Quote Originally Posted by scbubba View Post
Hi all. Awesome stuff up there [MENTION=2716]Red Shirt[/MENTION]!

Some key things that stood out to me on initial listening to this episode:

- Datu's "taking a backseat" experience

I have been wracking my brain since that came up and I think I have finally come up with (part of) what I was trying to remember:

Depersonalization disorder, a mental condition in which the sufferer experiences persistent or recurrent feelings of depersonalization and/or derealization.
Depersonalization seems to be the key here, as it's symptoms are described as:

An anomaly of self-awareness. It consists of a feeling of watching oneself act, while having no control over a situation. Subjects feel they have changed, and the world has become vague, dreamlike, less real, or lacking in significance. It can be a disturbing experience, since many feel that, indeed, they are living in a "dream".
Though I am not a neurologist, it seems to be largely caused in the temporal lobe of the brain. Given the position of the temporal lobe within the brain in relation to the parts of the brain that govern higher functions and the parts that regulate instinctual functions... the theory that the Z-Virus disconnects higher functions from instinct makes quite a bit of sense. I think the disconnect point is near the temporal lobe. It seems that depersonalization isn't a secondary symptom, it might be a direct symptom, as it seems that this is the region that is being attacked.

We need Dr. Novella even more than ever. Things of this nature have been discussed on the SGU. One other that was discussed that I can't recall at the moment, is a similar disorder where one seemingly disconnects from the physical self and loses the ability to discern the difference between self and the outside world. If I remember it, I'll mention it here.