" Now, let me get this straight....having survived years of constant criticism and abuse at your local club, you've become so thick skinned......that members simply perceive you as a rhino......"

.....

DR. JOHN'S CASE NOTES : RHINOSERUS HIDERMIA

This disorder is a very unusual one, in that it affects only a small number of bridge players, who have over the years been harangued, criticised, chastised, slagged off, abused, battered and bullied by their intolerant, over-bearing partners. Deluged with insults, barbed comments, pointed sarcasm, and cutting remarks, these players don't go the same way as the majority. They do not end up suffereing from nervous breakdowns, anxiety and panic attacks, shattered egos and suicidal thoughts. They simply succumb to a disorder known as rhinoserus hidermia.

This is, in essence, a " psychological barrier " that they put up, in order to ward off any repeated attacks of verbal abuse. It is a defence mechanism based on newly acquired auditory skills. Victims of this condition develop a selective hearing ability. When necessary they can switch off to anything what they don't want to hear. Moreover, they can completely ignore what has been said, by automatically switching off the mental processing function, which of course involves the interpretation of meaning from any spoken words . Insults amazingly bounce off them. Nothing penetrates this psychological barrier, that now encompasses them like a layer of thick armour-plated skin. Their previously shattered egos can now undergo the process of rebuilding, inside their new wonderfully protective shells.

But what makes this disorder really strange....... is that victims never choose to have it dealt with or treated.