Valley Hill Mental Hospital

Psychiatrist: Dr. William Branton

Personal Journal

Date:21Mar

So in the past week my work seems to have gotten ahead of me. My normal neat and tidy desk seems to be more of a mountain of papers that I need to find the time to organise. My home life is just as cluttered too. Who knew how much stuff you would have to do to prepare for a child.

Crib assembly, toys and diapers purchased, childproofing, and so on. Honestly I am enjoying every minute of it. My wife and I have tried so long and to finally be rewarded with a child is bliss.

My patients are keeping me busy as well. Mr. Taylor seems to have made a recovery and is in the process of being released. He has not attempted to harm himself or shown any signs of violent behavior in some time now. His phobias are gone and he does not even resemble the plagued man that I first met.

That being said, he still does seem to be suffering from depression, but this is easily being managed by medication. He also still thinks that his missing friend Jerry did exist however he has seemed to accept that it is just a flaw in his own memory at this point. The mind is an imperfect tool and can deceive us, but as long as you keep a firm grasp on reality then there is nothing to worry with.

I do get the notion that Mr. Taylor may sometimes see things that he does not tell us about. It is nothing certain but just his eye movement from time to time when looking outside. He seems to follow things or steal quick glances in directions where nothing appears to be. But this may also simply be related to a nervous twitch being incited by his depression.

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Either way he has improved by leaps and bounds and is already coordinating with his family for his release. I doubt he will be able to continue flying as he previously did however an early retirement may be exactly what he needs.

Then there is Mr. DeWitt. He has been, well, harder to work with. His outbursts are frequent and intense, requiring a steady amount of sedatives to keep him from harming himself and others. Honestly at this point I have already proposed to the board to try lobotomization. We may be able to remove a small portion of the sound sensory part of his brain in order to ease his pain. The will likely cause him to become deaf, however I feel that Mr. DeWitt would view this as a blessing.

Granted, this is a risky procedure, and worst case he could be reduced to a vegetative state. However extreme the treatment may be, his case is already extreme. Each day he becomes more aggressive and I fear for both his life and well being. If we take too long to help him the damage done to his mind may become irreversible.

I have been pouring over the other cases similar to my patients and have drafted a memo to several psychiatric institutions and collectives to try and see if they know of any more cases and likely find a connection between them. Honestly it may be nothing, but it is worth looking into.

Its at times like this when I am deep in thought that I can find myself reaching for the corner of my desk. It’s odd because I catch myself in that moment feeling that I am reaching for a cigar however I don't have any at my desk, and never have. I keep a few at home for the rare occasion I get the urge but I have never kept any here at the office. I get the strange feeling that maybe I forgot something.

Something important…

Oh well, I’ll remember one day. Now I need to finish processing Mr. Taylor’s release documents and then follow up with the medical procedure for Mr. DeWitt. Once all that is done I need to arrange these papers so I can actually see the top of my desk for once. Dave and his wife called last night to make plans for the weekend. Linda is going to take Katie out shopping while Dave and myself are going out fishing on his boat again. He said he found a good spot the other day so we should have a good haul if the weather holds.