The 'Truman Show' syndrome—meaning, origin, ramifications, examples
Let's face the fact—while watching Jim Carrey's seminal piece of cinema The Truman Show, did you wonder if you, too, were living a life like him? Perhaps not forever, but for a few moments? A day? A week? (At least Bigg Boss/Big Brother contestants live that way!). The 1998 classic gave birth to a unique psychological phenomenon, called the "Truman Show Syndrome," wherein individuals believe they are unwitting stars of a global reality TV show! Unbelievable, but true.
Understand it through the words of psychiatrist Joel Gold
Joel Gold, a psychiatrist at the New York University School of Medicine, told Business Insider, "I have treated a number of young men who all believe their lives were reality television shows." "The first time I experienced it, I was fascinated but I didn't think much of it...by the time we got to five patients, I said, 'This is something unusual.'" Per BI, Gold and his brother Ian are credited with coining the term.
Do such people have free will at all?
Gold further opined that his patients are caught up in the "free will versus predetermination" debate. "Do I have free will or am I just a bunch of molecules bouncing around" is what his patients often wondered. "It's like they discover something they were not in on before: I thought I had free will. Now, I discover I have not had it. And now I try to gain it for the first time."
The evolution of delusions over time
Per The New Yorker's Andrew Marantz, "People have always imagined things that aren't real- our culture just changes what those things are," reported Popular Science. In the 1940s, fears revolved around foreign powers manipulating American minds through radio waves; by the 1950s, concerns shifted to satellites being used for mind control; and in the 1970s, people feared government agencies implanting computer chips into their brains.
The changing classification of delusions
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), a reference guide for psychiatric illnesses, previously categorized delusions into two types: bizarre and nonbizarre. Bizarre delusions were deemed impossible, while nonbizarre ones were considered plausible but false. As Marantz explains, "'I am dead,' is bizarre, but 'Millions of strangers are obsessed with me' is non-bizarre." However, due to societal shifts and technological advancements making fame more accessible, these classifications have been updated in the most recent edition of DSM.
The interplay of mental state and cultural environment
The instances of Truman Show syndrome not only illuminate individual mental states but also highlight the influence of external factors such as culture and technology. It's easy to dismiss these delusions as mere figments of the imagination, but the reality is often more complex, involving a delicate balance between a person's mental state and their cultural environment. As Joseph Heller aptly wrote in the book Catch-22, "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you."
The unbelievably true story of Kevin Hall
In an article, Slate mentioned the story of famous sailor Kevin Hall, who has been struggling with this delusion for years now and is fully convinced that he's at the center of an intricately planned show. He told the portal, "Yes, everybody is on it and everything I am doing is because I am supposed to do it, and I am supposed to make a good scene for The Show." His story is detailed in the book The Kevin Show.
This is how the movie's writer reacted to it
Reacting to the illness, the film's writer Andrew Niccol said in 2013, "The funny thing about that movie is it's really stood the test of time and I know that because someone pointed out to me recently that there's even a psychological condition that's been named after that movie." "You know you have made it when you have a disease named after you." Peter Weir directed the film.
