There is a new psychological disorder plaguing urban and suburban American neighborhoods that snuggly rides side-saddle to depression and anxiety, and this disorder is not in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders (DSM 5).

Generalized Crime Coping Disorder (GCCD) is a blend of depression and anxiety, along with cognitive frustrations, isolation, and anger. Those inflicted describe spending hours and sometimes days longing for a substantial police presence. Often, those who meet criteria utter, “putting criminals back on the street doesn’t make sense” while shaking their heads repeatedly. Patients report stifled communication when describing matters related to crime and public policy, as well as condescending smirks paired with remarks about “taking the news too seriously” from others. For patients who also were victims of violent crime, the disorder is compounded; patients often say they were unable to get help at the time of their incident.

One issue unique to the Generalized Crime Coping Disorder population, is that speaking about environmental causes is complicated in a way that is atypical to the process of most communication, including therapy. For the GCCD population, there is no guaranteed shared baseline of reality between the patient, society, and the therapist. A shared baseline, such as violent criminals belong in jail, or the high cost of housing does not warrant random punches from a stranger, may not be possible.

Another issue with communication about crime is that even if a baseline is evident, many people without GCCD believe all topics concerning crime are worthy of diplomacy—for some, “crime” itself is actually just culture, and “criminals” are actually victims, and therefore a protected, united group deserving of ACLU representation. This perceived “protected class” status irritates those dealing with GCCD and may result in someone with this diagnosis making fits and cursing. The GCCD population is prone to cab use and coming home early.

There are limited permissible therapeutic responses whenever Generalized Crime Coping Disorder subject matter is brought up. While nodding compassionately, a therapist can validate experiences, acknowledge that the expressed feelings are valid, understandable. A therapist could talk about strategies for altering work hours or other outings, and encourage a client to get involved on a board or group within her community. But, responding to questions about where the police are, or why violence seems to get a pass, in terms of a client’s impressions or perceptions, is problematic. It would suggest that maybe the spike in crime and lawlessness is actually to blame on certain policies, and this is not actually a disorder at all, but a growing frustration with lawlessness. Yet, being able to validate feelings through a careful sentence like, “there does not seem to be a corrective action for solving this problem presented to us at this time,” feels like one is auditioning for the part of The Riddler in a community theater remake.

Back in my latchkey days of growing up, we had commercials with a cartoon dog named McGruff telling us to “take a bite out of crime.” Maybe now, the instruction is to let crime take a bite out of all communication. This trend of handicapping our ability to discuss crime will continue to create an uptick in Generalized Crime Coping Disorder cases.

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