Talk:chemical imbalance

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chemical imbalance

I'm reasonably certain the def is overly specific and this is SOP like WT:RFD#desbalance_quimico and WT:RFD#químicamente_desbalanciado. - -sche (discuss) 06:31, 2 April 2012 (UTC)

Keep but rewrite. chemically imbalanced is a fairly popular euphemism for mad or mentally ill, and there are some cites for chemical imbalance as a direct euphemism for madness. "An imbalance of chemicals" is SOP, "a mental illness" is not.

Warden, Rob and Drizin, Steven (2009) True Stories of False Confessions, →ISBN, page 28: “Anyone who knew him well would suspect he had a chemical imbalance. He had been unhappy recently. And there was a history of suicide in the family; his mother had tried to kill herself.”

2008, Michael Clayton, Rob Mackie, The Guardian

He's a man with a "chemical imbalance", appropriately enough for what the case's victims have gone through. In his case, it's a bipolar condition.

2004, Basketball learns dangers of beverage abuse, Martin Kellner, The Guardian

Chemical imbalance or not, I am surprised there are not more incidents where players attack members of the crowd

(Whoops, forgot to sign) Smurrayinchester (talk) 11:32, 3 April 2012 (UTC)

KeepoLucifer (talk) 11:39, 3 April 2012 (UTC)

If this is kept, the context tag should be removed as use is not restricted to a medical context, as the citations show. There is probably a class of euphemisms that are derived from what ordinary folk view as social-science and medical excuses for bad behavior, along the lines of "He's depraved on accounta he's deprived" (West Side Story). DCDuring TALK 12:30, 3 April 2012 (UTC)

I'd imagine any imbalance of a chemical nature could be called a chemical imbalance, but I can see why someone would create this. I'll sit on the fence, for now, anyway. Mglovesfun (talk) 12:36, 3 April 2012 (UTC)

Funnily enough, in a psych textbook at some point I remember reading about a policewoman with trichotillomania whose comrades on the force knew she that she wore a wig, but whom she'd told that her baldness was due to a "chemical imbalance". She clearly felt that "chemical imbalance" did not imply "mental disorder", or else she would not have chosen that cover story! —Ruakh_TALK 13:44, 3 April 2012 (UTC)

Keep but rewrite per Smurrayinchester. His quotations suggest a euphemism. Ungoliant MMDCCLXIV 15:08, 3 April 2012 (UTC)

• Fix and keep Purplebackpack89 ^{(Notes Taken) (Locker)} 16:31, 3 April 2012 (UTC)

OK, I've removed the RFD tag, added an &lit as a first step towards accounting for the existence of literal and other senses (like the one Ruakh's policewoman used), and rewritten the other definition. - -sche (discuss) 17:54, 3 April 2012 (UTC)

Appears resolved. Striking. DAVilla 02:15, 8 April 2012 (UTC)