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Compulsive Repetitive Interjection Disorder

Compulsive Repetitive Interjection Disorder (CRID) affects nearly eight of ten Americans under the age of thirty. Characterized by frequent interjections of a specific, often irrelevant phrase (e.g. "like", "you know?", "right", "know what I mean?") into regular speech. Also known as "Valley Girl Syndrome," "Teenspeak," and "Irritating," this disorder is characterized by some researchers as a vocal manifestation of a fundmental lack of self-confidence, as most of said interjections tend to ask for affirmation or inject a degree of uncertainty or doubt. CRID differs from Tourette's Syndrome in that there is no medical or psychological basis for it whatsoever, although both may involve the interjection of obscenities, evidenced by the prevalence for "the F-word" among CRID sufferers.

Example:

"I think [like, you know?] the U.S. policy towards Europe has [like, you know?] been greatly [like] changed because of the European Union [right?]. I mean [like, you know?], we were used to dealing with multiple governments [like, you know, right?] and now all negotiations must go through [like, you know?] a single [you know?]authority in some instances [right?] and remain [like] bilateral or multilateral in others."

This individual has a severe case of CRID. He is unable to complete a normal sentence without the interjections, much less a complicated or otherwise higher-level thought. This disorder can have serious consequences for his future academic career, tending to set listeners on edge. For his personal advancement he should consider therapy which, though costly and psychologically taxing, may be the only solution to an otherwise socially debilitating condition. And since he sits next to me in class, I'm not exactly unbiased.

posted by Vivyenne @ 8:47 AM