The Truman Show delusion facts for kids

The Truman Show delusion is a rare belief some people have. It is named after The Truman Show, a popular movie from 1998. In the movie, the main character finds out he is living in a fake world. This world is actually a TV show. Everyone else in the movie is an actor paid to pretend.

People with this delusion believe they are the center of a similar "show." They might think people are following them. They may also believe they are very famous. As of 2012, more than 40 cases of this delusion were reported. These cases were found in the U.S. and the United Kingdom.

One person with this delusion was an Army veteran. He wanted to climb the Statue of Liberty. He believed this would free him from the "show." He described his feelings like this: "I realized that I was the focus of millions of people. My family and everyone I knew were actors. Their whole purpose was to make me the center of the world's attention."

The name "Truman Show Delusion" was chosen by doctors Joel and Ian Gold. This is because three of the first five patients Joel Gold treated for this problem said their experiences felt like the movie.

What is Truman Syndrome?

In the United Kingdom, some doctors described a similar idea called the "Truman Syndrome." These doctors were Paolo Fusar-Poli, Oliver Howes, Lucia Valmaggia, and Philip McGuire. They wrote about it in a medical journal.

They described a patient who strongly believed the world had changed. He felt others knew about this change, but he did not. He thought he was the subject of a film. He believed he was living on a "fabricated world" or a film set. This set of feelings is often seen in people who might be starting to develop schizophrenia.

The doctors think that the "Truman explanation" helps patients make sense of things. It helps them understand why their ordinary world seems to have changed in a strange way.