Symptomania

Cover image for the Symptomania word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Symptomania

n.
the fantasy that there’s some elaborate diagnosis out there that neatly captures the kind of person you are, tying together your many flaws and contradictions into a single theme—which wouldn’t necessarily sort out the mess inside your head but would at least let you mark it with a little sign so people know to walk around it.

From symptom + mania.

Deep Gut

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Nighthawk

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Proluctance

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Candling

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Symptomania

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Sayfish

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Rubatosis

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The Giltwrights

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Addleworth

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Vicarous

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Leidenfreude

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Endzoned

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Povism

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Fool’s Guilt

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Agnosthesia

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Lyssamania

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Wellium

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Hiddled

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Ioia

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Tillid

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Midsummer

a person standing in a garden holding a clock

Ne’er-Be-Gone

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Falesia

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Gaudia Civis

a close-up of a gear

Ledsome

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Candling

Cover image for the Candling word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Aftersome

rows of opaque and clear marbles