Spontaneous Involuntary Nudity Syndrome

[LupusDei]

Nobody knows how exactly this bizarre social disorder works and spreads, as it's considered doubtful there's any physical agent for the condition at all, it doesn't even seem outright contagious, or maybe the incubation period is quite long and very varied, as there's some proof that exposure to affected persons increases the likelihood of an episode in others afterwards.

As the name implies, persons affected by Spontaneous Involuntary Nudity Syndrome can not -- and is not allowed to -- wear any kind of normal clothing; otherwise the condition is deemed harmless, at least if allowed to proceed normally, that is, if the person is nude. It may happen suddenly anywhere and anytime and can last for a seemingly random duration from less than few hours to days, can have recurring episodes anytime later and/or become permanent condition, as far the limited data suggests. And yes, it seems to unproportionally affect young, healthy and fit women.

There's two main scenarios of an episode. The most obvious case is when she becomes increasingly uncomfortable in her clothes to the point she sheds them, despite almost anything. The surprising aspect is, she receive nothing but praise and support from others doing so, even the most dig in religious fundamentalists will admit she must be nude, if not right away then after a short period in her presence, at least as long the episode lasts.

The second case is the latest aspect expressing itself to the extreme -- the victim herself may appear clueless and surprised when just about everyone suggests and increasingly strongly insists she should strip. Eventually she does so, even if she objects intellectually and rationally she goes with it regardless, with no embarrassment and just the slightest trace of modesty and may be expressing relief shortly.

The acronym SINS is criticized for being grossly misleading and inappropriate, as there's nothing inherently sexual about the condition and the victim has no choice in the matter. However, and rather understandably, there can be sexual arousal and hijinks, but the official advice is to at least try to regard the affected persons like there was nothing unusual.

There's also (mostly scientifically unsupported) conventional wisdom that suppressing a SINS episode can lead to harm, psychological and perhaps even physical, up to an attempt of suicide, and laws are proposed to protect it as exception. Frankly, it's rather redundant as even police officers are more likely to order a reluctant case of "latent" SINS or emerging episode to strip than fine for breaking laws. The only case could be if an acute condition suddenly clears with the affected person out in the open and without means to quickly cover up.

How the acceptance area effect around the affected person of the condition works is another open mystery. One wild theory is that it is some kind subconscious mind control, but of course, people deny that, claiming it's simply sincere empathy and compassion.

~~~

As usual for me, that's all pure worldbuilding, and likely more a seed of a series or unconnected universe that a single story.

 

[myothername100]

I like the way you think.

 

[Carnevil9]

Another possibility is that the "sufferer" is unaware that anything has happened. They don't realize that they are taking off their clothes, they don't understand the strange reactions they are getting, and afterwards, they have no recollection of having been nude.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

I've read a story about something similar, I believe it was written by Heinlein. Something to do with the crazy years. I'll have to go see if I can find the title.

 

[LupusDei]

Another possibility is that the "sufferer" is unaware that anything has happened. They don't realize that they are taking off their clothes, they don't understand the strange reactions they are getting, and afterwards, they have no recollection of having been nude.

Yes, that's simply a particularly severe case of an episode. Well, perhaps extremely severe, I would say, but some cases may come close to that I suppose.

Not clearly realizing they strip is rather common, and even knowing they do is covered by immediate rationalizations, including extremely trivial and even such that wouldn't make sense other times. But it's rather that they don't realize being nude is in any way unusual or unexpected, even if it is directly pointed out to them by an unaffected bystander that they indeed are, not than are completely unaware of that fact entirely.

Similarly it's likely not quite that they don't have any recollection of being nude at all, simply that's so extremely self explanatory they should have been, and seemingly unimportant until the episode settles, they may not think back to it any, and possibly indeed deny it at a later time, simply because there's so little difference with them being fully dressed in their memories they assume they should have been.

If the end of the episode happens in a safe environment, and/or while they are alone, they may just shrug realizing they're nude, possibly rationalizing why they might be right then before covering up, or not. Or, in friendly environment affected or informed bystanders may reassure them it's acceptable to be naked and thus extend the episode until they get some privacy and are able to dress, if they decide to. In this case they may be very aware of being nude during this post-episode period, but it may totally overshadow the experience during the acute, more severe episode.

Acute SINS episodes may differ in severity, duration and secondary affect independently.

Severity characterize how the person going through an active acute episode acts and their own attitude, ranging from (1) mild discomfort with their clothes, to (2) strange internal rationalizations why they should strip, to (3) overwhelming, irrational but conscious desire to strip naked, to (4) doing so without even realizing, but aware they did, to (5) stripping without recollection nor clear awareness of their nudity.

Duration is self explanatory, and can be anything, from (1) mere fleeting minutes to (2) an hour or (3) hours, to a (4) day or (5) several days, to possibly quasi-permanent chronic condition although it's unclear if those long cases are in fact many shorter episodes stacked close together or even just adaptation and lifestyle change in general.

Secondary affect on bystanders is the most baffling part, and hardest to quantify, as that is attempt to characterize how much bystanders are cooperating, but crucial for accurate diagnosis as in absence of any known physical markers that could be tested for it is important for distinguishing SINS case from mere exhibitionism. Some researchers try to further distinguish between secondary affect strength and effect area, and delve into heated discussions if being in line of sight has a direct impact or just boost awareness. Frankly, there is too much variance and too many individual and independent variables for such metrics to be really useful, beyond describing reactions of each onlooker individually.

Secondary affect may range from (0) seemingly no unexpected effect on a bystander, to (1) suppressing any reaction to stripping and nudity leading to apparently apathetic acceptance, or even (2) inability to notice or comprehend the person in front of them is nude, unless that is directly pointed out, to (3) triggering supportive, cheerful reactions, to (4) empathetic encouragement, to (5) even outright stripping themselves, either ostensibly for comfort of the primary case, or, full SINS episodes can be triggered, especially in persons with prior episodes observing the onset, stripping act of active episode. Yes, it can create avalanche effects sometimes, especially in populations where there had been significant prior spread.

Contrary to what one may expect, there's no clear, direct correlation between those three parameters. There's also poor repeatability between even episodes of a single individual, although a general trend of successive episodes to become more severe can be noted. If anything, it's rather like the severity and secondary affect strength of an episode are often inversely proportional, although that may be biased by fact that severe episodes give less opportunity to midrange secondary affects to manifest. There's also claims the data might be contaminated by exhibitionists or nudists cynically abusing the recognition of this condition.

One of such factors introducing further uncertainty to consider are Informed Bystanders. Those are people already familiar with the condition, either by previous learning or training about, or experience, secondary or personal, with the condition. While it may not appear to be necessary so, and isn't in all cases indeed, those people are generally supportive of persons undergoing active episode symptoms even while may not be directly affected themselves, as evidenced by them regaining more clarity and awareness of what is happening.

Likewise duration appears to be completely random. Although high secondary affect can extend the episode greatly through recursive self induction loop, in extreme cases from mere minutes to days or months, as it seems to lag behind and fade slower than the acute symptoms of the primary case.

It's important to note that SINS differ from vestiphobia significantly. While vestiphobia, irrational fear of clothes or being clothed, is an anxiety disorder (that may accompany other anxiety disorders, manifesting for example, in ex-military personal when they, as part of PTSD or otherwise, have associated wearing body armor with danger, and then that inadvertently extends to clothing in general) that can induce acute panic attacks, but generally is regarded as treatable similarly to other phobias and anxiety disorders, SINS episode remarkably lack the anxiety angle, even if the discomfort with clothing in early stages of weak to milk episodes is sometimes comparable.

It is however believed that suppression of SINS episodes, even if it's seemingly trivial in light cases, can trigger severe Vestiphobia in a short time, further complicating the condition of the affected individuals, along with deepening and increasing numbers of following episodes. Thus, unlike for Vestiphobia attacks, it is advised to not interrupt ongoing or suspected SINS episodes allowing them to pass as naturally as possible. There is ongoing research potentially linking suppression of SINS or similar symptoms not only with Vestiphobia and other anxiety disorders but self harm and even suicides, especially in younger demographics, although that may overlap or be mistaken by detrimental effects on self esteem of social media. Some researchers also claim the condition had actually been in circulation, possibly especially between habitual nudists, for example, for a long time already. Why it had recently become more virulent or severe isn't answered though.

Education regarding the condition would seem preferable, if not for possible evidence and fear mere exposure to information about it may trigger episodes in susceptible individuals, and that persons pretending the condition for selfish thrill would further complicate research and isolation of the causes of the condition, and thus eventual effective prevention . Combined with general population weariness of preventive measures in post pandemic world and relatively harmless nature of the condition in most cases, when it is allowed to proceed, the expert advice adopted was to try to suppress public news about the condition and its spread, while educating medical personnel, law enforcement agencies and educators in closed seminars. And likewise, only present known, proven cases with restricted circulation materials about their condition, while asking not to share their experiences on social media or otherwise.

Given the sensitive privacy factors of the condition, getting the technology corporations onboard with the, yes, censorship of the newest epidemic of such a strange nature wasn't that hard. Especially, suppressing obviously fake news about, ostensibly, whole towns that have gone all nude in severe outbreaks of this.

 

[LupusDei]

In case you're wondering, yes, cognitive dissonance is, like, the main thing I'm getting off on here.

 

[sirhugs]

In case you're wondering, yes, cognitive dissonance is, like, the main thing I'm getting off on here.

well, as long as you are getting off...