Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah has admitted to suffering from a rare condition called Onomatomania in which a person keeps fixating on a particular word, phrase during their conversation. Making the revelation in his interview with a YouTube channel called Chalchitra Talks, the veteran actor said that the condition does not let him be at rest and he is constantly thinking of words and phrases in his mind. Shah revealed that even while he is asleep, his mind constantly thinks about the passage it loves.
In onomatomania, a person can’t get over the fixation of a particular word and its signification. The preoccupation in the mind often results in the person’s inability to recall a certain word or phrase while being obsessed with that. However, psychologists don’t see this obsession as a medical condition. Speaking to Hindustan Times, Dr Samir Parikh, Director of Mental Health and Behavioural Science of Fortis Healthcare, said that Onomatomania cannot be termed as a psychological condition. He explained that anything can be termed as an ailment only when it affects a person’s day-to-day life, however with Onomatomania, it is not the case.
He emphasized that it was almost impossible for Onomatomania to affect a person’s daily life and had not come across any such case till now. However, even if it did, Onomatomania would have many other manifestations and could only be one of the presentations of any existing condition or problem.
“Onomatomania is not a condition, it is a random term. So, let us not call this an illness per se or a psychological condition,” Parikh was quoted as saying.
Explaining Onomatomania with an example, Parikh said that with people who have a keen interest in literature or music, it often happens that they have repetitive thoughts about the things that they like. So, when you are not able to recollect a song or a quote, you constantly try to think about it and that is Onomatomania but beyond that, the obsession had no medical base.
