Glass Delusion Meets Modern Anxiety

Glass delusion Glass delusion is an external manifestation of a psychiatric disorder recorded in Europe mainly in the late Middle Ages and early modern period (15th to 17th centuries). [1] People feared that they were made of glass "and therefore likely to shatter into pieces". People are always like ‘no one had anxiety before modernity’ and Wikipedia pages of pre-20th century figures are always like “he was startled by the sight of an unseemly looking duck [4], whereupon he died of horror [5],[6]”

A screenshot shows a Wikipedia-style article about glass delusion, a historical psychiatric condition in which people believed they were made of glass and might shatter. Below it, a tweet jokes that people deny anxiety existed before modernity, even though biographies of historical figures describe them dying of horror after seeing something as harmless as an ugly duck. The punchline contrasts modern claims about mental health with absurd examples of strange historical anxieties. EN: A screenshot shows a Wikipedia-style article about glass delusion, a historical psychiatric condition in which people believed they were made of glass and might shatter. Below it, a tweet jokes that people deny anxiety existed before modernity, even though biographies of historical figures describe them dying of horror after seeing something as harmless as an ugly duck. The punchline contrasts modern claims about mental health with absurd examples of strange historical anxieties.

• @eternalclassic / 54220 2024-07-16