Amanda led Amelia into a small meeting room where a woman in a smart, peach
blouse and black, A-line skirt was sitting. She was wearing glasses with a thick
black frame, and had chocolate brown hair cut into a bob. The woman looked up
at Amelia and smiled. “Hello Amelia, my name is Dr Fox. I am your consultant
psychiatrist and I will be taking charge of your care whilst you are here”.
Amelia immediately looked at the floor when Dr Fox tried to make eye contact
with her dark, brown eyes. Amanda closed the door behind her, leaving Dr Fox
and Amelia alone.
The room was instantly filled with awkward silence, and Amelia began
shaking her legs out of nervousness. “So Amelia, tell me, how do you feel
today?” Amelia continued to stare at the floor, avoiding eye contact with Dr
Fox. “I will take your silence that you are not feeling too good today”, Dr Fox
continued. Amelia shook her head, whilst continuing to stare at the floor. “You
have pretty eyes Amelia, I would prefer to look at them rather than the top of
your head”, Dr Fox said, with a little humour in her voice. Amelia smirked a
little before looking up at Dr Fox. “That’s better”, Dr Fox smiled. “Do you
understand why you are here Amelia?” Amelia nodded. “What would you like to get
out of your stay here?” Amelia shrugged her shoulders. “Not much of a talker.
That’s okay, all in good time”, Dr Fox continued. “But it would be useful for
the both of us if you could tell me what is bothering you the most at the
moment, so we can help you through that problem and defeat them one by one.”
Amelia sighed and looked at the floor again. She took a breath as if she wanted
to speak, but paused, filling the room with silence. “I…”, Amelia paused. “I… I
want to be free from his power. I see his face and hear his voice everywhere I
go. I feel so dirty, weak and alone. And sad”, Amelia confided, whilst tears
filled her beautiful, sapphire blue eyes. “It’s okay Amelia. Please don’t be
afraid of your emotions. I don’t want you to hide your pain any more”, Dr Fox
stated. “I don’t want to hide it anymore either”, Amelia admitted, whilst
starting to sob uncontrollably as she began to release that heavy burden she
was carrying.
Dr Fox had let Amelia cry for a good fifteen minutes before Amelia began to
regain her composure. “Feel better?” Dr Fox asked, breaking the silence. Amelia
sniffled as she nodded. “It’s good to cry and let out those emotions. I suspect
that from what you have gone through, you have kept everything bottled up,
numbing everything out just so you can function”, Dr Fox stated. Amelia nodded.
“Are the feelings of sadness constant?” Dr Fox quizzed. “Sometimes. Sometimes I
feel angry. Sometimes I feel like something is taking over my body, that isn’t
me”, Amelia told Dr Fox. “Okay, when you say you feel like something is taking
over you, is it just strong emotions, or do you feel like it is something more,
paranormal perhaps?” Dr Fox continued to quiz. “I guess it does feel like some
sort of entity is taking over me. It’s more than just emotions, sometimes my
entire persona and body changes” Amelia said. “I see…” Dr Fox replied before
Amelia interrupted, “Do you think I’m Schizophrenic?”
Dr Fox looked into Amelia’s eyes and smiled, “No, I do not think you are
Schizophrenic. I believe you are suffering with psychosis, anxiety and
depression. Just because you have psychosis does not mean you have
schizophrenia. Sometimes when something traumatic has happened, and memories and
emotions are suppressed, they can manifest in several ways. In your case, you
are depressed, anxious, suicidal and have psychotic symptoms. What I think we
need to do, is treat your immediate symptoms such as the hallucinations and
anxiety. I have prescribed Quetiapine for the psychosis and Lorazepam for when
you are feeling extremely on edge and anxious. I will be increasing the
Quetiapine twice a week to help alleviate your psychotic symptoms. I would also
like to start you on an anti depressant to help with the depressive symptoms,
which also helps anxiety. It is a drug called Mirtazapine. I will start you on
a lower dose, see how you are getting on then increase it if we need to. All of
these drugs have quite sedating effects, so you may feel out of it for a few
days until they get into your system. I would like to let you settle for the
first week or two before you start therapy. Therapy will bring up some unwanted
memories, and it will probably make you feel worse to begin with, but we will
monitor you closely here. How does that sound Amelia?”
Amelia began to absorb the information, and it dawned on her that she would
be at Cherry Tree for a long time. “So you are saying that I am going to be
here for a while?” Amelia asked abruptly. “I would say a minimum of a month to
be completely honest with you Amelia. I could treat your current symptoms and
send you home with crisis intervention, but I feel that if I did that, you
would bounce straight back in here once the therapy commenced. I would rather
let you go through your worst while we can keep you safe here. If you are
co-operative with your treatment plan, the section 2 you are placed under will
expire and will not be renewed under a section 3 and you will be a voluntary
patient here, with privileges and be allowed ground leave and home leave. But
my main concern is that you deal with your problems safely”, Dr Fox continued
to explain. Amelia felt a tear slide down her delicate cheek. “I know it is not
ideal Amelia, but we have your best interests at heart.” Amelia feigned a
smile, “I know you are right. I’m just scared I will be here forever.”
Dr Fox leaned forward and put her hand on Amelia’s shoulder and looked into
Amelia’s eyes with her dark brown, almost black eyes. Amelia wondered if Dr Fox
had experienced some sort of darkness or was herself dead on the inside because
of the blackness of her eyes. “You won’t be here forever honey, just until you
are well enough to deal with the world again. In the mean time, I will refer
you to the occupational therapist, so you can schedule in some activities to
makes your days here less boring”, Dr Fox reassured Amelia, whilst smiling.
“Our session is over for now, I will see you again on Monday when we have a
meeting with you, the nurses, myself and my team of doctors to discuss your
progress and treatment plans and any concerns”, Dr Fox told Amelia. Amelia got
up and walked out the door. Amelia didn’t know if she felt better or worse. All
she knew was that she didn’t want to be at Cherry Tree. She just wanted to go
home, get into her bed and cry into her pillow.
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