The girl was in bed most of the time. She was not clearing her exams. She was not talking much.. Eating much.. Not sleeping much either..
I requested her parents to wait outside. I needed to talk to her alone.
‘Tell me Jamie..? What is your problem ?’
She stared back.. blankly.
.
Her face looked puffy and pale.. The eyes dull..
‘Tell m.’ I repeated.. smiling cajolingly.
The blank stare again..
‘Jaime are you afraid of something some body? Worried?’
‘No.. Its not fear.’
Then?
I knew it was not anxiety.. her expression was too dull for that. I was just poking around. Trying to instill some response in her.
‘Err.. Hmmm.. Thoughts keep coming..’
;Thoughts?’
‘I keep getting these thoughts..’
‘What thoughts?’
‘About one person.. I love one person’
‘Love..?! Great...!!
I smiled sweetly
.
‘What does he do?’
‘He is a teacher.’
‘He loves you too?’
‘Yes.’
Yes.. She believed it. Her eyes told me so.
‘So what’s the problem?’
She glanced at the closed door
‘He is a Hindu..My parents don’t agree.’
‘Hmm.. ‘ I nodded..’So tell me more about him’
‘He is a teacher
Where does he live? How u met him ?’
‘He gave me tuitions’
‘Hmmm..’
‘And’
‘Yes?’
‘He is married ‘
‘And he loves you?’
‘Yes.’
I looked at her dull and washed out churidar . Her cotton shawl was crumpled
‘He wants to marry you ?’
‘Yes. But he will not tell that.’
‘Why?’
‘That’s the understanding between us.’
‘Understanding?’
‘Yes. When he says I don’t love you he means‘ I love you’
‘Oh…!’
‘And when he says I must not call him he means I must keep calling.’
‘Hmmm..’.
‘Any kids?’
‘Yes. Two girls’
‘He loves you..? He wants to marry you…?’
‘Yes.’
The blank stare again.
‘Ok. Call your parents... and Jaime please waits outside’
‘Your daughter suffers from delusions..She needs psychiatric evaluation.’
‘Delusion ?’
‘Yes…fixed false belief. typically occur in neurological or mental illness’
‘Oh..!They stared back at me.’
‘The false belief is firmly sustained despite what almost everybody else believes.. despite obvious proof or evidence to the contrary’
Some patients belive that their spouse is having an affair.. some that their neighbours are harming them …some that their co workers have ganged up against them ‘
‘They will not belive belive that even if you try to convince them. They suffer a lot of agony thinking its true.’.
‘Your daughter belives that a married man wants to marry her.’
.
‘Yes we know.. he is also upset because of it.’
‘We took her to a priest for counselling..’
‘No counselling will not help now..’
‘Her delusionsWill start to break down after six to eight weeks of treatment.. Then conselling may help.’
‘Till then don’t support her views or tell her she is wrong.. it will only aggravate her distress.. just be neutral..’
I refered Jamie to a psychiatrist.. Ifelt disturbed the whole day.. I could imagine her pain.. her despair..
Do you know anyone with fixed beliefs that’s obviously wrong to everyone else.. ?
Do you feel that you reach a dead end ..a blank wall when you talk to them….? Don’t just get frustrated.. consider if it could be delusions.
Delusions have wrecked my friend’s life.. Proper treatment at the right time could have prevented it..
That’s why I wrote this post..
I requested her parents to wait outside. I needed to talk to her alone.
‘Tell me Jamie..? What is your problem ?’
She stared back.. blankly.
.
Her face looked puffy and pale.. The eyes dull..
‘Tell m.’ I repeated.. smiling cajolingly.
The blank stare again..
‘Jaime are you afraid of something some body? Worried?’
‘No.. Its not fear.’
Then?
I knew it was not anxiety.. her expression was too dull for that. I was just poking around. Trying to instill some response in her.
‘Err.. Hmmm.. Thoughts keep coming..’
;Thoughts?’
‘I keep getting these thoughts..’
‘What thoughts?’
‘About one person.. I love one person’
‘Love..?! Great...!!
I smiled sweetly
.
‘What does he do?’
‘He is a teacher.’
‘He loves you too?’
‘Yes.’
Yes.. She believed it. Her eyes told me so.
‘So what’s the problem?’
She glanced at the closed door
‘He is a Hindu..My parents don’t agree.’
‘Hmm.. ‘ I nodded..’So tell me more about him’
‘He is a teacher
Where does he live? How u met him ?’
‘He gave me tuitions’
‘Hmmm..’
‘And’
‘Yes?’
‘He is married ‘
‘And he loves you?’
‘Yes.’
I looked at her dull and washed out churidar . Her cotton shawl was crumpled
‘He wants to marry you ?’
‘Yes. But he will not tell that.’
‘Why?’
‘That’s the understanding between us.’
‘Understanding?’
‘Yes. When he says I don’t love you he means‘ I love you’
‘Oh…!’
‘And when he says I must not call him he means I must keep calling.’
‘Hmmm..’.
‘Any kids?’
‘Yes. Two girls’
‘He loves you..? He wants to marry you…?’
‘Yes.’
The blank stare again.
‘Ok. Call your parents... and Jaime please waits outside’
‘Your daughter suffers from delusions..She needs psychiatric evaluation.’
‘Delusion ?’
‘Yes…fixed false belief. typically occur in neurological or mental illness’
‘Oh..!They stared back at me.’
‘The false belief is firmly sustained despite what almost everybody else believes.. despite obvious proof or evidence to the contrary’
Some patients belive that their spouse is having an affair.. some that their neighbours are harming them …some that their co workers have ganged up against them ‘
‘They will not belive belive that even if you try to convince them. They suffer a lot of agony thinking its true.’.
‘Your daughter belives that a married man wants to marry her.’
.
‘Yes we know.. he is also upset because of it.’
‘We took her to a priest for counselling..’
‘No counselling will not help now..’
‘Her delusionsWill start to break down after six to eight weeks of treatment.. Then conselling may help.’
‘Till then don’t support her views or tell her she is wrong.. it will only aggravate her distress.. just be neutral..’
I refered Jamie to a psychiatrist.. Ifelt disturbed the whole day.. I could imagine her pain.. her despair..
Do you know anyone with fixed beliefs that’s obviously wrong to everyone else.. ?
Do you feel that you reach a dead end ..a blank wall when you talk to them….? Don’t just get frustrated.. consider if it could be delusions.
Delusions have wrecked my friend’s life.. Proper treatment at the right time could have prevented it..
That’s why I wrote this post..
16 comments:
That sound quite scary..glad that she is in for proper treatment now...probably this kind of illness is too hard to detect for a ordinary person..people would just pass it off as just being plain silly..
seen a lot of em..brilliant students...loving mothers...great husbands...its the despair and hopelessness of it made me get into counselling and finally fall out of it too..
so nice of you doctor to share these unique incidents.. U are doing justice to the time you spent in blogosphere.. good writing...
cheers
Al
This makes me remember my old neighbour. She thinks that we are jealous about her and hence will always make extraordinary silly things very complex. Not just with us, but with everyone in the street.May be delusion.
The problem is that most of us think about meeting a psychiatrist as an undesirable step.
Thanks for this informative post.
Sad isn't it. Hope she is getting help and recovering. Very apt and relevant post. But the lack of awareness about these issues is a great obstacle in getting proper treatment. I think media should play a major role in this. Good post as usual.
its scary to think of the things that happen when our minds cheat on us...sheesh...hope she gets alright.
hmmm.. txs everybody.. delusions r more common than we think..
its there all around us.. its so frustrating.. but once u realise it its not that persons fault u can improve the situation..
hmmm you are right. Maybe there are people around us who suffer from the same and we dont notice because we are not aware of the symptoms. This is the first time I am hearing about such a case...though I have seen people with delusions of grandeur :p
Thanks so much for sharing this incident....
I agree with Mathew...
its so easy to be cornered silly......when the culprit is the mind.
It could be anyone around us....your family, friends.....I too have experiences of people behaving in the same way. They are very adamant and the only way is love, care and understanding coupled with proper treatment
I am a new visitor to ur blog.... But finished reading many of them by 2 days.... All ur blogs are so well written and really touching... I loved the way you are writing down your feeling, your thoughts... It's new hopes and your love that I can read through your words....
very nice post Anu!!...i loved reading it..i have great symapthy for Psychitric patients anu....most of them suffer...remain undiagnosed...and illtreated by family and society...
anu plz check out my new template...and plz do comment ...how it looks?
HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!
Hi anu good post...HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!
anu,
i had a friend in medical college who had delusions.she was a brilliant student,but she stopped her studies.that was really sad.
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