Characters who are having a mental breakdown sometimes become fixated on a certain phrase that they repeat and repeat and repeat and repeat and repeat and repeat until everyone in the world is sick of it. This could be from obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) or due to ruminative depression, where a person becomes trapped in a loop. Sometimes, this chanting allows the character to snap out of their insanity. Sometimes, it becomes their life-long theme song as they rock back and forth in a padded, locked room in a psychiatric institute. If they aren't locked up, expect a room with every square inch covered with the handwitten phrase. When combined with As the Good Book Says..., the ominousness goes through the roof.
Just about every mental institution scene has someone chanting some sort of non sequitur phrase in the background. And woe betide us all if this non sequitur should be significant.
May result in the terms becoming meaningless and possibly descend into a strange form of Mondegreen thanks to the human knack of picking up patterns out of nothing.
Contrast the Talkative Loon, who at least varies the chatter. Compare to Cluster F-Bomb and Rapid-Fire "No!". If this involves singing, see Tuneless Song of Madness.
A Survival Mantra is an attempt to master fear and pain, but when it doesn't work, you find the point where that trope crosses over into this one.
Must trope. Must trope. Must trope. Must trope. Must trope. Must trope.
Madness Mantra has been suggested to play 1 roles. Click below to see other actors suggested for each role, and vote for who you think would play the role best.
