DR. JOHN'S CASE NOTES.....................

There are two types of player that irritate their partners the most. The first type of course are the " slowcoaches " , but the second type are the " rushers ". These players are not necessarily impetuous or impatient, they are simply in a hurry. Indeed, they had been diagnosed as victims of the WHITE RABBIT SYNDROME.

Players with this condition always believe they are behind in time, running late for the start of the next board and/or the next round. Despite having loads of time to bid and play the cards, they constantly keep muttering to themselves " I'm late....I'm late....I'm miles behind ". So off they rush bidding and playing the hand at break-neck speed to the detriment of partner's fragile state of mind and mental health.

In Alice in Wonderland, the white rabbit came across the little girl on several occasions, but the questions as to why he was rushing, what he was rushing for, or where he was rushing to, were never answered. Players with the WRS also offer no explanations for their irrational and obsessive behaviour. They just have this sense they are behind the clock.

Believing there is not a moment to spare, speeding up the play becomes their life mantra. Forever anxious and stressed, they live in constant fear of the bell, even to the point of rushing to fill in the scores.

Many psycho-analysts put their faith in hypnosis therapies involving time-distortion ploys. One such ploy involves convincing them that time is standing still, while another one attempts to give them the notion that much more can to done, to "squeeze" the maximum out of every second. However, success has been very limited indeed, and incredibly short-lived. The condition is both progessive and irreversible.

Acute sufferers have been known to walk around bridge arenas with stop-watches in their hands, darting off here and there, and rushing around as though everything is being done on a whim. They haven't the time to stop and think, because they are already struggling to make up time.

This syndrome without doubt is utterly incurable. Victim's can not shake off the belief that they are " in a stew "......something that ironically befalls all rabbits. As we all well know, the concept of time is always relative to one's state of mind. For players who think that time is running out, their only objective is " to rush ", never stopping to consider what particular goal or direction they need to aim for. All they end up doing is misleading themselves up the proverbial garden paths, flying headlong into shed loads of wretched scores .