Internally complex
Emotionally restricted
Risk Factors:
Chronic emotional deprivation
Self-directed coping through dissociation
Lack of stable relational attachment
Protective Factors:
Intelligence
Behavioral control
Absence of impulsive aggression
X. Discharge Summary
Patient discharged with:
Medication plan (continuation recommended)
Follow-up psychiatric evaluation (mandatory)
Behavioral monitoring instructions to caregivers
XI. Final Clinical Remarks (Attending Psychiatrist)
“The patient does not present as overtly unstable. On the contrary, he is remarkably controlled for his age and circumstances. However, this control appears constructed rather than inherent.”
“There is a notable absence of internal cohesion in emotional processing. It is as though the patient experiences himself in segments rather than as a continuous whole.”
“At present, these divisions are subtle and functional. Should they become more defined, they may evolve into more distinct psychological structures.”
“It is recommended that future evaluators remain attentive not only to what the patient expresses, but to what appears… organized beneath the surface.”
Signed:
Dr. Aleksander Wróblewski, MD
Pediatric Psychiatry Specialist
Kraków
The Glitch
Chapter 21
Zwierek came back long after I’d fallen asleep. It still surprises me that I managed to sleep at all that night.
The days that followed passed as if nothing had happened. I constantly felt like there was a huge fucking elephant standing in the middle of the room, but somehow I seemed to be the only one who could see it. And if Zwierek could too, he definitely wasn’t letting me know about it.
I didn’t even know why I felt the need to talk about it. It wouldn’t have changed anything anyway. Still, something about it wouldn’t sit right with me. How could he just walk straight into a murder scene and not have a single follow-up question? No interest in what had happened or why. The only thing he seemed to care about was fixing the problem.
I caught myself staring at him more than once, that urge to talk it through pushing at me, but I couldn’t get any words out. I don’t know if it was the years of not speaking that held me back, or the thought that saying it out loud would make it real, but either way, nothing came. Part of me also knew it would’ve felt wrong to push that conversation on him. Zwierek had already saved my ass twice by then after all, so I should just be grateful and leave it.
