What mental disorders would you develop during a zombie apocalypse?

[flesheating]

Living in an undead world will cause trauma to most people and the longer one lives alone the more likely they are to develop types of mental disorders. As time goes on, the death toll rises, and the undead slowly take over... which disorders do you believe that you, yourself, would be most susceptible to?

I personally believe I would be most likely to develop schizophrenia. I tend to enjoy being around people most of the time and I feel like being stuck in a safe house alone would eventually lead me to living in my head and becoming more imaginative than I already am. And I feel that after that I would find myself projecting these imaginary characters into real life and having verbal conversations with something I perceive to exist out of loneliness.

[Legion2213]

I'm okay with my own company, so I could handle that.

I might become a zombie molestor if I wasn't getting any pussy. :D

Seriously though, it's a pretty good question...any sort of "armageddon" scenario is going to produce some trauma for survivors.

[soulsyfn]

I think I would wind up reverting back into a more animalistic self preservation mode... i would probably rely on instincts which would leave me alone and I too will no longer be human...

[Philly_SWAT]

Is "blue balls" a mental disorder?

[DubiousComforts]

Is "blue balls" a mental disorder?

It is if your brain happens to be located in your nutsack.

(Obviously, an affliction common to HPOTD.) :D

[MikePizzoff]

It is if your brain happens to be located in your nutsack.

(Obviously, an affliction common to HPOTD.) :D

Hi-ohhhh!!!

Seriously, though, this is a great topic. Don't think I've seen this one on here, surprisingly.

I know I'd go insane without contact with other humans. I'd be okay for like the first week or so, but after that things in my brain would start to snap. I'd probably do something like Tom Hanks did in Castaway, as an attempt to save his sanity, and draw myself a "friend" to talk to (talk at).

As far as blue balls go... I'd just make my way across the country to get myself a Real Doll.

http://www.angryzenmaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/realdoll01.jpg

[Wyldwraith]

Hmm,
Paranoia (of course), but then again, it isn't Paranoia if they really ARE out to get you. Some form of disassociative disorder certainly. My mind would need a buffer between it and the tactile sensation of feeling the still-having-a-soft-spot skull of a five or six year old zombie child cave in beneath a full-strength swing with a blunt object, or just all the gore and necessary violence in general. Probably something along the line of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), where after the initial shock I might be completely calm and in control despite the horrors being flung in my face, but then going to pieces Barbara-style once I'm somewhere safe.

Many people would no doubt suffer from a degree of Atavism (the mental regression to something similar to an earlier evolutionary state) that some posters have mentioned, and anti-social leanings would become the order of the day.

Some people who simply can't accept having their world completely upended in such a way that they've gone from complacent consumer to Object-to-be-consumed by huge numbers of once-human individuals all around them would no doubt give in to delusions of normalcy, denial, or even a catatonia-like fugue state (which might be the most merciful mental defense, since the Fugue is so deep they literally wouldn't be aware of being taken apart while still breathing.)

Khardis-like psychosis and sociopathy would be incredibly common. All those people with milder cases of such traits that fear of law enforcement/consequences keep in check right now would look on a world without law as their own private amusement park of dark delights.

Even transference would be possible. Where humans come to place the zombies/the undead condition at the center/highest value of some sort of cult. Feeling they could somehow benefit/be rewarded by the force/entity reanimating the dead for their "loyalty." These would of course also be suffering from delusions and denial, but the worst ones would be those high-ranking cult members who clearly saw the truth, but used the deluded beliefs of the cult followers to create an environment of perpetrated horrors, custom-designed to satiate their twisted longings.

For example, a sociopath who likes to be a spectator to a situation of ever-increasing terror for his chosen victim might develop Zombie vs. Human non-consensual "gladiatorial" type combats. Dump some captured humans into a pit with some woefully inadequate weapons and several large zombies. Such a sociopath would literally feast on every wild-eyed look of terror from those in the pit, and their pleas to be let out would be like sweet music to his ears.

And that's only scratching the very topmost layer of human depravity. In a post-apocalypse world, zombies could well be one of the more merciful ways one could die. Being eaten alive would be horrible beyond words, but being forced to try and defend yourself with an Exacto-Knife/box-cutter against multiple zombies BEFORE you inevitably get eaten would be even worse.

Just my .02

[bassman]

As far as blue balls go... I'd just make my way across the country to get myself a Real Doll.

http://www.angryzenmaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/realdoll01.jpg

A plastic Goldie Hawn?

[rongravy]

Super depressed if all my loved ones were dead, especially my kid. Then I might just get a little too rambunctuous/suicidal in any and all fights afterward. Go berserk alot, probably fuck up somewhere in there...

[acealive1]

dementia would develop for sure. people would start to question what was 'real' and what wasnt

[Alzombiehunter]

I honestly think that depression and losing hope in the world would be the quickest psychological reations. I mean let's face it, in movies it looks cool and people just think about jumping all over the place shooting zombies, but even just the movies make you feel dread. Imagine living the real thing. Just the fact of shooting people even if they're dead, and having to shoot your own family when they die. That would be shocking for me at least.

[blind2d]

Since I'm already mentally imbalanced... hoo boy, I'd be the nut the other loons think is batty. Depression, paranoia, and of course my multiple personalities would surface... dang, I'd sure be the fun guy to be around!
Murdoc: That's all right mate, we like you just the way you are!
2D: I don't get it... isn't a fun guy a mushroom? Why would you be a mushroom?
Murdoc: That's enough out of you!

[flesheating]

I honestly think that depression and losing hope in the world would be the quickest psychological reations. I mean let's face it, in movies it looks cool and people just think about jumping all over the place shooting zombies, but even just the movies make you feel dread. Imagine living the real thing. Just the fact of shooting people even if they're dead, and having to shoot your own family when they die. That would be shocking for me at least.

I think there would be a lot of suicide during a zombie apocalypse just for this reason. So much death, so many loved ones dead... leaves you without any want to exist anymore.

[Wyldwraith]

You'd be surprised,
As someone with personal EXPERT experience in feelings/longings towards ending my life because of the horrible pain I experience each and every hour of each and every day in every week/month/year, I can tell you that my preconditioned "Suicide will send you to Hell" programming is ALL that keeps me from mixing up a doozy of a cocktail of meds that within 15 mins of swallowing I'd just drift off to sleep and then death. That "Suicide = Going to Hell" programming is DEEPLY INGRAINED in many of us who grew up in Christian backgrounds. Not talking about fundamentalist whacko families either, you just pick up this bone-deep conviction somewhere along the line that Suicide will make God cut his losses and give up on you. I know people who've abandoned the faith they were brought up in decades ago who still wouldn't consider suicide seriously. Dally with the idea fantasy like? Sure. Really and truly commit to it? Very, very few.

I suspect that this conditioning is VERY widespread in many Christian-dominated countries. US/Canada/Mexico/Italy/Eastern Europe, large portions of Russia, etc. Asian culture seems to embrace the concept of Suicide-as-personal-choice much in the same way that America embraces the idea of abortion being legal, despite the fact that nearly half the population could not possibly be more against it. Society-wise, we consider it the woman's choice, in much the same way that I believe some Asian cultures/societies view suicide. As personal choice.

In the West though? I think many people might develop psychological/behavioral issues that would rapidly lead to their demise, but I draw back short of the conclusion that even those people really would overtly make the choice to die.

Despair is insidious and it can twist everything about you. Trust me, I ***KNOW***. But despair alone isn't enough to push people to that decision. Much more likely is that the hopelessness/despair would goad them into taking chances they never would've taken with their lives if they weren't in the depths of despair.

The fooling around with the trucks that leads to Roger being bitten to his carelessness in Dawn is a picture-perfect example of what I'm talking about. Roger didn't stick his leg out and wait for a zombie to bite it as he watched, but his mindset lead him to make decisions that brought about his demise through high-risk behavior that in a clearer state of mind he never would've engaged in.

Some might call the distinction I'm drawing semantics. Saying that "Dead is Dead." I disagree, because many people would reach situations of nearly absolute well-supplied safety, and if they just stayed put they'd be fine. Many of these would never resolve themselves to end their lives, but for one reason or another they'd come up with a reason they "need" to begin going out into the zombie-infested outside world again, and eventually one of these high-risk trips would get them killed.

Is that suicide? No. There was no concrete decision to end their lives. Roger and Peter running around the Mall smiting zombies as they cleared the place out could easily have gotten one or both of them killed, but it wouldn't have been suicide. On the other hand, if they had watched from a hiding place on the roof as dozens upon dozens of heavily armed bikers busted into their mall, knew due to their training and basic common sense they couldn't win a pitched or running gun-battle with the invading bikers due to being so vastly outnumbered, yet still chose to make an overt "Last Stand" against the bikers, then that yes would be suicide.

Yea, I'm probably overthinking it, but I still don't believe that invalidates my line of conclusions. What do the rest of you think?

[DEAD BEAT]

i'd say the fear of running outta beautiful women & being stuck with the dog pound! lmao "im just sayin"

---------- Post added at 09:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:30 AM ----------


Hi-ohhhh!!!

Seriously, though, this is a great topic. Don't think I've seen this one on here, surprisingly.

I know I'd go insane without contact with other humans. I'd be okay for like the first week or so, but after that things in my brain would start to snap. I'd probably do something like Tom Hanks did in Castaway, as an attempt to save his sanity, and draw myself a "friend" to talk to (talk at).

As far as blue balls go... I'd just make my way across the country to get myself a Real Doll.

http://www.angryzenmaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/realdoll01.jpg

judging by this pic.....unlike Tom Hanks im pretty sure you'd be drawing that face on your palm! lmao i know i probably would! lol

[flesheating]

i'd say the fear of running outta beautiful women & being stuck with the dog pound! lmao "im just sayin"

---------- Post added at 09:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:30 AM ----------



judging by this pic.....unlike Tom Hanks im pretty sure you'd be drawing that face on your palm! lmao i know i probably would! lol

Hopefully the lack of lovin wont be your undoing. And am I the only one who noticed the big gap between the teeth on that doll. I would have to get braces for mine :)

[DEAD BEAT]

Hopefully the lack of lovin wont be your undoing. And am I the only one who noticed the big gap between the teeth on that doll. I would have to get braces for mine :)

Actually that gap could be a good thing! ;)

[GRMonLI]

Agoraphobia????????

[Trencher]

Agoraphobia sounds like a natural fear to develop other than that I think paranoia and psychotic tendencies?

[Mitchified]

I'd probably develop some serious obsessive-compulsive disorders. When I'm really concentrating or trying to work out a problem, I tend to do things like grind my teeth in a certain way or tap my fingers on the desk in strange patterns, so I can only imagine how amplified that behavior would become in such a ridiculously stressful situation.

[Gryphon]

I think I'd go all Doctor Logan... :evil: But maybe less crazy..... maybe... :elol:


Some people who simply can't accept having their world completely upended in such a way that they've gone from complacent consumer to Object-to-be-consumed by huge numbers of once-human individuals all around them would no doubt give in to delusions of normalcy, denial, or even a catatonia-like fugue state (which might be the most merciful mental defense, since the Fugue is so deep they literally wouldn't be aware of being taken apart while still breathing.)


I just pictured Paris Hilton being torn apart while she hopefully clung to a wad of hundreds... and I laughed :)

[integra28]

Suicidal would probably come into it for most after along time suffering from no human contact and always being of edge, thats if you managed to survive on what food/water you could gather whilst trying to keep yourself alive.

It might be a hoot for the first few weeks doing as you please until the reality really set in. I'd probably just be drunk all the time driving about in a 4x4 with a shed load of guns (if I could find them!) and see how it would pan out for me.

[DjfunkmasterG]

I like keeping the amount of people around me to a minimum... so i am not worried about contact with others.

Blu-Balls???? You have a hand and good collection of porn PROBLEM SOLVED!

One thing that bothers me the most and I have noticed it more and more as I have worked in the Bio-Pharma and Bio-Tech industries is I am becoming OCD in regards to Germ-a-phobia. Because of the rigid regiment of constantly rtying to keep things in sterile conditions as well as the numerous procedures that go along with it, and after seeing many vile things we don't normally see magnified 1000 times over, I would be gong through Hand Sanitizer like no tomorrow. I have almost gotten to the point of not wanting to shake hands with people anymore because of how much shit I have seen, and knowing the filthy habits people partake in daily and routine hygiene.

Trust me if you ever swabbed a door handle and grew the microbes in a petri dish and magnified them it would make you quite sick to your stomach.

[MoonSylver]

. I have almost gotten to the point of not wanting to shake hands with people anymore because of how much shit I have seen, and knowing the filthy habits people partake in daily and routine hygiene.

You're right, people are filthy buggers.

Put 'er there pal:
http://dasabookcafe.com.www.readyplanet.net/images/1095836787/dirty%20hand%202.jpg

:lol: