Inanimate Object Empathy Disorder (IOED) is an armchair-psychological designation for
people who experience extreme amounts of empathy for inanimate objects -- specifically objects that depict living things that appear damaged or distressed.
IOED describes someone who experiences legitimate feelings towards objects that appear
as if they deserve sympathy, support, and even
help as if they were animate beings. However, because these objects are not actually living beings, these impulses to
care for,
help, and support are misplaced. Hence the disorder designation.
If someone if your life continually says things like "awwwww.... that
poor x" where x is more often than not a stuffed animal with a missing ear or a tear in its fabric, then that person in your life suffers from IOED.
Using the term Inanimate Object Empathy Disorder (IOED) in context: Because my
wife has IOED, when she found 2 stuffed animals on the road, disheveled, she felt a burning
desire to "save" them and "nurse them back to health" in our home. Now, thanks to her IOED, we have a new shelf in our family room with "recovering" stuffed animals on it that fill her
heart with joy every day.
