History Main / DiseaseByAnyOtherName

* ''VideoGame/FarCryPrimal'': The Udam tribe suffers from a disease they call "skull fire" and believe that eating the bodies of their enemies will cure them. It is heavily implied that they actually have [[https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001379.htm kuru]], which was caused by their cannibalistic practices.

* [[Creator/GeorgeRRMartin GRRM]] is ''very'' fond of this trope in his ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' series.

** Heke (the first Reek) had something that has to be [[https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/trimethylaminuria trimethylaminuria]], a disorder whose main symptom is strong, pungent-smelling body odor.

** Tyrion Lannister has dwarfism caused by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achondroplasia achondroplasia]]. In the first book, Tyrion was capable of doing impressive physical stunts in spite of his small size, but [=GRRM=] eliminated them after learning that this is impossible for a person with achondroplasia. [[{{Fanon}} Some readers]] also believe that Tyrion is a human chimera because of his mismatched eyes, two colored hair, and the fact that fraternal twins run in the Lannister family.

** UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein is thought to have been on the autistic spectrum.

** UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein is thought to have had Asperger syndrome.

** Shallan is suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder due to an abusive childhood [[spoiler:and murdering both her parents to defend herself and her brothers]]. In ''Literature/{{Oathbringer}}'' her condition begins to resemble Dissociative Identity Disorder, although this is significantly looser, and WordOfGod has said that her condition is not intended to exactly match any specific real-world diagnoses.

** Historians are still arguing over whether UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln had Marfan syndrome.

* In ''Literature/TheMistsOfAvalon'', a brief passage from Guinevere's POV indicates that she probably suffers from agoraphobia.

** Heke (the first Reek) had something that has to be [[https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/trimethylaminuria trimethylaminuria]].

* ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'': Due to the nature of magic in the series, any Surgebinder is basically required to have some sort of mental illness or severe trauma.

** Shallan is suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder due to an abusive childhood [[spoiler: and murdering both her parents to defend herself and her brothers]]. In ''Literature/{{Oathbringer}}'' her condition begins to resemble Dissociative Identity Disorder, although this is significantly looser, and WordOfGod has said that her condition is not intended to exactly match any specific real-world diagnoses.

Differs from VictorianNovelDisease in that consumption/tuberculosis was a known disease at the time, it just got seriously cleaned up for that trope. Compare to TheDiseaseThatShallNotBeNamed, which is known in-universe but not spoken of by name because it's seen as shameful, and AmbiguousDisorder, when there's clearly ''something'' [[note]]mentally[[/note]] wrong but since the symptoms are determined by the plot there's not enough information for anyone in- or out-of-universe to figure it out. This can sometimes be a non-sexual form of DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything.

* TheFairFolk of Celtic/European society are widely known for their BlueAndOrangeMorality, [[CannotTellALie difficulty telling lies]], and LackOfEmpathy — so both they and the kidnapped, cursed, or [[MamasBabyPapasMaybe illicit]] part-human children of the ChangelingTale frequently show traits that modern doctors recognize as autism. Unfortunately, with the Fair Folk being notoriously feared, ancient folks extended that fear to their children and a widely known method of "breaking the curse" was to [[BeatTheCurseOutOfThem beat or]] [[OffingTheOffspring KILL]] the "changeling".

** Renarin has this played for laughs at one point, although his disease is specifically named. He says he has a "blood weakness," which Kaladin (who actually has medical training) notes is a folk description that could indicate any number of illnesses. He quizzes him for a few minutes and diagnoses him as a symptomatic epileptic, and Renarin asks why Kaladins training in "field medicine" includes seizures. WordOfGod has also confirmed he is autistic, something that there are numerous small signs throughout the series.
** Shallan is suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder due to an abusive childhood [[spoiler: and murdering both her parents to defend herself and her brothers]]. In ''Literature/{{Oathbringer}}'' her condition begins to resemble Dissociative Identity Disorder, although this is significantly looser, and WordOfGod has said that her condition is not intended to match any specific real-world diagnoses.

** Renarin is epileptic, with Kaladin specifically guessing he has myoclonic seizures. WordOfGod has also confirmed he is autistic, something that there are numerous small signs throughout the series.
** Shallan is suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder due to an abusive childhood [[spoiler: and murdering both her parents to defend herself and her brothers]]. In ''Literature/{{Oathbringer}}'' her condition begins to resemble Dissociative Identity Disorder.

* ''Literature/DarkShores'': The "fits" that have plagued Marcus since childhood are clearly asthma attacks--he starts coughing and then wheezing and in the worst case described, his airways close. The fits are caused either by environmental factors (like dust) or emotion.

** Jessie's mindset comes off as disorderly, with the author's notes saying that she has a personality disorder. She has a poor self-esteem, abandonment issues, and attaches to people intensely but prefers to mask it all behind her attitude and HairTriggerTemper. Though never said out loud in the text, the writer states that Jessie's intentionally and autobiographically written with Borderline Personality Disorder.

* In ''Film/HanselAndGretelWitchHunters'', Hansel is described as having "sugar sickness" from his time imprisoned in the witch's gingerbread house. To the audience it is obvious he is talking about insulin-dependent aka Type I diabetes. (Which is also a case of ArtisticLicenseMedicine; diabetes isn't actually caused by eating sugar, and especially not Type I.)

* ''Literature/DragonridersOfPern'': [[SpaceAmish Pastoral]] Pern has forgotten about the flu (among other things), and the entire planet is nearly wiped out by its return. They don't know what this fast-spreading illness is, but any reader will recognize the sneezy, achy, awful symptoms--especially the fact that most of the deaths are the result of a secondary illness. Ultimately a Healer and weyr-woman (re)invent the flu vaccine using very primitive methods, and distribute it to the populace, literally saving the world from pandemic.

** Tyrion Lannister has dwarfism caused by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achondroplasia achondroplasia]]. In the first book, Tyrion was capable of doing impressive physical stunts in spite of his small size, but [=GRRM=] eliminated them after learning that this is impossible for a person with achondroplasia. [[{{Fanon}} Some readers]] also believe that Tyrion is a human chimera because of his mismatched eyes, two colored hair and the fact that fraternal twins run in the Lannister family.
** The CrapsackWorld of the books is filled with psychopaths, the most notable being Cersei, Joffrey and Ramsay. They have no empathy, remorse nor can they even refrain themselves from inflicting danger when that would serve their own interest better. Joffrey even tortured animals to death when he was a child, which is common in serial killers.

** Kaladin clearly has severe depression in part due to the trauma of losing his brother and a great deal of survivor's guilt that comes along with it. There seems to be a strong component of seasonal depression as well, as even since childhood his mood has always been worse during the "Weeping" that occurs each year, a month long weather phenomenon of a continual light rainstorm.
** Renarin is epileptic, with Kaladin specifically guessing he has myoclonic seizures. WordOfGod has also confirmed he is autistic, something that there are numerous small signs of throughout the series.
** Shallan is suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder due to an abusive childhood [[spoiler: and murdering both her parents to defend herself and her brothers]]. In ''Literature/{{Oathbringer}}'' her condition begins to resemble Dissosciative Identity Disorder.

** It's implied that Rain is autistic, however the term doesn't yet exist in the series.

* In ''Series/RoyalPains'' the genetic disorder Hank's benefactor Boris Kuester von Jurgens-Ratenicz has is likely Huntington's disease. Due to Boris's intense need for privacy and the kind of research he funds, upon his comments to a near perfect physical and reaction to an early warning sign, Hank realizes something's wrong. After learning of Boris's family history of dying at a certain age, Hank's able to confront him over his condition. Boris shares how his father completely lost motor control, mental capacity and before long, dying. He reveals to Hank the reason he wanted him to stay at Shadow Pond was not to cure him, but to have someone who'd stay by his side as it progressed, treating the crippling symptoms and dementia until his inevitable death.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': In one episode, Data is damaged and loses his memories while recovering a piece of a Starfleet probe that had crashed on a medieval style RubberForeheadAlien World. Data, with no way of knowing the piece of the probe he had with him was radioactive, has no problem letting the local blacksmith start making trinkets and jewelry out of that odd new metal. Soon the entire village is sick (as radioactive particles have seeped into the water table from smithing) and, predictably, the villagers blame the strange newcomer for their problems.

* ''VideoGame/FarCryPrimal'': The Udam tribe suffer from a disease they call "skull fire" and believe that eating the bodies of their enemies will cure them. It is heavily implied that they actually have [[https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001379.htm kuru]], which was caused by their cannibalistic practices.

** Renarian is epileptic, with Kaladin specifically guessing he has myoclonic seizures. WordOfGod has also confirmed he is autistic, something that there are numerous small signs of throughout the series.
** Shallan is obviously suffering some from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Oathbringer in particular seems to indicate she may have something very similar to dissociative identity disorder as well.

* ''Fanfic/DenounceTheEvils'':
** James is written to be autistic, but again this is never outright stated in the text.
** Jessie's mindset comes off as disorderly, with the author's notes saying that she has a personality disorder. She has a poor self-esteem, abandonment issues, and attaches to people intensely but prefers to mask it all behind her attitude and HairTriggerTemper. Though never said out loud in the text, the writer states that Jessie's intentionally and autobiographically written with Borderline Personality Disorder.
* In ''Fanfic/BlindCourage'', it's implied that Zelda's mother had a brain tumor, but no one in-series understood it. According to the writer, she died of eclampsia.

* ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'': While not specifically said, Kaladin clearly has severe depression in part due to the trauma of losing his brother and a great deal of survivor's guilt that comes along with it. This seems to come along with seasonal depression as well, as his mood is even worse during the "Weeping" that occurs each year, a month long weather phenomenon of a continual light rainstorm.

* Weiss is mentally ill in ''Fanfic/RWBYScars'' but refuses to see a therapist. As a result, she displays various symptoms but has no in-series diagnosis, though the writer mentions a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder in the comments. At her worst, she can go days without showering, eating, or leaving her bed. She also has a history of SelfHarm and suicidal ideation. Weiss suffers from {{hallucinations}} that involve her reflection (which she calls "Mirror") talking to her and criticising her.

** Jessie's mindset comes off as disorderly, with the author's notes saying that she has a personality disorder. She has a poor self-esteem, abandonment issues, and attaches to people intensely but prefers to mask it all behind her attitude and Hair-Trigger Temper. Though never said out loud in the text, the writer states that Jessie's intentionally and autobiographically written with Borderline Personality Disorder.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* In ''Film/HanselAndGretelWitchHunters'', Hansel is described as having "sugar sickness" from his time imprisoned in the witch's gingerbread house. To the audience it is obvious he is talking about insulin-dependent aka Type I diabetes. (Which is also a case of ArtisticLicenseMedicine; diabetes isn't actually caused by eating sugar, and especially not Type I.)
[[/folder]]