The Ahab Syndrome

[Hellbilly]

You know somebody like this. I’m talking about a person who is consumed with anger about having been treated unjustly. A person who can think of little else but how to wreak revenge on the person or persons who caused his pain. A person who talks about this injustice incessantly, and who can’t seem to get on with his life. Now psychiatrists have named this quality and are saying that it is a bona fide mental illness–it is known as “embitterment.” It could also be called “the Ahab Syndrome” for Melville’s Captain Ahab, who was willing to sacrifice his ship and his men to capture the white whale that had taken his leg.

Dr. Michael Linden, the psychiatrist who named this behavior, says that people suffering from the syndrome are generally good people who have worked hard at something–such as a job or a relationship–and then suffer some unexpected loss. They get fired. Or the wife runs away with their best friend. They turn into helpless victims and stay mired in their hate and aggression. Linden says that these people rarely come in for treatment, because they feel that the problem is outside, in the world, not inside themselves. “They are almost treatment-resistant,” he says. “Revenge is not a treatment.”

The Ahab Syndrome: Embitterment as Mental Illness | Marilyn Sewell

The story of Captain Ahab and Moby Dick along with the Nantucket whaling industry in general has always been an interest of mine. Just watched the 1956 version the other night. I got to thinking. Captain Ahab exhibits the same type of behavior as a lot of people here. You know who I'm speaking of. They can't get the thought of trump losing the election to the point where they are 100% obsessed with it and will literally do anything to exact their revenge. Then I thought they should designate this behavior as Ahab Syndrome. Well they beat me to it as sure enough there is such a condition. If anyone is not familiar with the end of Moby Dick, it didn't turn out so well for Ahab.

Beware thyself, Captain.
Beware Ahab.
Just food for thought.

Side note: In The Heart Of The Sea was extremely factually inaccurate.

 

[Esdraelon]

Evil that isn't challenged, takes root and grows. NEVER AGAIN. Next time, you'll pay more than the theft was worth.

 

[Hang on Sloopy]

The Ahab Syndrome: Embitterment as Mental Illness | Marilyn Sewell

The story of Captain Ahab and Moby Dick along with the Nantucket whaling industry in general has always been an interest of mine. Just watched the 1956 version the other night. I got to thinking. Captain Ahab exhibits the same type of behavior as a lot of people here. You know who I'm speaking of. They can't get the thought of trump losing the election to the point where they are 100% obsessed with it and will literally do anything to exact their revenge. Then I thought they should designate this behavior as Ahab Syndrome. Well they beat me to it as sure enough there is such a condition. If anyone is not familiar with the end of Moby Dick, it didn't turn out so well for Ahab.
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Beware thyself, Captain.
Beware Ahab.
Just food for thought.

Side note: In The Heart Of The Sea was extremely factually inaccurate.

Poor Sister Billy and her TDS...........Here have some ice cream

 

[whitehall]

Political anger is different from some old demented captain obsessed with killing a whale. It was him against the whale. You have to factor in the media to understand how the truly ignorant can be manipulated into a mob without actually understanding the issues. Almost everyone thought it was great when Bill Clinton decided to bomb Yugoslavia because the media said it was the right thing to do. The United States was doing fine economically and at relative peace during the Trump administration but the media constantly criticized the administration and convinced a mostly ignorant mob that Trump was evil incarnate.