Ever since I ran into our very own Tayler Mayer of Deaf Read blogsite last Sunday, I have been thinking about our conversation and how others joined in. We were discussing how strange it was that many of us are suffering headaches, lack of sleep and even back pains that we never had before. We all concurred these symptoms can be dated back to the start of the Gallaudet protests. Last night, I remembered something that I learned in my cultural anthropology class a few years back, and I had to go back to my old files to look it up. Here we go:

Certain syndromes (illnesses) has a phenomenology resembling many culture-bound (culture-specific) syndromes described in the anthropological literature. Syndromes can be an appropriate symbolic representation of conflicting societal expectations of certain peoples within a society. By simultaneously denying certain peoples' right OR alternative, syndromes translates role conflict into a standardized cultural illness. Thus, despite obvious biopsychological determinants, certain syndromes can be best understood as a sociocultural phenomenon illustrating both the special status of certain peoples and culture-specific in its own backyard.

Huh? I know. Let's put our headaches, lack of sleep and backaches into a new term: Deaf Tension Syndrome (DTS). Let's re-write the paragraph above and see how it comes out:

Deaf Tension Syndrome (DTS) has a phenomenology resembling many culture-bound (culture-specific) syndromes described in the anthropological literature. DTS is an appriopriate symbolic representation of conflicting societal expectations of Deaf people within a society. By simultaneously denying Deaf peoples' rights, DTS translates role conflict into a standardized cultural illness. Thus, despite obvious biopsychological determinants, DTS can be best understood as sociocultural phenomenon illustrating the special status of Deaf people and their culture.

How's this now? I say that Jane stuck a pin into a very special Voodoo Doll called the Deaf World. That is why most of us are suffering from DTS. We have to find a way to undo that pin, or we're stuck with DTS from now on...I shudder from the very thought.