In an interview, actor Naseeruddin Shah said he suffers from a condition called Onomatomania, in which a person fixates on certain words and uses them repeatedly. For example, if you like the word “euphoria,” you will tend to use it whenever possible. Onomatomania is an obsession with a specific word. The dictionary defines it as an unusual focus on certain words and their supposed meanings or on an attempt to recall a particular word. “I have a disease called onomatomania. I’m not kidding. It is a medical condition. You can check it in the dictionary,” he said in an interview with Chalachitra Talks and went on to explain its meaning. “Onomatomania is an illness in which you keep repeating a word or phrase, a sentence, a poem or a speech over and over again for no reason at all. Except you enjoy listening to it. I do it all the time so I never fully rest. Even when I’m sleeping, I reread some of my favorite passages,” he said in the interview. Is it a psychological condition? Onomatomania has attracted the attention of experts. Often associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder, onomatomania was coined by Jean-Martin Charcot, Valentin Magnan for patients disabled by ” imperative ideas”. Jean-Martin Charcot is considered the “father of modern neurology”. Charcot’s other important achievements include the following: describing the vascular supply of the brain, distinguishing tremor in Parkinson’s disease from tremor in Multiple sclerosis patient, distinguishing hysteria from epilepsy, was one of the first doctors to establish rehabilitation clinics to treat his patients and built a triad (which was called the Biliary Triad) to diagnose acute capsular cholangitis include right upper quadrant pain, jaundice, and fever,” one study reported. In 1890, another study said researcher Culere noted a connection between epilepsy and onomatopoeia. German psychiatrist Rudolf Gottfried Arndt called onomatopoeia addiction the madness of names.
- What is Onomatomania? Onomatomania is a condition in which a person fixates on certain words and uses them repeatedly.
- Who coined the term Onomatomania? Onomatomania was coined by Jean-Martin Charcot and Valentin Magnan.
- Is this a psychological condition? Onomatomania is related to obsessive-compulsive disorder. In 1890, researcher Culere noted a connection between epilepsy and onomatopoeia.
