And what kind of honest insight can you expect from someone who makes their living dealing with psychoses and neuroses? If you deviate from the standard protocol for which the insurance company will pay...POOF...there goes your BMW. My point here is that the people who know enough to comment will, for a variety of reasons, not usually do so. Dr. Peele appears to be one of the few exceptions.

He mentions Chinese men in SE Asia suffering from something called Koro. The individual in this case is absolutely convinced that his genitals are shrinking up into his body and growing smaller.  No amount of reassurance will change his mind. In this country, we see just the opposite phenomenon. Men consume a wide assortment of outrageously priced herbs and vitamins convinced their genitals are growing larger.

Also in SE Asia, men will sometimes fly into murderous rages and then conveniently forget anything they might have said or done. A similar syndrome occurs in the Middle East where, instead of running Amok, it's called Zar and results in dissociative states. In some places, court sentences are more lenient if an ill wind was blowing at the time of the offense. It's like the Devil made me do it.

But let me tie all these make believe syndromes together with something I call the BOO! Disorder. Guests attending a Malaysian event - say, for example, a wedding party - will often find an episode of Iatah especially entertaining. The father of the bride will sneak up behind a matronly granny and smartly clap his hands together. The previously dignified woman will then fly into a tirade and for a few minutes (arms waving, mouth foaming and eyes rolling) spout the most obscene language imaginable. People all but split their sides at this raucous spectacle. The matriarch then pulls herself together and claims no knowledge of what just occurred...a curious cultural oddity indeed.

What's more, though versions of this hyper-startle reflex can be found in Japan (Imu) in Siberia (Myriachit) and the Philippines (Mali-Mali), in none of those countries is it considered a cause for concern. But come to America and you find Hyperexplexia listed in the DSM IV, treated with Clonazepan and thought to be a genetic abnormality effecting glycine receptors.

Don't get me wrong. I know that there are times when drugs can help and when they're essential. But just how often is that exactly? This becomes less a question and more an issue when you consider the most common side effects of Clonazepan - clumsiness, drowsiness, dizziness, lightheadedness, unsteadiness and slurred speech. The most common withdrawal symptoms include irritability, nervousness and trouble sleeping. Needless to say, these are all symptoms for which additional medication may be prescribed. Talk about making mountains from molehills, did you know the average Medicare patient has 30 prescriptions?

Less common symptoms include:
abnormal thinking, disorientation, delusions, loss of sense of reality, agitation, behavior changes, aggressive behavior, bizarre behavior, decreased inhibition, outbursts of anger, convulsions, hallucinations, hypotension, muscle weakness, skin rash, itching, sore throat, fever, chills, ulcers, uncontrolled movements, unusual bleeding, bruising, unusual excitement, fatigue, weakness and yellow eyes or skin.

And yet, when you suggest to addictive types that they might simply eat appropriately or limit their alcohol or avoid buying pills in parking lots, they get sore. Look at hypnotized subjects who pretend to be chickens or religious acolytes who fall to the ground and get up cured and don't forget the Malaysian grandmother becoming the center of attention. As with kids who pretend to be sick to get a day off from school, have we created a society of adults seeking a payoff?

Look at it this way, what percent of helpless victims do you think are really playing a role that society has scripted?