by David Elder

Created on: September 06, 2009   Last Updated: September 07, 2009

The Monkey on His Back

Doctor David Rosenthal sat at his desk, going over his notes on the treatment of his most troublesome patient. Jeffery Briggs had been a puzzle. Normally, that would have posed no particular problem for the doctor. He usually enjoyed a challenge, deriving pleasure from that moment when a breakthrough would occur, and the patient would finally begin to improve. Psychology was such a subjective science at times, and an incorrect diagnosis could lead to complications.

Jeffery's case had seemed straight forward. His was a classic example of Paranoid Schizophrenia. Unfortunately, Jeffery had been the reclusive sort, naturally disinclined to mingle and interact with acquaintances, and distrustful of authority of any kind. His only living relative was his father; a pugnacious and hateful individual, who in any case was probably at the center of Jeffery's affliction. Claude Briggs had refused to meet with Doctor Rosenthal, referring to his son as "The Freak", a term which was voiced with obvious contempt when the doctor had contacted him on the phone.

At thirty four years of age, Jeffery was in the full grip of the disease. He had been homeless for some time, living off of the scraps he could collect from refuse bins and sleeping in a variety of locations where others of similar distress gathered to survive. Jeffery had once been a promising scholar in his late twenties, putting himself through college and majoring in archeology. Apparently his life had taken a tragic turn shortly after a field trip to Central America where he was gathering material for his thesis. After his return he entered a disastrous spiral into mental illness, which had made it impossible to continue his education or obtain employment.

Jeffery it seemed, had been prone to aggression; a characteristic symptom in more extreme cases of schizophrenia. Violent encounters with fellow homeless individuals had landed him in jail several times, but it wasn't until recently that Jeffery had gotten into serious trouble. He had been arrested for attacking a common citizen who had been walking his dog in Central Park. There seemed to be no motive for the attack, and the unfortunate victim had nearly died from the injuries he'd sustained from being stabbed repeatedly with a broken bottle that Jeffery had been carrying. During the process of arrest and booking, Jeffery ranted about voices, or rather one particular voice that had urged him to commit murder.

At that point, it was obvious

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