessive-compulsive politco-hypersaturation syndrome has been acting up lately, so I can't throw any stones right now.

Posted by: X @ on June 22, 2004 10:16 PM

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