Hypergraphia

Treat me doctor, I'm sick

Well, not really. But this term has the potential to become as popular as being OC (no, not orange county but obsessive compulsive) at least for those of us who like—or rather, love to write. I was watching the replay of Dateline NBC this morning and got amused. Hypergraphia is a mental disease that makes a person obsessively want to write. Of course, it refers to an extreme case that affects less than 1% of the population, but varieties of this exist among many of us. I believe it does so exist in me. (Check that: not in its pure definition; again it's like being OC.)

Anyway, this Dateline episode featured this woman, Alice Weaver Flaherty, who had the disease. I was a bit saddened that she had the condition, but a part of me was also amazed at it and even envious. (then I wonder if I'll ever stop this blog) She writes so much that she even writes on her skin when there's no paper available. When it's really bad, the text reaches the top of her arms. She's even bought a special marker for shower tiles that will wash away with water so that she can jot down any idea she may have when she's taking a bath. Good idea, eh? I know many of us get our best ideas when we're in the bathroom.

Writing that much, the subject was bound to write a book. And she did. Fittingly, her first book touches a bit on her condition. Titled The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer's Block, and the Creative Brain the book talks more about unleashing creativitymore than it does about the disease. (Don't quote me on that by the way, just click the link to Amazon) Flaherty claims that there are also many famous people in history who had the disease. Although she may acknowledge her state as a disorder, I have to believe that a bigger part of her sees it as a gift.

Here's an article about hypergraphia from The Chronicle of Higher Education website for further reading.