Delayed Onset Adolescence

Delayed Onset Adolescence (DOA) appears to be most common amongst the average 20-30 year old. Although statistics strongly suggest that the condition occurs more often in females than males, no definitive scientific evidence for this assertion has yet been provided. The universal characteristic of this disorder is the development of a fanaticism/fixation with something – this “something” is generally a TV show, actor, band (or hunky frontman), sport or hobby. What differentiates DOA from other obsessive-compulsive disorders is that the sufferer has never encountered a fixation like this in their younger years, when this type of behaviour is most common.

During psychiatric evaluation, sufferers frequently comment that during their high school years, their bedroom walls and/or school lockers remained free of posters, newspaper cuttings and other paraphernalia associated with “fan-dom”. Hence, a frequent marker of the disorder’s onset is the appearance of such objects in the sufferer’s room, or in a scrapbook – or even in other areas of their dwelling. However, with the advent of internet technology, the nature of the average DOA suffer’s fan-dom is constantly changing. Some DOA sufferers might not even own posters or other visible evidence of their eager fan status.
These individuals might instead indulge in their fixation more privately, by leaving comments on their object-of-fixation’s (OOF) official site or Myspace page, contributing to online discussion forums and/or message boards, or even spruiking the virtues of their OOF via their own blog.

The triggers for DOA appear to vary depending on the OOF. For instance, many DOA sufferers who have found themselves hooked on a particular TV show, comment that their symptoms began after being loaned or given a DVD of an entire series of the TV show in question. The main problem with DOA is that it is a condition that doesn’t cause particular harm to the sufferer or their loved ones. However, it can cause the sufferer to lose direction and prioritise their fan-dom too highly, at the expense of their study or work. These days, this is a major problem with DOA sufferers that have broadband internet access, and therefore are vulnerable to the temptation of procrastinating by looking up things about their OOF. A frequent complaint from relatives of a DOA sufferer is that their loved one doesn’t seem to be happy unless they’re talking about, or taking part in their OOF, constantly.

Psychologists say that the early phases of DOA are the most severe, and that the intensity of the disorder does fade with time. It is believed that during this phase, the individual rapidly accumulates a large volume of knowledge about their given OOF, and as the breadth of this knowledge reaches a plateau, the intensity of their enthusiasm will wane and allow them to function in a relatively normal manner again. The reason why some DOA sufferers go through this phase for a longer period than others, is as yet unknown. Hence, with the current limited knowledge of the physiological causes of this condition, no definitive treatment has yet been devised.

The above photos are taken from the website of music writer, Debbie Kruger where she's written a piece on her earlier exposures to rock music, Music and Mayhem.

And finally, for advice on the perils of prolonged student status, see jfox's timely Public Health Warning, as well as Serenity's take on the other, lesser known (and far more dangerous) ADHD.