WORD OF THE DAY: ANASAGNOSIA
Photo by Daniele Levis Pelusi on Unsplash
“He doesn’t know he’s sick,” a friend said this morning; “he simply can’t separate fantasy from reality. It’s called anasagnosia.”
The friend was referring to a politician who will remain nameless, but I think it may be a national malady. By definition anasagnosia is “a neurological condition in which the patient is unaware of his or her neurological deficit or psychiatric condition.”
Or maybe, reality. For exampIe, I have a habit of getting national news from the print edition of the New York Times, from PBS and NPR and a few left-leaning TV channels. But at least twice a week I watch another major TV channel favored by those of a more conservative mindset. It presents a narrative that makes perfect sense, and most days bears absolutely no relation to anything I’ve gleaned from the sources above.
(If you get your national news from social media, well, bless your heart. There’s no hope for you.)
To be clear, there is nothing humorous or satiric about anasagnosia. In the realm of mental illness it applies to many of the worst diagnoses.
But half the country, I think, may be suffering from it. (Pick whichever half you like.) A changed, hopeful future can emerge from a dangerous present. And scary past. But which past, and which future? Are half of us blind to our blindness?
If there is relief, before mid-November, I’m not sure what it might be. But for the mentally healthy there is, at least, a treatment: Work to support your reality. Write letters, send postcards. Speak softly but carry a copy of the Constitution. Vote.
And be kind to the other half.