We are ignoring a debilitating disease. It lies just under the surface in all human society and it’s so well hidden few people even know it exists. It’s like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was decades ago. As common as PTSD was it took a long time to recognize and now we are just learning to treat it. We have even acknowledged it as a disability, which is a wonderful thing. However, similar diseases are waiting for the same consideration and they are also be debilitating. One of those under the radar diseases is called psychopathic comicism. You probably have never heard of it but you need to know it exists. It’s in our everyday lives, and people suffer from it, lots of people.
Those affected hide it well. So well we don’t usually notice. One reason is we find those who are affected entertaining, and that allows us to overlook their symptoms. A second reason this disease is difficult to diagnose is because it can easily be confused with psychopathy.
Comics often display similar characteristics to psychopaths and, like them, they quickly develop expertise at blending seamlessly into normal society. Still, the signs are evident, you only need to know exactly what to look for. One major indication is, afflicted comics don’t laugh at jokes. When they hear a really good joke their reaction is to flatly state, “that was funny.” If it was especially funny they will even steal it and incorporate it into their dialogues, but the difference is, when they tell the joke to their audience they laugh. They laugh a lot in fact, and not just at the stolen jokes they are telling but, strangely, they laugh at topics other people find serious. It’s as if their head is in a different space, which it is. As you might guess they don’t mix well in normal society.
We should really make an effort to be aware of them. They need our help.
Just a Picture
