Crisis One

The Mind-Body Problem

By Dennis J. Darland

July 15, 2007

[This is a work of fiction.

All the characters, organizations, and events

portrayed in this work are either

products of the author’s imagination or are

used fictitiously.]

“I am Denis O’Bell. I was born Oct 9, 1950 in Ottumwa Iowa. The same birthday as John Lennon. When I was in grade school, by Brother & I has atypical pnemonia. We were in the hospital. Eventually the doctors said we would probably die, but they could do no more for us, so they sent us home. We both lived. When I was about 12 by father had hepititus. He was very sick & lost his job. We moved to Milan,IL & my father got a job as a janitor. I attended Douglas Jr High. The other children wrote nasty things on my notebook, which I did not even understand. In a year we moved to Rock Island. I attended Carver Jr High. Other children picked on me. I then attended Balboa High, and then Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. The summer between Balboa and Wartburg , I became interested in Philosophy. The first Philosophy book I read was _The Romance of Philosophy_ by Cohen. I think. Then second was _The Story of Philosophy_ by Will Durant. It got me interested in Bertrand Russell. The first book I read of Russell was _A History of Western Philosophy_. I was impressed by David Hume, even though Russell is sort of critical. My freshman year at Wartburg, I tried DesCartes method of doubt; but I would maintain my ethics, while questioning even the existence of my self, or the external world. These years were full of terrible doubt. But I graduated in four years with a Math, Philosophy B.A I thought of killing myself almost every day. I also had a severe skin problem. I retrospect, I think the cream the doctor gave me made it worse. I did use too much; but when I put it on my skin would get much better, but when it wore off, it would get worse, so I tended to use too much. I thought it was cortisone cream, but I think it was unlabeled. Eventually the doctor gave me some sort of pills, which cleared up my skin, but I hardly knew who I was while taking them. I think it was some sort of steroid. I studied philosophy widely. I was too embaressed about sex to even have a date. I had a severe case of the mumps one year. I developed a ringing in my years my senior year. After graduating from Wartburg, I worked one year land surveying. The ringing went away. The fresh air and open spaces restored my health to some extent. Then I went to Graduate school on Philosophy in Lincoln, Nebraska. I could not write enough papers and dropped out. I could not solve the problems. I lived in Lincoln and worked land surveying for a while. My skepticism was difficult. How could I measure when I wasn’t sure there really was a chain? But somehow, I managed. Then I entered the Computer science program at UNL as a graduate student. I thought I could program, even on bad days. I had found out about the David Hume Society and joined. I had a season football ticket. I saw UNL beat Bear Bryant. I think UNL scored a touchdown on a fake field goal. The Bear was not happy. The same year ISU beat UNL. I remember I. M. Hipp. I discovered a professor Yau studying a new way to solve differential equations. I studied his ideas. During this time I read Muhammad Ali's _The Greatest_, he talks about getting a call from Bertrand Russell. He called him the “fairest white man he had known” Also about this time Ali won his rematch with Leon Spinks. I did well for over a year. But I was alone a lot. I was just in an efficiency apartment. I only had a radio, and no phone, or TV. I watched TV at the student union if I wanted to. I also often studied there. I studied a lot as Furgeson Hall as well, home of the Computer Science department.

The summer after one year at UNL in Computer Science, I began to believe people from outer space were coming down and turning people into homosexuals. I reported this to the police. They told me to see student health. I did not see any connection. I asked a friend of mine, in chemistry to use a spectroscope to check my water for poison. He said he couldn’t. I was afraid of the food. Also, at this time, I was a vegetarian. I put aluminum foil over cardboard, and put it up to my window too keep microwaves out. I told Dr. Yau what was happening. He had me stay with his son in a house he shared with other students. I thought people could see through walls. I heard thousands of voices. Dr Yao was concerned and called my parents. My mother and sister, living in Rock Island, IL, started to Lincoln. The next day, Dr Yau was even more concerned. I had locked myself in the bathroom, to protect myself, but he was afraid I might harm myself. He called the Police. They came. I was afraid they might rape me. I thought about trying to escape. But I didn’t see how I could get away. I didn’t try anything. My mother and sister were not far now. The police were willing to wait for them. My mother and sister arrived. I was taken to East General. In the waiting area the nurse asked me if I was hearing voices. I said thousands. She pointed to an ordinary picture on the wall, I laughed and described it. She said “Well, I can see you still have your sense of humor!” They told me I had paranoid schizophrenia. I thought that very funny. They asked me to sigh a voluntary admit. I was afraid, so I did. Dr. Richard was my doctor. He put me on Loxitane. After a few hours I was supposed to fill out a questionare; I tried but could hardy write, my muscles were all cramped. I thought I had been drugged. The doctor thought it unlikely. I started kind of cramping up. I thought they were giving me heroin or something. The nurse noticed my trouble. She said I needed a shot. [ Cogentin I think] I asked if it was habit forming. She said no. I was having a lot of trouble, so I let them give me the shot. I quickly got better. My mom tried to talk me into moving back to Rock Island. But I talked her and Dad to move to Lincoln, where the family had been from earlier. I was in the hospital only a few days. And moved back to my apartment. I got a programming job and moved into a better apartment. I kept in touch with Dr. Yau, but did not attend more classes. Worrying about classes is too stressful for me. I volunteered and became treasurer of the David Hume Society.