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.

Funkenzwangsvorstellung

Funkenzwang-svorstellung

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

Trumspringa

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

Craxis

a tall house of cards

Irrition

a close up of a dandelion

Beloiter

a person sitting at a slot machine

Dolorblindness

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