POV: Depa
WC: 1169
I looked at the chronometer at my desk, and it showed 9:53 in the morning. I turned on the screen that showed my lobby waiting area and I saw two men sitting there. I got up from my desk, grabbed a datapad, and walked out.
"Gentlemen, its time," I said with a smile.
"You see Anakin, that did not take long. You are too impatient," said Obi-Wan Kenobi standing up.
"I'm not impatient. I just can't meditate in weird places every hour of the day," came Anakin Skywalker.
I smiled. These two were known for their bickering. I lead them to my counseling room just across the hall from my office and the door shut. The room was cool and dark, but the blinds let some of the sunlight in so that it created shadows across the room to create a calming effect. There was a round chair on the left that I sat on and both men stood on either side of the opposite chair.
"Anakin why don't you sit down, and Obi-Wan, please feel free to sit here." I used the force to pull up a small wooden chair from across the room, and brought it near Obi-Wan. "Is that at all comfortable?"
"Yes," said Obi-Wan.
"Okay. Let's start with a basic question, why are you here?"
"I need help," Anakin said.
"Why?"
"The sith are angry at me and want me to turn me, so I need to learn to resist the dark side, and the council, meaning you, think this is a good idea to help resist them."
I smiled. That pretty much summed up the council meeting. "Yes, I agree," I said. "You are a powerful Jedi, and that could mean you have the makings to be a powerful Sith. We should have helped you learn to control your thoughts and emotions long ago."
"What can help him?" said Obi-Wan Kenobi.
"Well, first we are going to do a psychological assessment. Then we are going to go from there. So shall we get started?"
"Yes," said Obi-Wan, "I'll give you a minute." He got up and stepped out.
I pulled up my data pad and turned to Anakin's file. "Alright, I'm gonna ask you some questions and just tell me what you know off the top of your head."
"Do you have a middle name?"
"No."
"Where were you born?"
"Tatooine."
"You were raised by your mother, and you have no father. Right?"
"Yeah."
"Okay. How old were you when you came to the temple?"
"Nine, almost ten."
"Good. What drew you to the dark side?"
"You mean why did I turn? For the power to stop people from dying."
"And why did you need to stop people from dying?"
Anakin blinked. "Because...I needed them… in my life."
"What happens to you when people die?"
"I get angry and bad things happen. Well, they feel good. But I turn to the dark side."
"Bad things? Does it ever get out of control?"
"Yes."
I thought for a minute. This could be a bipolar disorder. "Do ever feel like you can't slow your thoughts down?"
"No what do you mean?"
"You would understand if you had it. Do you ever have increased sexual energy that comes out of the blue and stays for a long period of time?"
"Nothing short of just being a guy."
"Okay. I don't think your bipolar. Do you ever idolize your relationships?"
"Huh?"
"Like can Padme or Ashoka do no wrong? Maybe even Obi-Wan?"
He smiled. "Yeah. Padme says I worship her and my mom, and Ashoka for that matter. But is that bad."
"Well when you fight with Padme or Ashoka do you ever devalue them momentarily?"
He hung his head. "Yeah," he whispered
"Do you ever have extreme anger?"
He nodded.
"Do you have very quick changes of emotion?"
He nodded.
"Your not in trouble Anakin. I promise. I am just trying to help, okay," I said smiling at him.
"Do you ever feel paranoid?"
He laughed. "Yeah all the time."
"Why?"
"People kept trying to kill me."
"Who?"
"Every so often my mast- Palpatine would think I would outlive my usefulness as a Sith, and he would send an assassin after me. It was kill or be killed."
"Did you ever want to be killed?"
He shrugged.
"'Have you ever tried to hurt yourself?" I asked
"Yeah."
"What happened?"
"We are on the freezing planet of Isoa and I am looking for Tarkin's idiot son. Any way I am betrayed and captured by Tarkin's son and held prisoner. Padme comes to me in a vision and says that I am no longer the man I used to be. I get so angry I broke free of my bonds then I tried to bring down the cathedeal with the force to kill myself. I killed everyone else but I survived."
"When was this?"
"After Padme's death and before I knew Luke was born. I really did not pay attention during those years."
I added something to my notes. There was an eighteen year gap between those dates. If he was not paying attention that much, he was clearly depressed. On top of, you know, the suicide.
"Lets go get Obi-Wan," I said.
I got up and the door opened. I motioned for Obi-Wan to come in and join us.
"Anakin," I said, "I think you have something called comorbid condition, which means you have two diagnosis. You seem to be Depressed and have something called Borderline Personality Disorder. Borderline seemed to develop when you were a young padawan and got worse as you became a Jedi Knight. It would make you have very intense emotions, almost looking like a bipolar disorder but without the racing thoughts and the mania. You probably had a very difficult time controlling your emotions, and giving into the darkside gave you some of that control. At times everything was perfect, and then all of a sudden nothing was right and you had no idea what was happening."
"Yeah," Anakin said.
"Then after you turned you were still Borderline but Depression really set in. Partly because of guilt, but mainly because of the loss of your family and your support. When you go through a difficult time like that your dopamine and serotonin levels in your brain can become depleted. Even though you have been restored to your wife and family, your levels may not be where they need to be."
"Okay so what can we do?"
"First. I am going to put you on an antidepressant called Prozac. Put you on a twenty milligram tablet. Your going to take it in the morning. OK?"
"OK."
"Then we are also going to keep meeting and possibly adjusting some medicine. We are going to work on coping skills so this your emotions do not overwhelm you. Does this time work for you?" I said getting to my feet
"Yes," said Obi-Wan.
"Okay, See you next week," I said as they left.