EXCERPT FROM THE LATEST DSM (DIAGNOSTIC AND STATISTICAL MANUAL OF MENTAL DISORDERS)
SUBSECTION: Dissociative Disorders
300.601a Characteromnemonic Absorption Fugue Syndrome, Caching-Type (CAFS-CT, also known as Geo-Zelig Syndrome).
The essential feature of this disorder is the sudden absorption of the characteristics and identities of others who engage in secretive sporting or hobby-like behaviors. With the Caching Type, there is typically observed the spontaneous mimicry of the geocaching hiding styles of other geocachers with whom the sufferer has had contact, either directly or through geocaching activities. The typical case will exhibit mimicry of only one geocacher (such as evidenced by "Stalker" caches, "Tribute" caches, and caches hidden in one county and then aped in another by a different geocacher). In rare instances, the impairment is more severe, leading to the mimicry of multiple geocachers (not unlike one who suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder and manifests several different unique personalities rather than the more common single alter-ego).
AGE OF ONSET: The disorder has been observed in individuals ranging from pre-adolesence through the elderly, but is most common in men and women in their 20's to 50's.
COURSE AND PREDISPOSING FACTORS: Predisposition toward CAFS-CT evolves as one participates in the seeking of an increasing number of geocaches. With greater exposure to the caching styles of others comes increasing likelihood of the development of CAFS-CT. Onset typically develops over a period of days to months, as the ideas percolate within the psyche of the eventual CAFS-CT sufferer. Outbreaks of CAFS-CT usually come in spurts...once a Geo-Zelig Syndrome patient has released the heretofore dormant fugue desires, the compulsion to take on the cache-hiding styles of other geocachers tends to abate. Relapse may or may not occur.
CASE STUDY: The latest CAFS-CT case was observed in February 2011 in Miami, Florida, in the United States. A geocacher who will be referred to in this report as "Mr. G" hid a four-stage multi-cache that begins in the South Miami/Coral Gables area and ends in the Cutler Ridge area, thus requiring the use of a car. It is suspected that utilizing different locations faciliated the emergence of the multiple fugue identities Mr. G subsequently evidenced. It is also noted with some sense of alarm that Mr. G brought his son along with him on his descent into geopsychological identity fugue, sadly risking contamination of the younger G with an early-onset CAFS-CT (an action for which the Department of Health was promptly notified).
At the first stage, Mr. G and his son hid a microcache container outside a building that has striking similarities to the standard hiding grounds for a local geocaching duo, using the most common container of choice typically employed by said duo. Within that container were coordinates indicating the location of the second stage of the multi-cache.
Similarly, the second stage (which provided another set of coordinates) was another microcache hidden alongside a strip of road that traditionally has been the hiding grounds of a DIFFERENT quite prolific geocaching aficionado, and Mr. G and son utilized that geocacher's typical container of choice. As was the case at the first stage, within the second stage container were coordinates indicating the location of the third stage of the multi-cache (those coordinates are not to be removed from the walls of the container, as they are affixed, making it so seekers would need to peer closely within the container to view the requisite numbers).
Not surprisingly (given the nature of the disorder), the third stage mimicked the location-of-choice of a THIRD prominent local geocacher. The coordinates Mr. G and his son affixed to the walls of the container at Stage 3 provide the coordinates for the final stage, which is a well-hidden ammo box with a few small swag items that include a CD, a travel bug, a racquetball and an unopened superhero promo toy (there is less room in this ammo box than one might traditionally expect, so visitors would be advised to bring smaller trade items) -- NOTE that a second container, a large white plastic container, was placed in the same area when the ammo box was presumed missing, but it turns out that the ammo box still remains, so you have TWICE as many chance at finding a container in which to sign a log. The final stage evidenced an escalation of Mr. G's disorder, as the location and route to the cache evidenced two elements from a fourth prolific geocacher AND the container was a clear identity theft of a FIFTH cacher.
It is believed that Mr. G's CAFS-CT will soon slip into remission and that he will reclaim his self-identity. However, those who wish to reap the benefits of his brief descent into CAFS-CT may partake in his "Identity Theft" geocache. Recommended accoutrements include a tweezers, a pen, a GPS-enabled device, and small swag. The experience of Mr. G's cache can be enhanced (but made more difficult) if the cache is attempted at nighttime, because the location of the final stage is in a dark area that would be quite fun to traverse in the dark with flashlights, and the location of the cache itself is demarked by a red reflector light mere feet from the cache itself. Mr. G requests that all stages be returned precisely to their original locations and with any camoflage that might be present replaced atop the respective containers.
Interestingly, Mr. G reportedly has offered an additional prize. Any successful seeker who can correctly name (in a private e-mail) all five of the geocachers who were mimicked in this geocache can request one free hint (as directive or non-directive as the requester likes) for any other cache hidden by the makers of "Identity Theft".
Congratulations to Jbean2921, Mdell3, Mj08, and MulderNScully on the shared FTF!!