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A 17-year old adolescent female presented to a psychiatric emergency room
with excitement, confusion, and psychotic symptoms.* Act one: it started on a typical spring day remarkably free of symptoms despite everything she knew her name she knew where she came from she could still feel the heat of the sun she was too thin too fat too quiet too loud too idealist too practical too delusional too grounded too flat too emotional too much of a girl for them to take that day on the drive to the emergency room she cradled her head in the crook of her arm she sang a song to her elbow she talked to friends that no one else could see she laughed out loud cried inside her skin hurt real bad After brief exposure to haloperidol and olanzapine she developed fever, rigidity, waxy flexibility, autonomic instability. Act two: her hand accepted the pills her hand flew to her mouth the pills flew to her gut she was surrounded by white walls and white sheets the colors shot out of her before her heart could compensate she fell something that was whole shattered bit by bit her body was no longer hers to own a bruised temple shaking, burning foundations rattled to the core she was alternately wax and stone Approximately six weeks after the onset of the illness, multiple laboratory tests, and evaluation at three different hospitals, the condition was effectively treated with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Act three: it ended when she was hooked up plugged in the smell of antisceptic hovered gently in the air like so many tears unshed the sheets were cool and white wrapped against flesh flesh wrapped around bone around muscle around blood warm hands placed cold electrodes on her temples soothing voices spoke with no words behind the cadences Mengele's ghost stood at her bedstand electricity flowed benign into her mind violent current shot benevolent into her mind and she was no longer too much girl for them to take deep down somewhere where the electricity did not reach she still knew her name she knew where she came from she knew she was more than a "condition" she knew she would yet feel the heat of the sun by leah ida harris September 2002 * Texts in italics taken from "ECT Treatment of Malignant Catatonia/NMS in an Adolescent: A Useful Lesson in Delayed Diagnosis and Treatment," Journal of ECT, June 2002. |
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