Saturday, October 17, 1998
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Sunday, October 18, 1998
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Monday, October 19, 1998
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3 pm. Third Session with Darius Booth. I'm beginning to believe that Darius' obsession with Doug Arable is not as harmless as it may appear. This is a pattern with Darius: to latch onto some other employee and then to view all their actions as infinitely subtle putdowns or misdeeds aimed at him. Unfortunately, Darius seems capable of seeking a real revenge, he described one although it was so subtle itself that I'm sure that the victim wasn't even aware of it. I believe that I'm ready to make a tentative diagnosis: Darius is suffering from delusional disorder with persecutory features. His delusion is well-systematized, nonbizarre, and accompanied by affect appropriate to the delusion. Darius' personality is relatively well-preserved, and functioning is not markedly impaired. There is an absence of disorganized speech or behavior, or hallucinations. I don't believe that there are underlying mass lesions provoking Darius' delusions, so I'm not going to order CT scans and the like, although I would like a blood test to rule out any metabolic or endocrine disorders--which I think are quite unlikely. The important differential diagnosis would involve schizophrenia or paranoid personality, but I haven't seen any of the psychotic symptoms which each of those would suggest. Unfortunately, the recent literature seems to indicate that delusional disorder responds poorly to antipsychotic medications, although somatic treatment sometimes helps reduce the anxiety which often surrounds the delusion. I think I'm going to have to embark on talk therapy where I neither condemn nor collude in Darius' delusions. After I gain his trust, I'll have to gently challenge his beliefs and show how they interfere with his life. Insight-oriented psychotherapy is not generally recommended for delusional patients.
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Tuesday, October 20, 1998
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Wednesday, October 21, 1998
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5 pm. Sixty-Sixth Session with Alex Rozzi. After showing me obvious physical evidence that he'd been in a major fight--large contusions on the body and around the neck together with several large abrasions--Alex told me a horrendous story about going with Benny to his house and getting into a violent altercation there. The fight ended with Benny bleeding and unconscious. Alex tied Benny up and then set Benny's video camera up on a tripod and started recording. The video apparently depicts Alex torturing Benny with a knife, telling him how powerless he is. Suddenly, there was someone at the door and Benny started calling for help. Alex left through the back as someone came crashing through the door. The next day, Alex returned to retrieve his backpack. He found the place empty and in disarray, with more blood than he believes was there after his fight with Benny. He left and came back another day to see if Benny had returned. This time, the place was a police crime scene. Alex has used Katherine Lippard as his confident and also received some advice from Cecil. Finally, Alex was called by his mother and told to get home immediately. When he did, he found that the police were there. Benny is missing and they've found the videotape showing Alex torturing him. Alex asked if the video showed the unknown person who smashed through the door, but the police didn't give him any answers. He gave a statement to the police, and he hasn't yet been arrested. But if Benny turns up either injured or dead, Alex is obviously a prime suspect. He has both motive and opportunity, and strong physical evidence ties him to the crime scene. While I want to believe what Alex is telling me, I have a sense that the stranger bursting through the door may be an invention to try to explain the quantity of blood and deny responsibility for truly tragic events. It's only speculation, of course, but I don't think it likely that Benny would be involved in two violent unrelated encounters on the same night, as Alex would have me believe. I think it possible that the day began as Alex described it, with Benny forcing a confrontation and then taking Alex to his home. They fought and Benny ended unconscious and bleeding, just as Alex said. Alex tied him up and tortured him on video. At some point, Alex turned off the video tape--I think it probably doesn't show someone bursting through the door--and perhaps the viciousness of the attack increased. Alex would have been consumed by his emotions and hardly responsible for his actions. Perhaps Alex became frightened by the quantity of blood or the extent of injury that he had inflicted on Benny and ran away. I imagine that Benny, injured, left his house to seek treatment or perhaps ran away, making it appear that he was a victim of foul play. Whatever I think of Alex's story, it's clear that Alex needs my skills as a therapist rather than as a detective.
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Thursday, October 22, 1998
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4 pm. Ninety-Sixth Session with Anna Green. Anna is still seeing Martin, although she insists that he's just a friend. They're going to a Halloween party tonight--the Exotic Erotic Ball--and again next week. The one next week is at the S&M club that she used to frequent with Martin and Kathy. Anna says that she's going because it turns her on. Anna told me that she's angry at her father because he broke his promise to her and told her mother everything that the detective learned. Her mother called in tears, and now Anna feels that she has to travel to Davis to mollify her. We spoke quite a bit about Anna's changing needs in a romantic partner. She feels pressure to get married from her parents, her friends and, when she's being honest, from herself. Anna feels that she's getting old, now that she's approaching thirty, and that she sizes up each male acquaintance to see what kind of husband they'd make.
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Friday, October 23, 1998
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Charles Balis' Personal Diary & Log