Woman on the Edge of Time

From Bellevue Admission Notes:This evening this 37-year-old obese Puerto Rican woman allegedly attacked a relative and a relative’s fiancé with a bottle. Upon examination she was found lying on the floor, groaning incoherently, and proved disoriented as to time and place. She was hostile, uncooperative, and threatening. She was abusive to relative and relative’s fiancé. Admit. Thorazine 1000 mg by injection. Restraint.

From Rockover State Admission Notes:This patient is a 37-year-old Mexican-American Catholic mother, separated from her husband Edward, whose child has been put out for adoption through the state agency. Has a history of violent psychotic episodes, including robbery, assault, and child abuse. Eleven days ago this patient attacked her niece Dolores Campos and her niece’s fiancé. This patient is known to us and has been previously hospitalized in Rockover. After ten days at Bellevue, transferred here. Remained acutely psychotic. During hospitalization, she has been mute and withdrawn with occasional violent outbursts. She has been uncooperative, attempting to refuse medication, and has no insight into her illness. Has delusions of persecution by niece’s fiancé and speaks of the State of New York as “murdering” a Negro boyfriend. This patient also constantly complains about the child put out for adoption. The patient has no consistent notions of right or wrong. She said that for the last two years she didn’t drink at all. She smokes about a pkg. a day. She denies any drug addiction, although she admits use of barbiturates in the past. She claims not to have had any relations with men in the past three years. She doesn’t admit any attachments to women either. This patient is a socially maladjusted individual subject to periodic dysphorias accompanied by fear, leading to violent episodes and aggressions. Admit to Ward L-6. Restrict to ward. Violence precautions.

Escape Report:After a fight with another patient on the ward, causing mild concussion, this patient wandered out of the hospital and was lost in the woods for two whole nights and days. She was recovered in a bus station in Fairview very confused and uncertain where she was trying to go. She was covered with mosquito bites. It was decided to place her on close supervision … .

From New York Neuro-Psychiatric Institute Notes:This 37-year-old female did not appear to have any motor difficulties. The patient appears to have learned to walk and talk at the normal time. Sent to Texas for birth records. Patient was delivered by midwife. No definite documentation of premature birth or birth traumas. History of blackouts and violent episodes in which patient felt as if she couldn’t control herself.

… Mr. Camacho is a well-dressed man (gray business suit) who appears to be in his 40’s. He operates a wholesale-retail nursery and has a confident, expansive manner. I would consider him to be a reliable informant who expresses genuine concern for his sister … .

LIST OF PROBLEMS AND TREATMENT PLANS

Repeated hospitalizations

Psychotic sy

Episodic violence

Lack of insight

Lack of motivation

Toothache

Cracked rib

Negativism

ORIENTED: Fully oriented

REMOTE MEMORY: Intact

RECENT MEMORY: Slightly impaired

RETENTION AND IMMEDIATE RECALL: Intact

COUNTING AND CALCULATIONS: Impaired (mistake in serial 7’s)

READING: Read with ease

SCHOOLING AND GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: Commensurate.

Claims to have 2 yrs college? Welfare records indicate only 1 yr., 3 mths. in community college.

INTELLIGENCE RATING: Average

COURSE OF MENTAL ILLNESS: Deteriorative process

ABSTRACTING ABILITY: Impaired

ABILITY TO MAINTAIN SET OR ASSOCIATIVE: Intact

… After the implantation patient was markedly better with no episodes for two months. Symptoms then recurred. Amygdalotomy indicated but not carried out because of incident … .

There were one hundred thirteen more pages. They all followed Connie back to Rockover.

Don’t miss this novel from the author

of Braided Lives, The Longings of Women,

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CITY OF DARKNESS,

CITY OF LIGHT

by

Marge Piercy

Paris is set to explode at the dawn of the

French Revolution, and three very different

women prepare for their roles in one of the

most tumultuous turning points in

European History.

CITY OF DARKNESS, CITY OF LIGHT

by Marge Piercy

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Copyright © 1976 by Marge Piercy

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