Author's note: This has been a long time coming. It was first discussed as I wrote my novel-length sequel piece Therapeutic but was postponed because it doesn't really lend itself to regular chapter-length updates. I've been thinking about it again recently because a debate came up in a thread at phantomoftheoperaDOTCOM as to whether Erik suffered from bipolar disorder or not. I attempted to enter the conversation from an objective point of view and assign an appropriate diagnosis, but as I performed the differential, I determined that Erik possesses traits of almost every disorder known to modern psychiatry. And then some. Seriously. Those of you who know me know that I am trained as a therapist and have access to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (4th edition, text revision) which is used by psychiatrists, psychologists and counselors for purposes of differential diagnosis of psychological disorders. You may also know that the diagnosis of disorders and mental illnesses is very subjective. The same patient might visit three or four different doctors and come away with a different diagnosis from each one, and a complicated patient, as our dear Erik would surely be, is very likely to visit more than one mental health professional. Thus, this silly little bit of nonsense is not that outrageous in that regard. Of course, in order to have Erik meet with a clinician with modern training I had to choose whether he would be a modern-day Erik or not and decided that I wanted to stick with the original Leroux Erik as I usually do because he's my favorite and he's the one I know best. I also decided not to further complicate Erik's life by having him suffer the effects of time travel and the shock to his system by entering our modern-day world. Thus, our Belle Epoch Erik enters my office and is not at all disturbed by my modern attire, the telephone on my desk, the computer, or anything else. After all, the poor fellow has enough stress in his life without we add to it all of that. But feel free to comment on what would happen if we DID throw all that at him, because what the heck, it might be fun, too.
Disclaimer: My references for this piece are The Essential Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, edited by Leonard Wolf and the DSM IV TR. I know there are many other translations of Leroux's work and many other adaptations. I know, also, that the fifth edition of the diagnositic manual will be released soon, but as it is not yet available and the fourth edition is used daily in practice by clinicians across the country, that is what I will be using. I may occasionally refer to a copy of Leroux's work published in French, but as I am not fluent in French, this may or may not be helpful.
One last warning: I already mentioned that these will not be full chapter length posts. As a matter of fact, I will endeavor to make each one drabble length if at all possible. For anyone who does not know, a "drabble" is a piece of exactly 100 words. I assure you, while this will not look like much, it will be a great challenge to me to keep to clinical language and also to hit an exact word count. Wish me luck! Here goes with post #1!
Clinician's Notes:
*Received referral for "Erik." Am told client presents with depressed mood and occasional bouts of extreme anger. Client referred due to "depression." Client is rumored to flaunt disregard for societal laws, but this is not confirmed. Client is said to have lived as a recluse for approximately ten years. Will begin with assessment for Major Depressive Episode/Major Depressive Disorder. Referring physician notes presence of unusual facial deformity. While it would be premature to suggest a diagnosis before a first appointment, given the physician's remarks, it may also be helpful to rule-out body dysmorphic disorder early in treatment. Initial appointment scheduled.*
Whoo hoo! From asterisk to askterisk, EXACTLY 100 words!
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