Talk:chemical imbalance

chemical imbalance
I'm reasonably certain the def is overly specific and this is SOP like WT:RFD and WT:RFD. - -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.
 * 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)
 * 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)