DR. JOHN'S CASE NOTES................................................................. Everyday, thousands of bridge players succumb to one or more of many personality and/or psychological disorders that affect this troubled community. No sooner has one afflication been successfully identified and diagnosed, then another new and more disturbing one suddenly emerges. Why just the other day a colleague of mine sent me his medical notes on one of his more disturbed patients, who happened to be an up-and-coming bridge player. His condition was deemed to be so serious, that my colleague had been totally taken back by the victim's rapid transformation..........from a person who stated out with an endearing modesty into one with a monstrous ego, totally corrupted and controlled by grandeurs of delusion, vanity and self-admiration. The condition I refer to is NAMEDRO PINITUS. This disorder is clearly a manifestation of the infla tedego condition, I have commented on earlier in this blog. The difference here is that sufferers have a compelling and overwhelming urge to regale people ( usually polite but obviously reluctant listeners ) about their encounters....either playing with or against the country's finest players. Listeners are expected to know and marvel at the status and calibre of the celebrities mentioned in their endless reports. Indeed, as more and more of the big names in bridge are dropped into the conversation, the more the victim's ego becomes inflated. Tragically, victims remain oblivious to the fact that the listeners have switched off, or adopted an air of complete indifference to any of these revelations. As yet no treatment has proved effective to deal with this disorder, where for many of the victims getting to the surgery has proved to be a major problem. Firstly, they find that they have become too big for their boots and therefore have no suitable footwear to put on. Secondly, many perceive the doorways to the surgery far too small to accommodate those who are of great stature...such as themselves.