The Other Me
An ongoing serial about neurosis, beginning with anxiety that burgeoned through my teenage years, and grew into issues also with depression and OCD, amongst other things.
The Other Me
‘The Good Doctor’ i. PANCH had two psychiatrists in their outpatient rooms, both in their mid-forties: Dr Menlow was short, bald, and spoke in clipped tones that made him seem very proper, like he’d come from some distinct (and condescending) upper class; and Dr Victor, in his late forties, was tall and had probably been a beanpole when he was young, but had now rounded out around the waist, with a narrow face, framed with neat, curly hair and a greying beard that made him look distinguished – the way you’d expect an English professor to look. Dr Victor was going to be my doctor. He was going to be…
The Other Me
‘Interim – Normal’ How normal am I? It’s not a question most ask, especially as they’re growing up. Instead, it’s usually a case of trying to be somebody – one of the cool kids, popular, good at something (and usually something fashionable, like sport), but I had these things to varying degrees. They were never a question. The question was always, How normal am I? The fourth son of immigrant parents, who – like a lot immigrant parents – loved you immeasurably, would do anything for you, but were overwhelmingly pessimistic, materialistic and focused on the importance of stature (particularly when comparing with others), shouted lots to communicate, weren’t emotionally…