By Greig Dymond, CBC News

Condition: Day Eight at TIFF Syndrome

Symptoms: This is largely a psychological malaise, but there are physical manifestations. Generally the patient feels fatigued, lethargic and disoriented. After spending a week inside movie theatres and attending late-night parties with the cast of Barney's Version, the patient has been deprived of sunlight and thus craves vitamin D. People suffering from this disease often can't distinguish between British director Ken Loach and British director Mike Leigh. They also lose the ability to talk about anything other than film -- they'll spout gibberish about Winona Ryder's comeback in Black Swan as if it were a major world event. This loss of perspective can be troubling indeed. In extreme cases, the patient becomes deluded, and actually believes that the Toronto International Film Festival will never end.

Prognosis: Day Eight at TIFF Syndrome only lasts for 24 hours. But if the patient isn't careful, it can easily morph into Day Nine at TIFF Syndrome.

Remedies: There are two schools of thought. Some doctors recommend a "cold turkey" strategy, where the film buff/patient simply stops attending TIFF movies. This course of action is risky; sometimes it sends people into shock; deprived of flickering images on a screen in a darkened room, the patient will sometimes sit in his/her residence, shut off the lights and then turn a flashlight on and off for hours on end. A less intrusive strategy involves a gradual reduction in TIFF film consumption; perhaps attending a couple of movies a day, rather than four or five.

Prescription: I would recommend the following films.

Casino Jack: Kevin Spacey stars as American con man/lobbyist extraordinaire Jack Abramoff. The gala screening is tonight at Roy Thomson Hall.

Sarah's Key: Kristin Scott Thomas, so good in her recent French-language films, stars as a modern-day journalist investigating the roundup of Jewish families in Paris in 1942. Gala screening at Roy Thomson Hall, following Casino Jack.

The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman: A scintillating mash-up of martial arts and food-themed movies, screening in the Midnight Madness program.

Back tomorrow.

You can follow Greig throughout #TIFF10 at @cbcarts