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ER Does Multiple Personality
What do you suspect when a patient you treated just a few hours ago returns to the ER and then claims to have no recollection of having been there before? On ER, Dr. Archie Morris was soon convinced his patient had Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder.
When Clyde Sandberg first enters the ER (during last week's episode, Jigsaw) he seems on edge, almost too tuned in to the sights and sounds around him. Suddenly, he drops to his knees in front of a little boy who is playing cars on the floor and starts talking to him and playing with the cars as well.
The boy's mother draws her son away from the stranger, and this seems to further agitate the man. He starts to freak out and bangs on the window separating the triage nurse from the waiting room, cursing and pointing out that there is a room full of people who need help out there. He says, "All I got's a little congestion. Think you morons can handle that?"
Nurse Sam comes to the rescue and gives him the forms he needs.
Next, we see him behind the curtain being examined by Dr. Morris. He continues to insist he has the flu, but tests show that there is a problem with his heart. It is twice the size it should be, and he has developed a pericardial effusion, which is why he's having trouble breathing. (X-rays also show that the man has many old, healed fractures. And, he is covered with cigarette burn scars.) He's going to need the fluid drained through a pericardial tap.
When he hears this news, Sandberg leaps from the bed and storms out of the ER, yelling, "Let me the hell outta here!"
Later on, two men are brought in by ambulance after having a violent altercation. Morris is surprised to find that not only is one of the men Sandberg, but that he claims he has no memory of being in the ER earlier that day. He says his name is Willis Peyton.
When told about his condition, he readily agrees to the pericardial tap. However, just as Morris is getting ready to do the procedure, a kid in the ajoining room begins to scream and flail around, triggering Clyde to come back. He begins cursing and refuses the treatment yet again.
Soon after, Morris approaches the ER's resident Rock Doc, Ray Barnett, and tells him he has found out that Peyton has been to the ER many times over the years due to childhood abuse. He believes Peyton has DID and wants Barnett to agree to join him in "double-doctoring" Peyton, but he refuses. (The term "double-doctoring" was not explained on the show. The only reference I could find to "double-doctoring" is that it refers to patients who visit different doctors in order to obtain prescriptions for controlled substances.)
Dr. Pratt also refuses to take part in "double-doctoring" (whatever that is), and suggests that Morris simply treat conservatively and wait on the psych consult.
In the meantime, Nurse Sam is talking to Sandberg/Peyton and offering him a little tough love. She explains that if he doesn't have the fluid drained from around his heart he could die. She says she knows he's scared and hurt, but he's in a safe place.
He looks at the light and his demeanor changes again. Peyton is back. He asks, tentatively, if he was sleeping. Sam says, "No." He sighs and says he has lost time again. She gently tells him about dealing with Clyde. Then, she explains again the urgent need for him to have the procedure but that they can't do it without Clyde's permission.
Sam provokes Clyde to come to the forefront. She tells him that Peyton isn't a coward like he is, which prompts him to give in.
After the procedure, Morris comes in to visit and it is obvious right away that the personality there on the bed is neither Peyton nor Clyde. In a small, fearful voice, he tells Morris his name is Andre and says, "Don't tell my dad I'm here. Okay?"
As the show ends, Andre says, "It's kinda dark in here. You're not going to leave are you?" Morris reveals a glimpse of the doctor he has the potential to be when he pushes his stool closer to the bed and kindly assures his patient, "I'm here all night."
Though Mulitple Personality Disorder has come a long way since the days of Sybil in the 1970s, some mental health professionals still seem to be skeptical.
WebMD's sister site, eMedicine.com, states:
POLL: Do you think DID is real? Why or why not?
Related Topics: Healing the Doctor-Patient Relationship>
Technorati Tags: Dissociative Identity Disorder, DID, ER, Multiple Personality
When Clyde Sandberg first enters the ER (during last week's episode, Jigsaw) he seems on edge, almost too tuned in to the sights and sounds around him. Suddenly, he drops to his knees in front of a little boy who is playing cars on the floor and starts talking to him and playing with the cars as well.
The boy's mother draws her son away from the stranger, and this seems to further agitate the man. He starts to freak out and bangs on the window separating the triage nurse from the waiting room, cursing and pointing out that there is a room full of people who need help out there. He says, "All I got's a little congestion. Think you morons can handle that?"
Nurse Sam comes to the rescue and gives him the forms he needs.
Next, we see him behind the curtain being examined by Dr. Morris. He continues to insist he has the flu, but tests show that there is a problem with his heart. It is twice the size it should be, and he has developed a pericardial effusion, which is why he's having trouble breathing. (X-rays also show that the man has many old, healed fractures. And, he is covered with cigarette burn scars.) He's going to need the fluid drained through a pericardial tap.
When he hears this news, Sandberg leaps from the bed and storms out of the ER, yelling, "Let me the hell outta here!"
Later on, two men are brought in by ambulance after having a violent altercation. Morris is surprised to find that not only is one of the men Sandberg, but that he claims he has no memory of being in the ER earlier that day. He says his name is Willis Peyton.
When told about his condition, he readily agrees to the pericardial tap. However, just as Morris is getting ready to do the procedure, a kid in the ajoining room begins to scream and flail around, triggering Clyde to come back. He begins cursing and refuses the treatment yet again.
Soon after, Morris approaches the ER's resident Rock Doc, Ray Barnett, and tells him he has found out that Peyton has been to the ER many times over the years due to childhood abuse. He believes Peyton has DID and wants Barnett to agree to join him in "double-doctoring" Peyton, but he refuses. (The term "double-doctoring" was not explained on the show. The only reference I could find to "double-doctoring" is that it refers to patients who visit different doctors in order to obtain prescriptions for controlled substances.)
Dr. Pratt also refuses to take part in "double-doctoring" (whatever that is), and suggests that Morris simply treat conservatively and wait on the psych consult.
In the meantime, Nurse Sam is talking to Sandberg/Peyton and offering him a little tough love. She explains that if he doesn't have the fluid drained from around his heart he could die. She says she knows he's scared and hurt, but he's in a safe place.
He looks at the light and his demeanor changes again. Peyton is back. He asks, tentatively, if he was sleeping. Sam says, "No." He sighs and says he has lost time again. She gently tells him about dealing with Clyde. Then, she explains again the urgent need for him to have the procedure but that they can't do it without Clyde's permission.
Sam provokes Clyde to come to the forefront. She tells him that Peyton isn't a coward like he is, which prompts him to give in.
After the procedure, Morris comes in to visit and it is obvious right away that the personality there on the bed is neither Peyton nor Clyde. In a small, fearful voice, he tells Morris his name is Andre and says, "Don't tell my dad I'm here. Okay?"
As the show ends, Andre says, "It's kinda dark in here. You're not going to leave are you?" Morris reveals a glimpse of the doctor he has the potential to be when he pushes his stool closer to the bed and kindly assures his patient, "I'm here all night."
Though Mulitple Personality Disorder has come a long way since the days of Sybil in the 1970s, some mental health professionals still seem to be skeptical.
WebMD's sister site, eMedicine.com, states:
DID is thought to begin in childhood in response to repeated traumatic and/or overwhelming life experiences, most of which involve physical and sexual abuse. Other traumatic events include long and painful childhood medical experiences and wartime dislocation. In studies of patients with DID, a range of 70% of patients to more than 95% of patients reported childhood abuse. However, some patients cause controversy because they revise their histories as treatment progresses.
POLL: Do you think DID is real? Why or why not?
Related Topics: Healing the Doctor-Patient Relationship>
Technorati Tags: Dissociative Identity Disorder, DID, ER, Multiple Personality
