“The trouble is, doctor, that Mr. Davidson is suffering from the
delusion that he is pursued by evil spirits. He was not committed here
by any court, but came of his own accord about four months ago, and we
let him wander about here at will. But he seems to be growing worse, as
time goes on.
“One of his worst delusions, doctor, is that there is one spirit
in particular who is trying to choke him to death. Dr. Major, our
superintendent, says he has incipient tuberculosis of the throat, with
occasional spasmodic contractions. There are small lumps or calluses
here and there as though caused by outside pressure and yet our nurse
assures us that there is no such outside irritation. He won’t believe
that; but whenever he tries to sleep, especially in the middle of the
night, he will jump up and come running out into the hall, insisting
that one of these spirits, which he insists are after him, is trying
to choke him to death. He really seems to believe it, for he comes out
coughing and choking and feeling at his neck as if some one has been
trying to strangle him. He always explains the whole matter to me as
being the work of evil spirits, and asks me to not pay any attention
to him unless he calls for help or rings his call-bell; and so I never
think anything more of it now unless he does.
“Another of his ideas is that these same spirits do something to his
food—put poison in it, or give it a bad odor or taste, so that he can’t
eat it. When he does find anything he can eat, he grabs it and almost
swallows it whole, before, as he says, the spirits have time to do
anything to it. Once, he says, he weighed more than two hundred pounds,
but now he only weighs one hundred and twenty. His case is exceedingly
strange and pathetic, doctor!
“Dr. Major insists that it is purely a delusion, that so far as being
choked is concerned, it is the incipient tuberculosis, and that his
stomach trouble comes from the same thing; but by association of ideas,
or delusion, he thinks some one is trying to choke him and poison his
food, when it isn’t so at all. Dr. Major says that he can’t imagine
what could have started it. He is always trying to talk to Mr. Davidson
about it, but whenever he begins to ask him questions, Mr. Davidson
refuses to talk, and gets up and leaves.
“One of the peculiar things about his idea of being choked, doctor, is
that when he is merely dozing he always wakes up in time, and has the
power to throw it off. He claims that the strength of these spirits is
not equal to his own when he is awake, or even dozing, but when he’s
asleep their strength is greater and that then they may injure him.
Sometimes, when he has had a fright like this, he will come out in the
hall and down to my desk there at the lower end, and ask if he mayn’t
sit there by me. He says it calms him. I always tell him yes, but it
won’t be five minutes before he’ll get up and leave again, saying that
he’s being annoyed, or that he won’t be able to contain himself if he
stays any longer, because of the remarks being made over his shoulder
or in his ear.
“Often he’ll say: ‘Did you hear that, Miss Liggett? It’s astonishing,
the low, vile things that man can say at times!’ When I say, ‘No, I
didn’t hear,’ he always says, ‘I’m so glad!’”
“No one has ever tried to relieve him of this by hypnotism, I suppose?”
“Not that I know of, doctor. Dr. Major may have tried it. I have only
been here three months.”
“Tuberculosis is certainly the cause of the throat trouble, as Dr.
Major says, and as for the stomach trouble, that comes from the same
thing—natural enough under the circumstances. We may have to resort
to hypnotism a little later. I’ll see. In the meantime you’d better
caution all who come in touch with him never to sympathize, or even to
seem to believe in anything he imagines is being done to him. It will
merely encourage him in his notions. And get him to take his medicine
regularly; it won’t cure, but it will help. Dr. Major has asked me to
give especial attention to his case, and I want the conditions as near
right as possible.”
“Yes, sir.”