Chapter 10
Bam was slowly, but surely making improvements since his mini breakdown. He was still believing that he was a young child of about five years, but every once in a while he would have a random moment of reality.
A special psychiatrist was brought in to monitor and analyze Bam's behavior. He would sit down with Bam once a day for therapy sessions, in hope to improve Bam's condition further.
One day after a routine therapy session, Bam and his friends and family were gathered in a room for a surprise meeting held by the psychiatrist.
They were all seated in a semi circle with the psychiatrist, Doctor Dorian, in the center of the room facing all of them. Bam sat in between his parents and stared at Dr. Dorian. He then looked at his mom and dad.
"But I all ready talked to him." He whispered.
"We know Bam Bam. But he wants to talk to all of us now."
"Oh."
Doctor Dorian looked through his folder for a second before turning his attention to everyone else.
"Good afternoon. As you may, or may not know, I'm Dr. Dorian. I have been called in to work one on one with Brandon here." He glanced at Bam, giving him a smile.
Bam smiled back.
"He has shown some improvements since I've been working with him, and I've been able to come to the root of the problem. That is why I wanted to speak to all of you today. I'm going to explain to you about what exactly has been going on with Brandon, and to help you have more of an understanding about it."
The others tuned in to hear what Dr. Dorian was going to say.
"Now it is my understanding that Brandon, prior to entering this state, had been suffering from depression for a while. Am I correct?"
"Yes that's true doctor." Jenn replied.
"Mmm hmmm… And the state he's in now, that pretty much happened overnight, didn't it?" They nodded. Bam looked at them confused and then looked at the doctor.
"Well then, after studying Brandon I've come to a conclusion. Let me break it down in terms that everyone will understand."
"Even me?" Bam asked innocently.
"Yes Brandon, even you." Chuckled the doctor.
"You see, during Brandon's depression he was experiencing, he was dealing with some personal problems, naturally. Apparently his subconscious mind felt as though he wasn't ready to deal with what was concerning him. So the problems, whatever they may be, were pushed aside in another part of his mind for later use. However, this took away a whole mindset from him, and he needed something else in its place."
"So, what you're saying is… Bam was so depressed, he couldn't handle it, so he just…." April paused and snapped her fingers."What am I looking for? He gave himself a new personality?"
"Something like that. But this was brought on by more than just depression. There had to of been something traumatic happen to him that acted as a trigger, like say, something frightened him or took him off guard."
Jenn looked over at Brandon Ryan and Raab. They looked back at her and sank into their chairs once they realized. Guilt was present all over their faces as they began to shrink. Doctor Dorian cleared his throat before he continued.
"Now what ever this trigger was, made the part of his mind that brought on his depression to… to hide so to speak." He said, looking at Bam. "But instead of him completely shutting down, there had to be a new part of his mind to take over and protect him so… he could keep going."
Bam sat up and his eyes widened a little.
"Oh! Like… like… like a screensaver on the computer?"
Dr. Dorian smiled at Bam. "Yes… yes kind of like a screensaver, Brandon. Very clever of you to make that connection. So… Like Brandon just pointed out, another part of his mind took over like a 'screensaver.' In order to protect himself from these problems he wasn't ready to face, created a mindset that had to be pure and virtually free from the concerns of the real world… or in Brandon's case, he had given himself the mind of a child."
They were stunned at the doctor's words. Bam looked at everyone confused.
"Lately the part of his subconscious mind that keeps him in reality has been making appearances. But the other part of his subconscious mind is fighting it, trying to push it away to keep him from harm. Now the longer Brandon keeps this child's mind, the longer it will take him to return to normal. And even once he does return to normal, it will still take some time to work through these personal problems that caused his depression. This is something he'll have to do on his own. In the meantime, we should all work with Brandon, and get him to remember that he's not indeed this child he has made himself."
They all, except for Bam, nodded in agreement. Doctor Dorian stood up and smiled.
"Well that's pretty much all there is to say at the moment. I assure you that if there are any changes in Brandon's condition, you will be informed. Nice meeting with you all."
"Thank you Doctor for clearing everything up." Phil said as he stood up to shake the doctor's hand.
Dr. Dorian nodded and walked away, leaving everyone else with a new glimmer of hope. Bam remained in his chair looking like he was off in his own world.