Emotional Disruption Syndrome

Look man, there's no such thing as Eds, no E-D-S, it's a shitshow the government concocted to hook us on lybrium, to zap our brains with electronic dreams, and to nerve staple you if you can't figure out the game. They don't want you dead man, they want you to be a cell in their macro-organism. You can do this without a brain, they'll cut it out, put it in a jar, and put a computer in your head. Man, they might already have! How do you know they haven't, you might already have a machine instead of a brain, one programmed to think it was real, to be dumb and do the same self destructive things over and over again.

Charles Frost, terrorist and EDS victim

Stages of Emotional Disruption Disorder

The first stage of EDS is almost impossible to catch. The symptoms are slight. Fatigue, difficulty sleeping, general agitation. This stage can last for years without diagnosis, and many stage 1 EDS victims compensate with over the counter aids or rely on self destructive vices to bring stability.

The only way to detect Stage One EDS is to specifically look for it with a brain scan and brain chemistry spectrograph, Most people aren't entirely keen on having a laser beam shot through their head. Early diagnosis is a statistical anomaly. The medical industry is working on a method to better understand EDS, where it comes from, what triggers it, and how to better treat it.

The second stage of EDS is the most common point of detection. The victim demonstrates signs of depression, irritability, and a strong sense of unhappiness with themselves and the world around them.

There are two major dangers we face from EDS. Victims of EDS become vulnerable to radicalization, as dissidents and terrorists are able to exploit the emotional vulnerability of the victim, and victims of the syndrome become decreasingly meaningful and important members of society. While no one is really considering if EDS is a weaponized disease used by rogue elements of the hostile nations, it is convenient that the psychological profile of almost every terrorist detained in the last fifty years has shown brain chemistry consistent with EDS.

Stage three EDS is the most disruptive stage of the disorder. The victim will no longer be in control of their emotions, and will have violent and atavistic reactions to figures of authority, will resist attempts to help them, and will become frequently delusional. The detrimental effect of EDS on the brain is such that the victim of the crippling disorder will begin to manifest other mental disorders. Paranoia, schizophrenia, dementia, and delusional disorders are common.

We want to help them, but by the time a victim of EDS reaches stage three, the options are limited, at best. The basic course of action is a large daily dose of lybrium or similar anti-psychoactive. After that, it's detainment in a mental care facility. Therapy and drugs can keep EDS at bay, but only through constant vigilance and use. There are permanent fixes, such as nerve stapling or replacing the afflicted parts of the brain with artificial replacements, but these are drastic, and sometimes incorrectly viewed as inhumane.

Stage four EDS is typically short lived. Overcome by the chemical imbalances in their brains and the collective output of their other mental disorders, the victim becomes suicidal. The majority of stage 4 victims simply commit suicide and end their own suffering, this does remain a problem even in mental care facilities. A small number, especially those who have fallen victim to radicalization, will attempt to destroy something that is a central fixture in their neurosis, usually in a suicidal manner.

Stage four is shocking, because that neurochemical tipping point is almost impossible to detect. Your patient can be making good progress, dealing with their EDS and it's symptoms, and you turn your back for just a minute and they've taken something seemingly harmless and killed themselves with it. I've seen patients jump from rooftops, impale themselves on broken furniture, and do other horrible things. I wish there was something that we could do to help them.

The Other Side of EDS

Quite simply, there is no such thing. EDS can't be detected because there is nothing to detect. The disease is fictitious.

EDS was created to exploit something known as mass psychogenic illness, or epidemic hysteria. The symptoms are vague, almost anyone could be diagnosed with Stage 1 EDS. If you don't pop out of bed chipper and ready for a quinoa enema and a 5k pre-breakfast jog, you've got the basic symptoms. You aren't upset with the government, it's not a conspiracy, you aren't agitated because everyone around you is a moron, or an asshole, you aren't a moron or an asshole either.

You're the victim of a disease. Emotional Disruptive Syndrome. Eds.

Just rolls off the tongue. Eds. That's what makes it work. It's familiar. Ed. Eddy. Edward. Eduardo. Oh shit. EDS.

You go to the doctor, nervous, something might be wrong inside of your head. The doctor smiles, and they run some tests, and tell you to go home and take it easy. Everyone knows you've gone to the doctor. They are worried, they are worried about you. They discuss you, they discuss EDS, the cure, whatever.

Then, when you come back, a small pack of 5mg Lybrium in your pocket and the EDS diagnosis... they are nicer to you. They are more considerate. Now, some might think you are an emotional tantrum away from suicide, but the rest just want the herd to stay calm.

And those 5mg lybriums, they keep you nice and calm too.

Modus Operandi

The MO of EDS is simple. It was created as an experiment by the Federation Department of Inclusion and Social Acceptance. The advanced symptoms of the fictitious disease match the personality and psyche profile of a dissenter, someone who has figured out part of the socio-media long con. It's generally low key, you get diagnosed, you take the nerve pills, and you accept your reality as it's presented to you, and you either keep taking the pills, or you have a miraculous recovery. EDS is still very mysterious. If it doesn't work, the purported victims will attempt to lash out at the system, or will attempt to escape, also symptoms of stage three EDS. The disease is nothing more than a behavior control mechanism.

If the containment and control systems don't work, well everyone expects the victim to commit suicide, or run away and join a terrorist cell. That just makes the terrorist themselves victims of EDS, they're all crazy.

It's very sad.

Charles Frost is a dangerous man, he knows entirely too much about the EDS program and it's inception.

How does he know so much about this, it's level 0 secret.

He knows because he was one of the behavioral engineers who worked on it. He didn't like it, and it was easy to paint him as a patient zero for EDS. We considered calling it Frost or Frosts Syndrome, but that didn't have the same mouth feel as EDS.

He rants and raves, he runs around with Amerikka Command or whatever splinter cell has him as their guest speaker of the month. He spews out about Project Yellowstone and how we created EDS as a control mechanism, and we have all the plausible deniability we will ever need. A neo-luddite drug abuser defector and EDS victim, he could be shouting out the secrets of the state, and no one but the looneys would listen to him.

When are we going to have him retired?

He's gone to ground and is hard to find, and right now he's more valuable as a crack pot than he's worth as a target. It won't be easy for an assassin to get in and make it look like he committed suicide. He will have to be scapegoated in some Command raid or attack. He can't be singled out, not even coincidentally. That would martyr him for the fringe groups.