Rare diseases Jumping Frenchmen of Maine Key to Understanding Mental Illness Everyone has Subliminal Distraction exposure every day, most of it is harmless. When you create the "special circumstances" massive exposure is possible. Seng-Hui Cho did that in the suite common room at Virginia Tech. His paranoid psychotic rant demonstrates the power of low-level long-term exposure When ma ny pe ople ar e cr owde d into too- smal l si ng le-r oom bunkhouse arrangements, those "special circumstances" will be created [3]. The Virginia Tech massacre was a school shooting that took place on April 16, 2007, on the campus ofVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States. In two separate attacks, approximately two hours apart, the perpetrator, Seung- Hui Cho, killed 32 people and wounded 25 others before committing suicide. Abstract Jumping Frenchmen of Maine is a rare psychological or, possibly, a neurological disorder first observed by George Miller Beard in 1878. It entails an exaggerated "startle" reflex [1] which may be described as an uncontrollable "jump" but can also exhibit sudden movements in all parts of the body. Though distinct and unique, this condition also shares similar symptoms with numerous disorders pertaining to startle. Patients with this disorderwere first found in the northern regions of Maine; hence, the unusual name for this medical condition [1]. Why is Jumping Frenchmen important? The features of the disorder are so strange that it cannot be mistaken for anything else. You might argue that depression, paranoia, or psychotic beliefs have many causes because the examples in individuals are dif ferent. Not true with the j umping diseases. They are unique behaviors, the same in each individual, and independent of the usual psychobabble, psychosocial, suspect causes. General discussion 1 Research project TUIU Daniela Ileana
