Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 111860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 559(@200wpm)___ 447(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 559(@200wpm)___ 447(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
“And those things help?”
Dr. Sweeton paused for a moment. “They can, depending on the depth of trauma.” He looked around again. “I realize I have presented a problem that seems to have a lack of solutions. What I would encourage you to do, future doctors, is to think outside the box. An unprecedented problem requires an unprecedented solution, not only for the institutions I mentioned but for the human beings affected by trauma. Push forward with new advances as they arise, and if mental health is the specialty you choose, be dogged in your pursuit of treatments that make a real difference. Don’t fall into the trap of medical complacency. And until the problem can be addressed in a meaningful therapeutic way, never stop asking ‘What can we do?’ We must do something.” He looked around the room, almost beseeching. “I leave you with that.”
The audience applauded, and Dr. Sweeton gave a small, humble wave before leaving the room. The students began to gather their things, and the chatter grew louder. Lennon scooted out of her seat and made her way down the center aisle, and then through the door where the doctor had gone.
She caught up with him in the lobby near the front door. “Dr. Sweeton?”
He turned, giving her a mild smile. “Yes?”
“Hi. I’m Lennon Gray, and I’m an inspector with the San Francisco Police Department. Do you have a minute?”
“Oh. Yes, of course.” He stepped off to the side, and she followed. A stream of students who’d been in the presentation started filing out.
“Thank you.” She removed her phone and pulled up the photo of the pills from the crime scene with the “BB” logo and held it up to him. “Have you ever seen this medication?”
He leaned closer, studying it. “‘BB’? No. It looks more like a homemade medication than a pharmaceutical-grade product.”
“It is. It’s related to a crime, and we’re trying to trace its origins.”
“Ah. I’m sorry to hear that. And sorry I can’t be of more help.”
She nodded. “I listened to your talk. It was . . . depressing.”
He gave her a fleeting smile as the last of the students walked by, the door right in front of them closing, quiet descending in the open two-story entryway where they were standing. “It can be, yes. But there are breakthroughs happening every day in the study of mental health. And human beings can be extremely resilient if given the right tools.”
“As a former beat cop, I related to a lot of what you said. I’ve driven plenty of eight-year-olds to the mental ward who have all the diagnoses you mentioned listed on their forms.”
The doctor sighed. “Children. Yes. It’s the hardest part, isn’t it? Trauma is one thing, but treatment becomes that much more challenging when the child hasn’t formed an attachment to their mother, or another caregiver. An understanding of self is formed through such a relationship.”
“The mirror thing?”
“Yes. To themselves, they do not exist.”
“That’s awful.”
“It is awful.”
“So it’s your belief that everyone who is diagnosed with a mental or psychological disorder is really suffering from trauma?”
“Don’t be naive, Inspector. There’s never an everyone in either of our fields. If there was, it’d make our jobs much easier.”
He wasn’t wrong, but she still wasn’t sure how she felt about this man. Now that she was looking directly in his eyes, she felt that he was hiding something. But what or why, she had no clue. “You talked about the lack of options and misdiagnoses of people suffering that way and mentioned the eye movement thing and the breathwork. But what about hallucinogens?”
The doctor paused, the expression on his face enigmatic. “Are you referring to ketamine therapy?”
“I don’t know. I’m not familiar with any of these treatments. I do know that ketamine is highly addictive and sold on the streets under the name Special K, or Vitamin K.” She’d heard others too . . . Kit Kat, Cat Valium . . . but the ones she’d mentioned were the most common.
“Yes. Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic medication that is sometimes used off label to treat depression and anxiety disorders. It’s not currently approved by the FDA. But perhaps more importantly, patient results are often unsustained—especially without multiple sessions, which become challenging when dealing with certain populations.”
“I see. What about other hallucinogens?”
Again, he paused. “As they pertain to therapy? There is evidence that hallucinogens may stimulate nerve cell regrowth in sections of the brain that are responsible for emotion and memory. There are only animal studies thus far, but supporters of psychedelic drugs as a treatment for PTSD believe they can and should be used to decrease anxiety and fear pathways in the brain. Patients become highly suggestible when under the influence of these drugs, which can be used for good.”
“Or bad.”
“Potentially, in the wrong hands, yes. But that can be true of any drug, Inspector Gray, as I imagine you must know well.”