Title: Insanity

Author: RomaFelton3331

Rating: K+

Pairing: Fem!Merlin/Arthur

Summary: Story based on one of the themes from my 100 Themes Challenge Merlin, Theme 12 - Insanity.

Word count: 1,845

Disclaimer: I own nothing, it is all the BBC's


"Dr. Arthur Pendragon had been working at his current mental hospital for nearly a year when they had brought in a young girl, no older than eighteen. He had been assigned to her and after a while he son found himself falling into insanity, insane for her love."


"Dr. Pendragon!"

Arthur stopped and spun around to face his fellow doctor.

"Gwen, please, it's Arthur." the coffee coloured doctor nodded.

"Yes, Arthur…there's a new patient arriving and I was able to take a peek at their documents and files and apparently you will be their psychiatrist."

Gwen held out the documents to Arthur who took them and idly flipped through the pages.

"Female…18 years old…claimed mentally unhealthy by Dr. U. Pendragon." Arthur sighed, almost every patient his father his father claimed as mentally ill was passed onto him to take care of.

"Thank you Gwen, I will take a better look at the documents in my office." Gwen nodded at Arthur and they made there separate ways.


Arthur open the file and looked at the first sheet of paper, it was mainly information on the patient.

Name: Merlin Emrys

Preferred Name: Merlin

Birthdate: 1 Jan 1994

Birthplace: Northern Ireland

Age: 18

Height: 6'

Weight: 87lbs

Sex: Female

Hair: Dark Brown/Black

Eyes: Blue

Relatives: Hunith Emrys (Mother)

Balinor Emrys (Father, deceased)

Marital Status: Single

Education: Primary School in Northern Ireland (1998-2005) Secondary School in England (2005-2010) College in England (2010-2012)

Notes: Moved to Southern England when she was 11, shortly after her father died in a car crash. Gained A*'s and A's in GCSE's for Art, Music, Drama, French, English, Maths and Science. She gained further qualifications in College for Art, English Literature and Language as well as Maths, Biology and Physics.

She spent many of her days singing, drawing, painting and playing piano and violin, her parents said that she hardly slept and was unsociable, having no interest of talking to people or being near people unless needed.

Her IQ is 152 making her a genius, her first IQ test was taken in 2001 when she was first brought to our attention, it stood at 145 and has increased 7 points in 11 years and it seems it may continue to increase as last years reading was 151.

Arthur ran his fingers over the small picture in the corner of the page, her face was so pale and thin and her eyes were full of pain, but there was still a smile on her face.


Arthur flipped over to the next page which was a study of Merlin from 2001, when she was eleven.


Date: March 2005

Study By: Dr. U. Pendragon

I met Mrs. Emrys at 10am in the morning and talked to her about Merlin whilst she was at school. Mrs. Emrys told me that Merlin used to pick at her skin and caused a low amount of damage to herself, for an unknown reason (Possible Dermatillomania/PSP/CSP when younger, unknown if the condition carried on as Hunith is unaware) Only recently has Merlin changed, she is suffering from depression as confirmed by Dr. A. Jones as well as Bulimia.


The next was a study, eighteen months after the last.


Date: September 2006

Study By: Dr. U. Pendragon.

Today I first met Merlin, she was a happy young girl but she was very thin, the last time I was hear I asked Hunith what Merlin's weight was and was told it was 131lbs but now it has decreased by 29lbs in the past eighteen months. It is an unhealthy weight for someone of her age and height or at least it will be if it increases at this rate.

She still has bulimia and is heading in the direction on anorexia. For someone who was been diagnosed with depression she is very happy and very smart her IQ is 146, making her a genius.

She now suffers from night terrors, at least three times a week Hunith is awoken by her screams and has to calm her down. Her most common night terrors occur between 1 and 4am.

She has been subscribed medicine to help with the night terrors and is seeing a councilor about her bulimia.

Extra Notes: I received a letter in November from Dr. Melissa Moon, Merlin's councilor asking if I would visit Merlin as she worried that Merlin might have Body Dysmorphic Disorder, it was later confirmed that she did have this by myself and Dr. H. Adrian.


Arthur was already feeling sorry for this girl, it was more than likely that she was suffering from all this because of her fathers death.


Date: March 2008

Study By: Dr. U. Pendragon.

Today was the second time I met with Merlin and she was thinner and smarter than before. Her weight is now at 99lbs, although having only lost 3lbs she looks although she has lost much more. Her IQ has risen by a single point, making it now 147.

Her bulimia and Body Dysmorphic Disorder are still there but anorexia is further away as her recent weight loss is low.

Her night terrors are more frequent.

No need for return for twenty-six months.


He flipped to the next page.


Date: April 2009

Study By: Dr. U. Pendragon.

I was called in early as Mrs. Emrys was worried her daughter was self harming as cuts and bruise had appeared on her arms and legs and she had found her daughter passed out in the bath a few days prior, a large cut on her leg gashing out blood, slowed slightly by the water, but was still enough the make her pass out.

Her injuries were observed by her local doctor and was given stitches and healing ointment for the minor cuts.

I talked to her and she admitted to self harming and when asked why she gave the following response:

See Tape 1, Side 1


Arthur flipped to the back of the file, making sure not to lose the page he was on. He found a plastic divider where there were several tapes, he picked up the first tape before moving across the room to the tape recorder.

Once everything was set up he pressed the play button. His father spoke first.

"Why did you self-harm?"

"I hate my body."

The voice was soft and a little bit shy, but overall a lovely voice and had a melodic ring to it.

"And why is that?"

"I'm fat and pale, my body needs to be thinner and has to have more colour to it, I'm ugly, as I've been told."

"Told by who?"

Sobs could be heard but her words were still audible.

"People in my school, mainly boys – they make fun of my body, some call me fat, others call me a stick, I'm too pale, my hair is too short and boy like, I'm too tall and lanky and flat chested…I have big ears, big feet…all I want to do is cut them off! Why can't I just be normal!"

The tape stopped there and Arthur breathed in a deep breath. Bullies, of course they would pick on the most vulnerable of people.

He walked over to his desk and continue reading the report, straight after where it told him to listen to the tape.

Merlin asked for the tape to be turned off and so I did. I confirmed then that she now had anorexia and her frequent night terrors and new insomnia lead me to believe that she could possibly be suffering from Sundowning.

Next page.


Date: May 2010

Study By: Dr. U. Pendragon.

See Tape 1, Side 2.

Arthur took the tape out of the player, turned it over and put it back in before pressing the play button. His father spoke first, again.

"How much weight have you lost since my last visit."

"I've lost 5lbs Doctor."

"And are you pleased by this?"

"No, disappointed actually I was hoping to lose more."

"So you are still unhappy by your physical appearance?"

"Yes doctor."

The tape ended there and on the same page were some brief notes, saying her IQ had increase, still bulimia, anorexia, thoughts on Sundowning even higher.


Date: May 2011

Study By: Dr. U. Pendragon.

Numerous tapes have been recorded for previous sessions, see them if you need or want to.

During this month I have had numerous talks with other doctors and we have all decided to claim Merlin as mentally ill, she will be taken into the Pendragon Mental Hospital in January the following year.


There were no further pieces of papers apart from some that concerned the kitchen staff and other members of the hospital.

He closed the file, deciding to wait another day to listen to the tapes, he wanted to meet the girl first.

It wasn't actually until two weeks later that the patient arrived and was placed in her room in the west wing of the hospital.

The hospital it's self was an old castle that had been re-done and decorated so it was much more modern, on the inside, the outside remained the same apart from a little touch up.


The next day Arthur was to meet with the girl, begin his study on her and hopefully helped her back to sanity. Out of politeness he knocked on the door before entering and when he walked in she was huddled at one side of the bed wearing the clothes that were given to every member of the hospital. Loose wight trousers, a loose but fitted button up top with long sleeves both made from a very soft cotton. A vest top was worn under the other top and for shoes they were given a type of flat white shoes, almost like nurse's.

Her black hair was slightly above shoulder length, he noticed as she glanced up and her eyes were much bluer and brighter than they had been in the photo.

"Good Morning Merlin."

She smiled at his chatty tone and he was glad he first spoke that way instead of using formality.

"Good Morning Dr…?"

"Pendragon."

"Is the other Dr. Pendragon your father?"

"Indeed he is."

Arthur sat down on a plastic chair on one side of the room, the opposite to where Merlin's bed was.

"I don't like Dr. Pendragon, the other one, not you." To him, Merlin sounded much younger than her eighteen years, maybe this was because of her mental health.

"And why is that?"

The girl shrugged.

"He's…threatening just the way he is…and ugly." Arthur laughed and this caused Merlin to smiled.

"Oh really? Well I hope you don't find me the same…I'm afraid I'll have to get down to business, today I shall ask you some questions about family life, yourself and if we have enough time, about your illnesses." Merlin nodded. "And then we will go onto a scheme that the hospital uses that will hopefully reinstall some if not all of your mental health."

Another nod.

"Are you ready to begin?


Authors Notes:

Idea from as the summary says my 100 Themes Challenge Merlin, Number 12. Left on a slight cliffhanger, was intended to be a one-shot but it went on and on, so it shall become a multi-chapter fic!