Dutruv was called in, in 1999, to consult on suggestions for treatment for a phenomenon which was viewed, at the time, as some kind of mass hysteria. Several people... believed that they were fairytale characters. One subject believed he was the Gingerbread Man, and therefore refused to go into water, until he was allowed to bathe in liquid icing sugar.
It was first identified by doctors when a patient 'h' was admitted to hospital after having lost several of his teeth after biting into the brick wall of a house, which he believed was made of gingerbread.
Dutruv attempted to treat the patients by waiting for a patient to enter REM sleep, and then playing them a recording of the fairytale they had fixated on through speakers. He theorised that hearing "The End" would allow their subconscious mind to break out of the story.
The results were 1 revival, 1 revival then relapse, 2 comas, and one person suffered a psychotic break and killed a lumberjack.
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| Most of Dutruv's records were redacted under an anonymity agreement with the hospital, but this image of a patient listed as "BBW" was found in his records, labelled as being taken at 2:15am during REM therapy session 3 on 15th AUgust 1999. Photograph by thart2009. |
©2012 James Mathurin
