Part 2 The Breakthrough and the Science Behind It.

We have named this disorder the:
Financial Deficit Disorder or FDD.*
(We have used the internationally accepted criteria for psychiatric disorder as outlined in the DSM. Distress in the patient or family together with loss of function in the culture to which the patient belongs.)
Diagnosis:-
The cardinal feature of this disorder is characterised by a fundamental deficiency (ie lack), of money. (This explains why it is so prevalent amongst the poor and its female gender bias). What we have found, and what most people don’t really realise, is that poverty is a psychiatric disorder, in actual fact. DSM criteria)

Criteria:-
The financial deficit should be present for at least one day or more (this could be on the overgenerous side). Milder episodes of shorter duration have been known to occur. (Forgetting to bring money to pay for concerts, or movies, or restaurants).
Patients suspected should be carefully questioned about all aspects of their financial condition.

History:-
Look for a history of :-
Income Deficiency Disorder (or IDD); from which it needs to be distinguished. It is often triggered by Job Deficiency Disorder (or JDD), [Beware of the existence of dual or possible triple diagnoses.]
Redundancy Disorder (or RD) or Multiple Redundancy Disorder (or MRD) is commonly associated.
No job or source of legitimate income for 1 month. FDD symptoms can be masked by the concurrent presence of Illegitimate Income Disorder (or I.I.D.). This is generally known as crime, stealing, thievery etc.
Here, an astute clinician will detect the presence of a Dole Dependency Disorder or DDD. This disorder manifests as a co-dependent coalition between the Department of Labour or Work and Income (WINZ) and the patient. The WINZ is now named Income Support (which incidentally reveals the true nature of this patho-financial relationship). If the patient is a single female living alone with a dependent child the diagnosis is DPB/DD or Domestic Purposes Benefit Dependency Disorder.
These co-dependant relationships should be present for 3 months before a diagnosis of true Financial Deficit Disorder can be made.

Presentation and Clinical Features.
Stage 1
The main complaints are those of not being able to afford things. In other words it could be said that there is the presence of a ‘Deficiency of Affordance’ or D.A. As the disorder progresses, this deficiency becomes more generalised. Affected patients speak of not being able to afford practically anything. All suggestions, advice, given by any well meaning clinician are countered by the patient stating they are not able to afford to carry them out. This resistance or negative transference should on no account be interpreted or confronted, unless you want a black eye. One’s counter transference must always be recognised and held in check.
One will frequently find unpaid bills, letters from impatient bank managers and landlords, bank overdrafts, and letters threatening to sue to recover payment. Look especially for summonses for unpaid traffic fines. (a bad prognostic sign)
The mood is often dysthymic or depressed with all the characteristic signs of a major clinical depression (beware; this is not depression!), early morning waking, and lack of motivation. The future looks grim or even absent. As the presence of deficiency of affordance deepens, the complaints spread, and it is as if the patient cannot afford anything. The afflicted patient cannot afford to be happy, and in severe cases cannot afford to live. This tells the alert clinician to look for either the presence of suicidal ideation or the absence of the presence of living ideation. (ie wanting to live). Such ideations will be obscured by the lack of absence of the presence of financial ideation.
Alternatively, the symptoms of stress predominate, and disorders of anxiety become manifest, with panic attacks, and phobic anxiety.
Relationships with partners are fraught with frequent arguments about money and spending.
An absolute diagnostic sign is always the presence of bankruptcy which should always be looked for but its absence does not rule out the diagnosis. If a single bankruptcy is present, look for the presence of more than one, because you may be dealing with a Bipolar Financial Disorder where the patient swings wildly from wealth to penury. FDD itself could be a Unipolar expression of this disorder. A unipolar expression of its other extreme is where a patient will abruptly “go wealthic or hypo-wealthic (a less intense expression) ” and exhibit all the signs of an acute money overdose. (see later). A close relationship with the affective disorders is obvious.

Stage 2
Here the lack of affordance shows itself in an obvious deficiency of possessions. The car is sold, the house is sold for a smaller one, the swimming pool downsized, and any servants asked to leave. Flats get smaller, downsized to bed sitter, or even dormitory accommodation, and, in the extreme, under motorway residing.
Power, gas, and phone get cut off and clothing is second-hand and shoes are worn.
Because afflicted patients have either sold the car, or cannot afford to run one and cannot afford public transport, they are unable to get about and are said to posses Locomotional Inertia or LA. Thus they have a tendency to stay put.
The mood may turn to anger and desperation as the lack of affordance spreads. In this phase one might find theft, petty larceny, extortion, or prostitution as endeavours to boost falling financial levels. The low mood may lift but is replaced by secretiveness cunning and cynicism.

Stage 3
This is the chronic and most severe stage of this disorder.
Patients begin to cut down on food and sustenance. There is under-nutrition, or malnutrition. Here it becomes infectious and spreads to other members of the family affecting especially the children. There is lack of affordance of basic medical attention, prescriptions are given but cannot be paid for. Children and adults remain sick in spite of ‘free’ medical attention. Skin sores become obvious, and in children, otitis media goes untreated leading to glue ear and a condition known as Financially Induced Auditory Educational Deficit or FIAED develops, because they cannot hear at school. Children with FIAED may present with Job Deficiency or Dole Dependency Disorder as adults.
In this the final stages of this disorder sufferers often aggregate together in FDDG’s or Financial Dependency Disorder Ghettos. Such ghettos colloquially known as “slums” are extremely difficult to shift due to the concurrent presence of Locomotional Inertia which, like the individual patients, has them stay where they are. One of the authors (Tboni) actually visited several of these in Calcutta and saw the devastating effects of this stage first hand.
FDDG’s are prone to secondary bacterial epidemics such as plague, cholera, AIDS and, typhoid which sweep through them sometimes with appalling loss of life.. TB and Hepatitis A is endemic.
In this, its terminal stage, the disorder is known as Extreme Poverty.
Curiously enough, the mood disorder, which was manifest in the early stages is replaced by stark realism. There is more than enough life but for the day only. This can easily mislead the trained psychiatric observer into believing the sufferers are well. Diagnostic acumen is lost and the true extent of the disorder remains hidden.

Laboratory Findings.
In many cases the diagnosis will be fairly clear using the strict criteria above. In more doubtful cases the Financial Level or FL’s need to be checked by a recognised Financial Laboratory such as a chartered accountant, financial adviser, or money manager, or the next door neighbour. Special training is being set up to train FL analysts specifically for the purposes of diagnosis and treatment of FDD. FLs always need to be monitored during treatment.
In NZ the normal range of FL is quite wide and consultant advice is indispensable in managing treatment. (FL units = income minus outgoings divided by net worth)

Treatment
We have found here in Auckland that of the treatments available to us, the medication of choice is New Zealand money in dollars. At the moment we have not had the funds to research alternative formulations such as gold, silver, gemstones, stocks, shares, or investment notes.
NZ dollars have an advantage in that they are easily administered by gift, and seem to be readily accepted by our patients. To increase the dose one just increases the value of the notes given. So far non-compliance has not been a problem. However, as yet this treatment is in its infancy.

Dosage and Administration.
We prefer to administer the medication in notes, by hand, but coinage or cheque could be an option. A newer method in the pipeline is “EFTPOS for FDD” where the medication dosage is computer controlled, monitored, and recorded. ( We have a hardware manufacturer currently researching a handheld, computerised Financial Level device for our patients to do their own FLs and control their own dose. This is highly experimental)
It is usually advisable to start with a lowish dose* and work up until a response is achieved. In severe cases however, a high parental dose may be injected directly into the bank account.
A reasonable starting dose might be (according to the FL) say $50 tds and work up incrementally from there. Alternatively a once daily dose of $150 is usually better given mane, when it can be spent during the day.
However a nocte dose can allay anxiety preventing early onset insomnia. There is a danger it could provoke early morning wakening and morbid excitement about the spending to come.

Response
A steady decline in signs and symptoms, together with a compensatory rise in Financial Levels, should be looked for.
Affective signs improve first, followed by improvements in self esteem and motivation . Dysphoria shifts quite quickly. This shift is often abrupt, swinging into euphoria, (which can mimic a manic response and its associated spending sprees) as the possibility of spending up big begins to dawn.
Later this subsides, as the patient becomes eufinancial.
Physical signs such as a return of power, phone and gas are next followed by improvements in clothing and a gradual increase in possessions. Often but not always nutrition takes longer as there is a tendency to pig out on alcohol and junk food.
A rapid reduction in the job deficiency level could indicate that the patient has found a job. This is always favourable prognostic sign and suggests monetary treatment could even be discontinued.
Financial levels should be performed weekly and the dosage titrated.
Other parameters should also be used to adjust dosage. For example a drop in the Locomotional Inertia level suggests the patient is now getting out and about.

Treatment Duration:-
Treatment should continue till all signs and symptoms have resolved. The average case will probably need to stay on money indefinitely. If treatment is stopped too soon there will be a rapid return of symptoms usually worse than before and a great distrust of the clinician. A negative transference is common in such cases and this can only be resolved with high doses of the medication.

Adverse Affects:-
Tolerance and addiction can be problematic with financial treatment and the trained clinician should always be wary of the first signs.

Tolerance:-
Symptoms resolve at first but higher and higher doses are necessary to maintain financial levels.
Signs:- Look for concealed bank accounts, TAB slips, or sponging relatives.
Addiction:-
Higher and higher doses are demanded in spite of resolution of symptoms.
Signs:- Look for rapaciousness, and grandiose ideation. There is embezzlement or gambling. Grand larceny instead of petty theft,


Overdose
Overdose also can be a real problem.
Acute overdose:-
Sudden departure on world trips
Sudden appearance of a BMW
Porche
Mercedes
Ferrari
Rolls Royce in the garage.
Large new residences in sought after suburbs
Throwing of large parties with free booze at expensive hotels.
Sudden regular appearance at large international Casino’s.

Chronic overdose.
Ideas/delusions of grandeur. Harbouring notions of wanting to control the world. It is said that these patients have a tendency to get together and attempt to put together develop world control strategies.
Several large estates in international cities eg South of France.
Very Large bank accounts in overseas countries eg Switzerland, Cayman Islands.
Being given massive bonuses for financial failures in order to bribe politicians to continue treatment.


Other forms of treatment.
Psychotherapy or Counselling
This can also be used to successfully treat FDD.
More often it is used to treat the associated anxiety and depression. Here the aim should be to have the patient “accept” their poverty. Their negative feelings about this can be construed as resistance that they have not done so yet, therefore counselling or therapy is necessary. Any resistance to this notion obviously indicates severe psychopathology, and this should be pointed out to the patient.
If there is any difficulty in getting the patient to swallow this, one should always interpret the unconscious. It is clearly a sign of the patients’ “unconscious drive” to be poor. This drive can never be denied by the patient, since the facts will speak for themselves, and by definition one can never be conscious of what one is unconscious of.
Once this (load of codswallop) is accepted by the patient, one is free to indulge ones theory of choice. The FDD can be the result of oedipal issues, castration anxiety, birth trauma, faulty parental attachment and poor breast feeding. Role inadequacy, poor self esteem, wounded child within, childhood abuse or even faulty notions that one has a right to have money. The new cognitive behavioural therapies ideally lend themselves to this.
As a competent therapist, one can wax eloquently about the rewards of “getting well” or “getting better” of “coming to terms” with ones poverty. One could well exhort the patient of the benefits of Being free from the addiction to money. Poverty can be construed as a “blessed state” as the bible says, “Blessed are the poor”. (it is the result of one’s karma) New age Zen Buddhism is fraught with begging bowls and the like. Reincarnation ideally lends itself to the acceptance of one’s poverty. It could be pointed out that whilst one might be poor in this life in the next one could be wealthy.
The point could be made, as one writes out the bill, that the less money one has in this life, the richer one will be in the next.
The competent therapist, at the same time as indulging in their favourite therapy, can successfully delete money from the patient with the confidence that at least one of them is being treated for FDD. Perhaps even two are benefiting. Certainly, at least the therapist is benefiting and supervisor as well if the therapist is paying for their supervision.
If all counselling methods fail one is obviously dealing with a Financial Deficiency Personality Disorder or FDPD. These disorders are in actual fact, a subset of borderline patients, exhibiting as they do the whole range of affective and cognitive fiscal psychopathology. Since by definition, a personality disorder cannot be cured, the therapist can go on treating the patient for life, ensuring that the therapist at least, is getting the correct medication for their FDD in this life. (The ‘financially wounded healer’ as it were.)


Homoeopathic Treatment of FDD.
Homoeopathy is the treatment of a disorder with microscopic doses with the notion that it stimulates the natural response by the body.
We have not yet tried the homoeopathic approach but it has immense and cheap possibilities. Since homoeopathic doses are more powerful the less you give, a starting homeopathic dose might be say five cents three times daily working up to a stronger dose of one cent three times a day or even less. This would of course be a lot less expensive.
The dole tends to work in this way as does the DPB. The New Zealand Governments bumbling attempts to use homeopathic treatments such as the dole to treat FDD are in our view futile and reveal their ignorance of both homeopathy and FDD.

Jungian Analytic Psychotherapy
Here we might point out the emergence of a new archetype.
This is The Poverty or Indigent Archetype. This archetype has both the patient and the therapist in its grip.
It is an archetype that has been around for thousands of years and is very powerful in its expression. Coming to terms with this archetype could obviously take a lifetime of individuation; meanwhile payments for therapy can be transferred into the therapist’s bank account. In this case it is best for the patient to treat the therapist by arranging for automatic payments to be paid into the therapist’s bank account. This enables the therapist to go on treating the patient so he or she might become individuated. There is a co-dependency that is beneficial to both parties. The therapist gets medication for their FDD and the patient gets to be individuated.
Theory has it that this process only becomes complete a few minutes before death, so there is plenty of scope.


Differential Diagnosis
We believe that FDD is not only misdiagnosed but also mistreated. It can present in many forms. There is a strong association we believe with the affective disorders especially the Bipolar Affective Disorders (see later) and the anxiety disorders.

Financial Deficit disorder; Depression and the Anxiety Disorders

We believe that many diagnosed with depression or anxiety are misdiagnosed and have in actual fact, an underlying FDD. Furthermore the FDD actually triggers the depression or anxiety. These patients are misdiagnosed, and this misdiagnosis masks the underlying FDD.
Basically, these patients are just heartily pissed off with not having enough money to make ends meet, and the trial and effort of having to get people to give them some, is enough to make anyone ropable, anxious, depressed, or drive them to drink for that matter.
Giving antidepressants or anxiolytics is an attempt to bribe them into not noticing exactly how pissed off they actually are.
This is why our treatment works and is so successful. We treat the actual cause, not the symptoms.
If the depression is treated with antidepressants, the FDD goes unnoticed, financial levels remain low, Job Deficiency remains high and Locomotional Inertia will persist. This happens because they don’t have two cents to rub together.

We maintain that all cases in which depression or anxiety occur should be treated as FDD in the first instance and treated with money. In other words treated with gold-dust instead of bull-dust!

If in fact FDD is not present the money will be harmless spent or saved and no permanent damage is done. The disorder can then be treated appropriately.
A bold experimental regimen (the M or M regimen) currently under trial is to administer a dosage of dough equivalent to the cost of the therapist’s or psychiatrist’s assessment fee (in private currently round about $450/hour) together with the amount of money that would be spent on medication (56 prozac caps was $98.81). The patient could then have the choice to medicate herself or himself with the money or the medication. (M or M)
This two phase process recruits self caring and self responsibility in treatment and enhances a positive therapeutic outcome. Needless to say this needs to be overseen by a competent consultant clinician who has been fully trained in the recognition and treatment of FDD and is the holder of a current practising certificate, and has ongoing and verified supervision to cope with the transference issues that arise.
We believe that such misdiagnosis is disastrous for the patient and result in vast amounts of public money being squandered in mistreatment. These funds inevitably end up in the coffers of pharmaceutical corporations instead of being given to the hapless victims of this terrible and under-diagnosed condition in order to treat them for their disorder.
Alternatively, the funds are channelled into buying computers for Mental Health Management Systems in order to manage the patients. Here there is a complete misunderstanding of the whole issue because it is not the Mental Health Management who needs the computers; it is the patients. We believe either the money or the computers should be given to the patients, who could either treat themselves or use a computer to keep track of their respective failing financial disorders, a boost for their own morale and autonomy. Either way, it is obvious the patients would then not require managing, Mental Health Management then wouldn’t need to buy the computers, and we could all get on with treatment.

Financial Deficiency Disorder and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
or FDD & PTSD
The onset of FDD we believe may also trigger those who have abusive histories and therefore precipitate the onset of PTSD. Once again the PTSD gets the treatment whilst the underlying FDD goes undiagnosed and untreated.
The ACC has the right idea, but we think that once approved, the ACC could give the patient the money and the patient could have the option of self medicating with the money or spending it on counselling.
A hitherto un-researched area is that of childhood financial abuse. The unsuspecting victim is given either too much or too little and there is wilful exploitation of the primitive financial ego to cope with $$s. The perpetrators are often well known to the families, devoted uncles, aunts grandparents or even parents themselves. Personalities can become devastated, with splitting, dissociation, and possibly even the development of multiple alters to cope with swings in capital.


Aetiology, Treatment and Prevention.
Lines for future research.
So far, anthropological evidence suggests that Financial Deficit Disorder affects those cultures that use money as legal tender. (money, as in dough, funds or funding, cash, spondulicks, jimmy o goblins, finances, stuff, wherewithal, proceeds, filthy lucre, shekels, brass, lac, coin, mint, zillions, pile etc..). The expression of FAD in a barter cultures is at present unknown but could be related to the ‘potlatch’ of Indigenous North Americans where possessions are given away in a huge squander, leaving the potlatches in a condition now know as Possession Deficit.
A far more important but closely related condition affecting predominantly indigenous peoples and cultures is the Land Deficit Disorder, as exemplified in New Zealand.
The steps involved in the development of this disorder are as follows.
The first step is the colonising of “newly discovered” land by an overseas foreign power. (Namely Britain)
Secondly is the negotiating of “treaties about land” with much fanfare with these same indigenous peoples. (The Maori)
The next step is crucial in the pathogenesis of the disorder.
For full clinical manifestations to take place, the visitors (in NZ the Manuhiri mostly the “pakeha”) are then required to connive and swindle the indigenous peoples (the Tangatawhenua) out of the treaty previously negotiated. This can take many years. This policy of deliberate fleecing has the effect of causing gross inflammation of both cultures. Transference and counter transference are flagrantly acted out with protests, “brown eyes” the release of copious quantities of both parliamentary and media hot air and other offensive fumes. This accounts for the racial bias indicated at the beginning of the paper.
Both sides usually attempt supervision by their appropriate deities. Competition between the two deities for supervision is common. Personally we think the visitors supervisors with their Christian crosses, haven’t made a very good fist of it so far, and we consider it is about time the indigenous deities had a larrup. Maui is reputed to have caught the whole shebang from the bottom of the sea so we don’t see why he shouldn’t have a say.
Once again we see inappropriate diagnosis and mistreatment. Since the cause is a deficiency of land it is easy to see that fiscal envelopes, even fiscal parcels for that matter, just won’t wash.
The treatment medication proper, for Land Deficiency Disorder is land, earth, ground, geography, terra-firma, dirt, acres, property, & real estate; preferably flowing with the indigenous equivalent of milk & honey. This is not the time to treat with the occasional acre on a PRN basis.
No.
What is required is a large dose of property properly administered. We advocate a combination therapy. That is, a balanced combination of coastline, mainland, isthmuses, delta’s, bush, mountain & highland, promontories, and cliffs. Needless to say absolute politically correct protocols, should be strictly observed, to minimise inflammation.

Historical issues.
Historically, Financial Deficit Disorder has been with us for at least two thousand years. Biblical records reveal it was even present at the time of Christ; who Himself was probably the first clinician not only to recognise the disorder but also to prescribe the correct treatment. He was fully aware of the spiritual benefits that accrued to both the giver and receiver of treatment. He stated (and this is on biblical record) that of the three virtues the greatest was charity,(ie treatment or giving money away). He was Known for His Efforts in health promotion in advocating the giving of Alms to the Poor (treating the financially disordered). Buddhist monks as early as 2500 years ago were known to voluntarily take on FDD and beg for treatment with a bowl in order to obtain spiritual enlightenment.
In our technologically elite society however we do not have to use such primitive and archaic methodology. With current advances in psycho neuro pharmacology and cognitive neurobiology we can look for a definitive treatment and even a permanent cure for this old world disorder.
We do know that centauries of treatment with social, political and economical remedies are simply futile because they do not address the root cause.
We believe that the use of money as described above as a specific treatment is a real breakthrough. Yet we also believe that the use of legal tender is in the long run liable to be just too expensive. In other words, the cost of money could be just too high.

Future lines of Research:-
We think that a breakthrough lies in the new area we have distinguished as Neuro-Psycho-Financial-Pharmacology. (or NEPSYFIP) We do know that spending sprees occur in the manic phase of bipolar disorder. [Most authorities now accept that this is a neuropsychological disorder.] We also know that spending sprees (like the potlatch) not only result in possession deficit, but are one of the signs of an acute money overdose.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging [MRI] together with Positron Emission Tomography [PET} scans could examine the living brain to determine the metabolism of glucose while patients are in the act of actually spending their money. What happens to their oxygen uptake and their cerebral microcirculation as they acquire, or are deprived of money? PET and MRI scan equipment should be set up in banks, casinos, Racing Clubs, Stock Exchanges & DSW offices as well as Lottery outlets.
All patients on the dole could have mandatory MRI scans. This could locate the existence of a cerebral nucleus deep within the limbic system, which we have named the nucleus fiscalus or financial centre of the brain. This centre we believe controls all aspects of our financial management behaviour. It is obviously very close to the affective control centre that is responsible for affective disorders but has never before been distinguished as such. If MRI scans were done on indigenous peoples we might even find the location of not only the Poverty and Wealth nucleii but the elusive Cerebral Ownership Nucleus or CON.
At this stage we could ask ‘what are the neurotransmitters involved?’ Is there a specific financial neurotransmitter? Is there a CON susceptibility neuro-transmitter? Is this related to serotonin? Or is there a monoamine neuro- transmitter unique to the synaptic transmission of financial behaviour? Are there financial receptor sites and could they be blocked or facilitated?
Here is the domain of the neuro-psycho-financial pharmacologist. Such an individual should posses degrees in both Medicine, and Science, with Double Majors in Pharmacology and Neurophysiology, be Financial Members (in good standing) of both the Royal N.Z College of Psychiatrists and the New Zealand Association of Psychotherapists, have degrees in Philosophy Law, and Commerce, as well as Accountancy and Masters in Business Studies and Economics, together with Women’s Studies; be fluent in Maori, as well as be knowledgeable in Alternative Theologies. A Major in Quantum Physics and Genetics would also be an advantage. Practical experience in all these subjects would be, of course, essential and mandatory.
Is FDD the result of a disordered fiscal centre? These questions open up the possibility of a medication that could treat those already affected by intervention in the synaptic cleft either by blocking financial receptors or promoting the synthesis of financial transmitter molecules.
Alternatively stereotactic surgery might be utilised to remove or destroy a faulty financial centre in those financially deficit. Once removed it might even be possible to transplant it or even synthesise a computer chip to duplicate its functions.
Another line of inquiry is genetic. Is the financial centre genetically controlled?. If these genes were removed what would be the gender of the jewels exposed? We also postulate the existence of a financial gene or ‘fincogene’ responsible for the operation of the financial centre. This operation is probably sex linked. Such a gene or combination of genes could be triggered in childhood by the over prescription of birthday presents or gifts from the tooth fairy or Easter Bunny.
The determination of the structure of this molecule could herald the possibility of a final cure of FDD.
Brain and bone marrow samples could be taken from leading financiers and the exceptionally wealthy in order to isolate this ‘fincogene’. The bone marrow and cerebrum from such financial luminaries as Warren Buffett Donald Trump Rupert Murdoch, Bill Gates, The Queen, and former president Mobutu of Zaire should be harvested in an all out search for the gene. This gene could then be synthesised and injected directly into the brains of the poverty stricken, the resultant wealth would liberate our economy from the financial strictures of Financial Deficiency Disorder forever.
Like smallpox, lack of money might just become a memory and the poor a fading memory.

Important notice:-
We in Auckland have mild attacks of FDD from time to time. We willingly volunteer our services as subjects for experiments in money overdose and will not hold experimenters liable for any adverse effects provided the dose is sufficiently large..
Tboni

Breakthrough in Mental Health. Part One

Newsflash Newsflash Newsflash

Important Announcement

Breakthrough in Mental Health
A First for Community Mental Health in Auckland
(a Community Mental Health Centre in Auckland New Zealand)

By Tboni

After extensive research amongst our colleagues, we in Auckland believe we have discovered a hitherto unrecognised disorder that could be widespread in our community and even infectious.
A disorder that could be responsible for the emotional, psychological, mental and physical suffering of thousands possibly millions of its innocent victims worldwide.
It occurs we believe most frequently amongst the disadvantaged and underprivileged, the poor and poverty stricken, the unhappy, the depressed and stressed; those particularly at the lower levels of our society. It has a racial as well as a female gender bias.
We claim that the recognition of this disorder, its diagnostic criteria, and its treatment regimens have never before been distinguished.
Up till this historic time, the disorder appears nowhere in psychiatric literature or in the DSM (fourth edition, to the best of our knowledge) and we claim it could be a “world first”, for Henderson House, reflecting credit on the Community Mental Health Centres of the Waitemata CHE, and glory on its Mental Health Management. We believe that, because the prevalence of this disorder, (present evidence suggests we have seen just the tip of the iceberg), its severity, and the degree of suffering it gives rise to, urgent attention should be given to making this knowledge public. Millions could be affected by this disorder worldwide, as compared to a mere ten or so with mad cow disease.
Furthermore, a research group should be set up immediately, to investigate the severity and prevalence of this disorder, its long term effects and demographic boundaries.
This paper, for the first time, distinguishes the disorder, outlines the important diagnostic criteria, the differential diagnosis, the treatment of choice, and outlines treatment protocols, adverse effects, and suggests important avenues for future research. We do not claim this is at all comprehensive, and some of our findings may eventually be found to be mistaken, but it is a start, and much more work needs to be done.
Because this disorder has never before been distinguished as such, we are unsure where it should lie in current psychiatric nosology. We would appreciate suggestions.