Clinomorphism is the deliberate or unintentional simplification, alteration, or amplification of the term for a medical condition (usually for dramatic effect). A caricature to which those (or care providers for those) with the condition may object is an example of simplification, while frequent overuse of a medical term, in the absence of bona fide symptoms, might be considered an amplification. Issues Clinomorphism is in fact often both a contributory factor in as well as being the result of the mythology and popular misconception of many medical conditions. Clinomorphism is usually the basis for controversy in medical conditions such as posttraumatic stress disorder, myalgic encephalomyelitis (chronic fatigue syndrome), ADHD, and dyslexia where consensus is not easily established concerning the validity of the conditions and clinomorphism is in fact seen as pejorative, so that clinomorphic references to these conditions are ascribed respectively to being "cowardice", "malingering", "disobedience" and "stupidity". Clinomorphism, whilst being a linguistic behaviour which exemplifies particular "errors" and deliberate misrepresentations, may also be a natural tendency in the sense that it is potentially an understandable consequence of the need to abbreviate or to simply use a clinomorphism as a metaphor to convey an otherwise difficult to describe idea, in much the same way as anthropomorphism might be (where one attributes the human characteristics or presence of a mind to anything nonhuman, purely for ease of description of a particular phenomenon, rather than as a result of holding a genuinely animistic or pantheistic belief). An example of clinomorphic tendency would be in the case of autism or Asperger syndrome where particular characteristics of these syndromes (such as the limitations on the ability of a person to form a mental model of the state of mind of another person) would be clinomorphically used as a metaphor or simile for someone's behaviour, where the individual being described clinomorphically is not in fact believed by the utterer to be a person with the condition in question. The danger is that this will be seen as an offensive misrepresentation of and disrespect towards the condition of an actual patient, and thus such clinomorphism (even as a metaphorical convenience) would need to be restricted to discreet private discourse, or avoided altogether. Examples Tourette syndrome Tourette syndrome is typically clinomorphically depicted as being a condition of involuntary (and often unconscious) outbursts of offensive language or behaviour, usually on account of being unable to repress (or unaware that