Kryptonite

Chapter 26 ~ Trauma

Toni
Janet has been in the hospital for a few months now. Things are starting to get easier for her. She recognizes her family and friends but she just doesn't have any recollection of memories with them. She got a lot more comfortable with me being her girlfriend and me coming around. There was a week at one point where she didn't want me to come at all. She continues to have a lot more trauma filled dreams and it causes her to lash out and almost hurt herself to try and get away.

The hospital has allowed me to start spending the night here because I'm the only person that can calm her down. Like now, it took a while but I finally managed to get her to fall asleep after her most recent episode.

"Doctor, I just don't understand. Is this normal for people with memory loss?"

"No it isn't. By now the patient is usually calmer and is reintegrating into life better."

"So what do you think it is?"

"Well, I looked over her chart and noticed that the damage to that part of her brain has healed. She should have her memory back."

"So why doesn't she?"

"I asked that question too, so I looked into her medical history and noticed her psychiatric diagnosis. It's very thorough. Whoever is around her gives regular updates on her behavior and triggers."

"Yeah, that's Maggie and her mother."

"This is good. So I got a second opinion from the top psychiatrist in the hospital. Come with me." I followed the doctor out of the room and into his office, where a female doctor was sitting and looking over Janet's files.

"Dr. Agnew, thank you for helping with this." She got up and shook my hand.

"No problem. Hi, I'm Patricia."

"Oh I know you. You write those psychology books."

"Yes."

"Big fan."

"Thank you." We sat down on the couch. "Now I have been looking at all the information related to her case. I've never seen one this thorough so it's easier to make a diagnosis."

"Okay, so what are you thinking?"

"Well, the doctor is right, if this was just physical then her memory should be back but this is psychological. Janet has an extensive history of mental illness when it comes to PTSD and bipolar disorder type 2. While she was born with bipolar disorder, the PTSD developed in her teen years."

"But how does that connect with this?"

"Well with bipolar disorder, a lot of patients unconditionally suppress a lot of emotions causing a dual personality to form. With PTSD, patients tend to try and push away the traumatic event or the anxiety connected to it. In this case, Janet's brain has done both."

"Okay, I'm confused."

"During the car accident, Janet went through a great deal of trauma. Now her brain normally would just block the emotion for the event and allow her to keep the memory but in this case her brain just blocked everything. It's possible that Janet had a PTSD as well as a bipolar episode at the same time, resulting in a psychotic break."

"So she became so overwhelmed and anxious that her brain just locked everything away?"

"Yep. And now that all of her memories are gone from her conscious mind, that dual personality for the bipolar disorder is able to come out. More than likely it's a childlike personality. She may become embarrassed with sexual conversations or anything dealing with adulthood but she does know she's an adult."