The nurses
retreated, glancing back over their shoulders.
`See?' The stranger said. `Well, I'd better be on my way, before the
pills kick in. See ya.'
Electron watched, amazed, as the stranger picked up his bag, walked
through the dining-hall door, and straight out the front door of the
psychiatric ward.
After a month, the psychiatrists reluctantly allowed Electron to leave
the hospital in order to stay with his maternal grandmother in
Queensland. He was required to see a psychiatrist regularly. He spent
his first few days in Queensland believing he was Jesus Christ. But he
didn't hold onto that one for long. After two weeks of patiently
waiting and checking for signs of the imminent apocalypse, consistent
with the second coming, he decided he was really the reincarnation of
Buddha.
In late February 1992, after three months of psychiatric care up
north, Electron returned to Melbourne and his university studies, with
a bag full of medication. Prozac, major tranquillisers, Lithium. The
daily routine went smoothly for a while. Six Prozac--two in the
morning, two at midday and two at night. Another anti-depressant to be
taken at night.
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