Millennium Matters

Q. "Millennium Psychosis" - what's the deal?

A. From the riveting read that is the Nursing Times comes a report that the Oxleas NHS Trust, which provides mental health care in the Greenwich area of south London (right by the Dome, spookily enough), has handled nine admissions for the condition of "millennium psychosis" during the past few weeks.

It is no coincidence that the admissions have been treated in the shadow of Britain's showpiece millennium project, a giant dome filled with scientific and educational exhibits.

A typical case of this new psychosis details a patient who believed he had swallowed the "millennium bug" (the term used for the inability of many computers to recognise the date January 1st, 2000).

The mental health service manager at Oxleas NHS Trust, Stanley Risborough, said: "When the dome actually opens, the millennium will come even more into the consciousness of people who are unwell.

"Psychosis is often rooted in specific events, and these recent admissions can be compared to those people in the 1960s who, during the space race, felt they had been infected by moon rays."

Expect many more cases of "millennium psychosis" as the year progresses, and not just in the general dome area.

Doctors are already on standby for a glut of admissions towards the end of the year as people react to events concerning the date change.

Health experts are fearful that the hype surrounding the event will provoke attacks among the general population.

Psychosis has to be distinguished from common-or-garden pre-millennial angst, which is basically an updating of a condition known as fin de siecle malaise.

Loosely put, this refers to a condition characterised by a sense of foreboding and/or heightened expectation about not just the millennium but also the Second Coming, as heralded by many nutty right-wing Christian groups (always white, usually male, funnily enough).

The angst can manifest itself as a general feeling of unease coupled with a dwelling on global cataclysms and a sense of hopelessness. Hitherto only ascribed to cults, Doomsday groups and UFO weirdos, it is now beginning to seep through to the general population.

Pre-millennial tension, on the other hand (and the distinction is important), is the sole preserve of mad-for-it evangelical groups, who come over all funny in anticipation of the Rapture that the millennium will usher in.

We've already had well-documented reports of how one group claimed to have had gold fillings put into their teeth by divine intervention (see columns past).

The Canadian group, Toronto Blessing, are the leaders in PMT because as far back as 1994 members of their religious organisation (as the libel lawyers would have it) are on record as falling over, laughing uncontrollably and lying perfectly still with beatific smiles on their faces during an advanced attack of PMT.

Strange days indeed.