When an over educated 46 year old is used to having his mother defend him while fight his imaginary fights, things can go haywire when she stops. This exposes that “almost adult” to some very difficult challenges in life.
At Granite Grok, readers can see how a blog troll, who has lost the support of his mother is left to nature. Kevin is trapped, hurling infantile insults while trying to somehow avoid the foul language he uses on some other blogs comment sections. Kevin M. Beck has to be careful so he doesn’t lose his privileges here.
It has to be tough to have your mother hovering over you for so long only to have her abandon you. It is like Peter Pan can no longer fly – or continue his professional writing career editing a running magazine.
Oh, mom where are you when we need to – when Kevin needs you.
Colorado is so far away from New Hampshire – and Kevin’s only real connection to the state where he once had a teaching career. Suddenly this lowly blog is his most trusted life line.
Remember the good old days when Kevin and Mom would make fun of Doug Lambert? Oh. What fun.
But being over-mothered comes with a price. I have a very serious scientific explanation of what Peter pan Syndrome is like.
“Humbelina Robles Ortega, professor of the Department of Personality, Evaluation and Psychological Treatment of the University of Granada and an expert in emotional disorders, warns that the overprotection of parents can lead children to develop the Peter Pan Syndrome, given “it usually affects dependent people who have been overprotected by their families and haven’t developed the necessary skills to confront life.” The ‘Peter Pans’ of present society “see the adult world as very problematic and glorify adolescence, which is why they want to stay in that state of privilege.”
More men than women affected
Peter Pan Syndrome can affect both sexes, but it appears more often among men. Some characteristics of the disorder are the inability of individuals to take on responsibilities, to commit themselves or to keep promises, excessive care about the way they look and personal well-being and their lack of self-confidence, even though they don’t seem to show it and actually come across as exactly the opposite.
The UGR professor declares that these people are usually scared of loneliness, which is why they try to surround themselves with people who can meet their needs. “They become anxious when they are evaluated by their work colleagues or their superiors, given they are completely intolerant towards any criticism. Sometimes they can have serious adaptation problems at work or in personal relationships.”
I would guess that being a troll is similar to being Peter Pan, just drop in, make oneself feel worthwhile and fly off – the handle in some cases.
The only question now is – what do you call a pair of trolls? They do pair up on occasion.
