Delusions of Connection - An Unpleasant Story -

Sponsor Link

後味の悪い話　その26

495 ：A True Scary Anonymous Story：2005/05/12(Thu) 10:43:00 ID:2WGIbhWu0
Parents troubled by their daughter's severe delusions came to consult a psychiatrist.
Outwardly, the daughter had raised two children single-handedly after her husband's death,
worked tirelessly at her company, devoted herself to volunteering, and was a well-regarded “good person”.
However, she was actually suffering from a profound mental illness.
She insisted, ‘I'm going to marry a Hollywood actor. He'll come for me someday,’
and whenever a car honked its horn or brake screeched outside the house,
she complains, ‘It's all paparazzi, I can't stand it.’
She shares these delusions with her children, though they realise they're lies.
In fact, they find it amusing, saying things like, ‘Oh Mum, not again!’
The target Hollywood actor changes constantly, sometimes even shifting to non-Hollywood actors.
She watches the actor's films intently, flying into a rage at the television whenever a love scene appears.
Her parents lamented, ‘Our daughter's trying too hard and it's made her go off the rails,’ and half-tricked her into seeing a psychiatrist.

Through the psychiatrist's persistent guidance, her family's cooperation, and her inherently earnest nature, the delusions gradually faded over several years.
Yet one day, she attempted suicide.
The psychiatrist had discerned the cause.
But seeing her parents' earnest desire for her complete recovery, he could not bring himself to speak of it.
The implausible romantic delusions had been her means of escape.

496 ：Truly Terrifying Anonymous：2005/05/12(Thu) 10:45:01 ID:2WGIbhWu0
The reality she revealed during the consultation was:
・Her husband, who had just become a father for the second time, died in an accident
・Child custody issues stemming from both being only children when they married
・The relentless streamlining and staff reductions at her workplace
・The impending problem of caring for her ageing parents
・The academic disparity between her children due to her parents' differing financial means
...a dead end of nothing but agonising problems.
While desperately juggling her roles as mother, daughter, and office worker, she escaped into implausible delusions to avert her eyes from this painful reality.
Even if told not to look away from reality, her inherently earnest nature meant she couldn't tear her gaze from problems once she focused on them, plunging her into deep distress.
Thus, she maintained her equilibrium within a world of absurd, irresponsible delusions.
However, with the delusions vanishing through treatment, only reality lay before her,
she found herself unable to withstand the overwhelming anxiety that surged upon her.
The psychiatrist informed her parents:
‘Further treatment risks her life. It would be better to discontinue it while some delusions remain.’
For many people, hobbies that offer an escape from stress are necessary; in her case, it was romantic delusions.
She was simply finding her release in a slightly unusual way.

However, her parents refused to accept this, protesting, ‘Are you telling us to leave our daughter as a lunatic?’ and changed hospitals.
She would now receive treatment under a different doctor.
If she were to be completely cured, then at that point...

Some details have been altered to protect privacy. But it's a true story.

501 ：Really Scary Anonymous：2005/05/12(Thu) 12:50:08 ID:8lDnSDCP0
>>495
Just reading about the parents' lack of composure is suffocating.
If it were mild, it might pass as a joke, but it's painful to watch.
The child is more flexible and positive.
Even an amateur like me understood the meaning behind her actions...
Given that she was raised to be so serious by these parents' approach,
they probably couldn't tolerate this situation.

502 ：501：2005/05/12(Thu) 12:52:26 ID:8lDnSDCP0
The fact that her treatment decisions differ between doctors is probably because it's such a sensitive area, but
actually, just saying it out loud was probably better.
Keeping it bottled up inside alone is far more dangerous, isn't it.

504 ：495：2005/05/12(Thu) 13:26:28 ID:2WGIbhWu0
>501
Admittedly she is ill, but she doesn't attack others, nor is it so severe that she can't lead a social life.
Delusions, auditory hallucinations, and fixed ideas are symptoms of schizophrenia, but as long as they don't worsen, it's fine.
Plenty of people live perfectly normal lives even with some residual delusions. I suspect this person developed the illness first, and to escape the double anxiety of illness and reality,
they started seeing bizarre delusions as a way to avoid it.
Plenty of people manage to live well, balancing their chronic conditions, so it's a shame this person couldn't do the same.

‘This isn't serious enough to warrant treatment—we'll just disperse it with medication,’ the doctor says, and the patient agrees, yet the patient's family insists, ‘No! Operate!’ and has their perfectly healthy abdomen cut open.