"Among Us" Is Not a Recognized Medical Condition
"Among Us" is not a recognized medical diagnosis in any psychiatric or medical classification system. The term refers to a popular video game and has no clinical validity as a medical or psychiatric condition.
What You May Actually Be Asking About
If you're inquiring about symptoms that might be colloquially associated with the game's themes—such as social isolation, paranoia, or anxiety—these are legitimate psychiatric symptoms that belong to established diagnostic categories:
Social Isolation and Anxiety
- Social isolation is a well-documented phenomenon in social anxiety disorder, with pooled scores of 38.1 on the Loneliness and Social Dissatisfaction Questionnaire and 33.1 on the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale avoidance subscale 1
- Social isolation is common in social anxiety disorder but is assessed through heterogeneous measures rather than being a distinct diagnosis itself 1
- Greater social isolation correlates with increased anxiety in individuals with cognitive impairment (coefficient = 0.7242, p = 0.015) 2
Paranoia in Anxiety Disorders
- Paranoid thoughts occur significantly more frequently in adolescents with social anxiety disorder compared to healthy controls (t = 4.16, p < 0.001) 3
- The level of paranoid thoughts is significantly predicted by the degree of social phobia, even after adjusting for sex and other anxiety disorders 3
- Patients with psychotic disorders experience greater paranoia when alone versus in company (b = 0.11, p = 0.016), and being with familiar people limits paranoia 4
Recognized Diagnostic Categories
If someone presents with symptoms of social isolation, paranoia, or anxiety, consider these established diagnoses:
Social Anxiety Disorder
- The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry recognizes social anxiety disorder as characterized by persistent fear of social situations where negative evaluation may occur 5
- Physical symptoms during performance situations include heart palpitations, shortness of breath, shakiness, and sweating 5
- Median age of onset is 13 years, with 75% of cases occurring between ages 8-15 5
Differential Diagnoses to Consider
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder if worry extends beyond social situations to multiple domains 5
- Panic Disorder given panic-like symptoms such as palpitations and shortness of breath 5
- Medical conditions that mimic anxiety including hyperthyroidism, hypoglycemia, and cardiac arrhythmias 5
- Other psychiatric conditions including Selective Mutism, Specific Phobia, and Autism Spectrum Disorder 5
Clinical Pitfall to Avoid
Do not dismiss legitimate psychiatric symptoms by attributing them to video game exposure or internet culture terminology. A lack of awareness about the association between social anxiety disorder and paranoia may lead to incorrect diagnoses or misdiagnosis of psychotic disorders, negatively influencing the therapeutic process and patient outcomes 3.
If a patient presents using colloquial terms like "Among Us" to describe their symptoms, translate this into proper clinical assessment of social isolation, paranoia, and anxiety using validated instruments and DSM-5 criteria 6.