The Most Terrifying Ailments of Humanity

There are many things about health that are so temperamental. Even the slightest change can reap terrible effects, and there are thousands of things that can go wrong with biological life. Of them all, have you ever taken a moment to consider which ones might be on your list of most frightening to face?

I've spent quite a lot of time around diseases and ailments during my life, both mental and physical, developed, infected, and genetic. As such I've been thinking lately and have developed a short list of biological malfunctions which I believe would certainly be among the most terrifying.

In my opinion, mental illnesses top the list handily in most cases, for malfunctions and deterioration in other parts of the body can at least be completely understood by the one being afflicted. Certainly cancers and other such things are horrifying, but imagine for a moment that you hear and see things that aren't really there, act on impulses that originate in nothing more than uncontrollable fantasy, lose the nervous control of your other bodily organs, or experience the gradual obliteration of your personal identity and most treasured memories.

From all that I can assemble, the human brain is by far the most complex and least understood portion of the human body. It is a super computer, a command module, a phenomenal data bank, a master analyzer, a predictor of the future--an amazing machine that governs everything else in the body and without which the body would completely stall out and fail. A disease that effects this organ would truly be a nightmare.

Personally, I believe the loss of memory tops the list of terrifying maladies. Not being able to remember the people dearest to you or keep track of time and your activities, having aspects of your identity just vanish, and not being able to recall them no matter how hard you try, add up to a hellish terror that I think completely drowns out the agony of a broken limb, inflamed appendix, or even many types of cancers and diabetes.

I by no means wish to say that the host of other diseases and illnesses wouldn't, to their own degrees, be frightening, but on my personal list memory loss takes the spot of #1, followed by such illnesses as schizophrenia, DID, and other mental illnesses. A major factor in my decision is the fact that physical issues can be explained and dealt with with an understand of why, whereas mental illnesses have a record of being issues where the suffering person continually struggles to understand what is happening to them, why, and the actions of those around them as they try to address the "supposed" issue. The likely inability to understand/remember what's happening to you adds a whole new dimension to the fear. But that's just my layman's perspective.

What do you think? You each have personal experiences and I'm sure you face some things that you would never, ever wish on your worst enemies. So talk to me about them. I look forward to your comments.