When a Diagnosis Isn't Real
If you're a fan of Boston Legal, you know that Jerry "Hands" Espenson had/has a girlfriend named Leigh. On Tuesday night's episode he defended her when she was fired from her teaching job for hugging a student.
What I love about Boston Legal is that it tackles big issues with a real in-your-face attitude, mixed with a heavy measure of quirkiness. This episode was no different. It combined the major questions about whether children can / should / need hugs (whether we all need hugs and acceptance) with the fact that Leigh had been previously "diagnosed" with "objectaphilia."
What's objectaphilia? An "objectaphile" is presumably sexually attracted to (and able to fall in love with) objects. In previous episodes, Leigh had trouble deciding between Jerry and a clock radio. They actually broke up at one point when she fell in love with an I-phone.
If you aren't a fan of Boston Legal, then its quite likely you've never heard of objectaphilia. That would be because .... it doesn't really exist. It's not a REAL condition or psychosis. It was made up for the TV show.
I did do a few minutes worth of research to see if objectaphilia was real. There are a few references through sites such as the Urban Dictionary. But they seem to be as tongue-in-cheek as Boston Legal.
Why is this important to patient empowerment? It's important to people who have had trouble getting a diagnosis, or who remain undiagnosed.
One of the big complaints I hear from patients who can't get a diagnosis is that their doctors have told them, or alluded, that their problem is all in their head.
Others who have sought a diagnosis for a period of time are finally relieved to be diagnosed with something odd they may never have heard of before. They may even go online to research their new diagnosis, only to find there's really not much information about it.
It may be that the diagnosis has been made up. It may be bogus. There's even a name for these invented conditions -- a trashcan diagnosis. It indicates that the practitioner has given up, and simply made something up to appease the patient. It has likely been treated with a placebo, too.
If you are having trouble finding information about your diagnosis, then you may have been given a trashcan diagnosis, too. It's worth your time to read up on why this occurs, then to take steps to do something about it.
A real clue? If you begin having strange feelings for your I-phone... get help. Other symptoms should lead you to a second opinion doctor, with test results and previous notes in hand.
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Photo: Christian Clemenson plays Jerry Espenson on Boston Legal
© Frazer Harrison / Getty Images
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Comments
you might find objectaphillia or objecuum sexuality is a real ‘condition’ if you look for objectum sexuality you will fidn newspaper articals etc about mainly wonen suffering aspergers syndrome MARYING ‘the berlin wall and the eiffel tower not to mention sexual intercorse with fareground rides etc etc
They just had an objectaphile on Nip/Tuck. recently. The guy feel in love with a couch and treated it like a woman, he even spread its cushions like legs,lol. I understand being Materialistic and truly loving something inanimate but I don’t get how someone could actually fall in love with it.
Hi there,
Iʻve actually done the first study of people who identify as having a sexual or emotional orientation to Objects. While many of them have an Aspergerʻs Syndrome or Autism diagnosis or feel they are “on the spectrum” – others are not. The angle Iʻm researching now focuses on a form of synesthesia called “object personification synesthesia.” Interestingly, synesthesia of various kinds are found in a higher percentage of people with Autism.
The best thing we can do is keep our minds open and be accepting as long as people arenʻt hurting themselves or others.
Thank you!