25 Interesting Facts about Rare Disorders – Part 2

Doctors have discovered a new disorder called “Orthosomnia,” wherein someone is so obsessed with getting a good sleep that they actually lose sleep over it.

2. Smile Mask Syndrome is a psychological disorder in which subjects develop depression and physical illness as a result of prolonged, unnatural smiling. First described in Japan in 1983, this is attributed to the great importance placed on smiling in the Japanese service industry.

3. In 2008, scientists discovered a mysterious nerve disorder that hit some slaughterhouse employees in Minnesota. The employees were found to have progressive inflammatory neuropathy or PIN which made them experience debilitating symptoms and it was all caused by inhaling a fine mist of pig brain tissue.

4. There is a genetic disorder named Angelman syndrome which makes the affected person have a uniquely happy personality and an interest in water.

5. There is a rare genetic disorder that affects bone growth called Multiple epiphyseal dysplasia. It causes short stature in adults, short arms and legs, joint pain, deformities in the hands, feet, and spine and early osteoarthritis.

Maladaptive daydreaming is a disorder which causes someone to daydream for hours on end, and create elaborate fantasies comparable to an entire novel or movie.

7. About 1 in 50 people can't visualize images in their head. It's called Aphantasia, and if you have it you can't even visualize things such as your own house or your best friend’s face.

8. People who are prone to staying up past midnight and sleeping in till afternoon could possibly have a circadian rhythm dysfunction known as Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder.

9. There is a voice disorder called Puberphonia where a person continues to speak like an adolescent after puberty.

10. Busy Life Syndrome is a real disorder causing forgetfulness and lack of concentration in people who take in too much information daily.

Night Eating Syndrome is an eating disorder in which 25% or more of the day's calories are consumed after the evening meal, habitual waking in the night to eat, and the belief that one must eat in order to fall back to sleep.

12. There is a psychological disorder called “Boreout” (Boredom burnout syndrome), which is used to describe the boredom of office employees. It can lead to psychological illnesses such as depression as well as physical illnesses.

13. There is a rare medical disorder in infants called “Maple Syrup Urine Disease,” where the child's urine smells of maple syrup or burnt sugar and it can be fatal.

14. A rare connective tissue disorder known as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is characterized by hypermobile joints and a deficiency in collagen (connective tissue) that results in pain and repeated injury. It often takes an average of 10 to 20 years to receive a diagnosis of EDS -- many in their 40s.

15. Dermatillomania is a mental disorder characterized by the urge or impulse to repeatedly pick scabs.

Ideomotor apraxia is a neurological disorder where people are unable to mentally picture and perform something by the command (please pretend to answer a phone) but can instinctively do the same thing when not asked (phone rings, person proceeds to pick up phone instinctively).

17. Amusia is a musical disorder that prevents those affected from being able to hear music. Most sufferers of amusia describe music as unpleasant. Others simply refer to it as noise and find it annoying.

18. There is a psychological syndrome named Anton–Babinski syndrome caused by brain damage where blind people do not believe that they are blind, and argue vociferously that they can see.

19. There is an anxiety disorder called Selective Mutism, where children (or adults) remain involuntarily mute in some situations. They may not even make any sound at all - including sneezing, coughing, the sound of footsteps, or even flushing the toilet.

20. There is a disorder called Pure Word Deafness in which those affected are unable to comprehend spoken language while reading, writing, and speech are preserved. They can recognize non-verbal sounds, just not speech in the auditory modality.

Patients with the rare disorder Lesch-Nyhan syndrome will involuntarily yank their fingers into their mouth, bite their fingers down to the bone and bite their lips off. Their pain response is normal, and they often ask to be restrained.

22. Meier-Gorlin Syndrome is a rare genetic disorder that causes those affected to have dwarfism, small brains, lack of knee caps, and other abnormalities, despite having normal lifespan and intellect.

23. Taijin kyofusho is a disorder unique to Japan and Korea where sufferers do not want to embarrass other people with their presence.

24. Palilalia is a language disorder characterized by the involuntary repetition of syllables, words, or phrases.

25. Uner Tan Syndrome is a rare genetic disorder which causes people to walk with quadrupedal locomotion. They are also afflicted with “primitive” speech and severe mental retardation.