His Innocent Secretary (Secretary Series #1)

HIS: 23

“Ano ‘yon, Doc?” tanong ni Cali sa neurologist, habang ako ay tulala lang na pinapakinggan ang usapan nila.

“As what you said to me a while ago, you observe that she became paralysis and her limb weakness. Including, numbness and tingling. Which is some of psychogenic symptoms.”

“Psychogenic blackouts is a medical term for a blackout that can look like reflexsyncope or an epileptic seizure but is not related to either. A psychogenic blackout can mimic any cause of syncope but is not related.” Paunang wika nito na hindi ko man lang maintindihan, “Which is psychogenic is a psychological term used to describe a condition relating to or arising from the mind or emotions, which is the brain,” muli nitong pagsasalaysay pero ni isa sa amin walang nakapagsalita.

“During a psychogenic blackout, people lose some control of their body. Attacks may involve, passing out and falling to the floor, kerking movements of your arms or legs, losing control of your bladder or bowel, going blank or absent, and feeling out of touch with your surroundings. Lastly, not being able to remember the attack. Some of these symptoms may lead people to confuse these attacks with other causes of blackouts such as reflex syncope or epilepsy. Psychogenic blackouts sometimes develop after people have experienced ill treatment or trauma.”

“Omg! Some of those exactly what happened to her. I can't believe this!” gulat na wika ni Tammy.

“How do you feel about your condition, hija?” napalingon ako sa Doctor ng tanungin niya ako, nakaawang lang ang bibig ko dahil naguguluhan pa rin ako.

“N-Naguguluhan ako, Doc . . .” m
Mahinang wika ko rito, bahagya lang s’yang ngumiti at tumango.

“That is normal and understandable,” tipid na sagot nito.

“Pero wala akong maalala, Doc. Hindi ko alam kung anong nangyayari sa akin. Ang alam ko lang ay nakatulog ako.”

“Because you’re going blank or absent. Your brain may become overloaded and shut down for a short period of time while when faced with some kind of threatening feeling, situation, thought or memory. Sometimes the first attacks are related to an upsetting or frightening experience, or some other great loss or change. These experiences may be recent or in the past. Sometimes it isn’t clear why attacks have started, or they seem to have started,” mahabang pagpapaliwanag pa nito.

“What else could be its symptoms?” tanong ni Ele.

“There are many different symptoms that can occur in people with psychogenic blackouts. Confusingly, many of these symptoms can be found in other conditions such as POTS which is, Postural Tachycardia Syndrome or depression.” wala muling nakapagsalita matapos iyong sabihin ng neurologist. “These symptoms include, numbness, tingling, fatigue, pain, headache, dizziness, blurred vision, bladder problems, bowel problems, limb weakness, or paralysis, poor concentration, memory problems, worry, panic, anger, frustration, low mood, trouble sleeping, speech problems, feling distant or unreal,” kung tutuusin ay hindi ko matandaan ang karamihan ng sinabi ni Doc.

“Masyado pa lang madami,” reklamo ni Ele, tumango na lang ang doctor.

“How are psychogenic blackouts treated?” pagkakuwa’y tanong ni Kylie.

“The first step is to understand the condition and why it is different from reflex syncope and POTS. Psychogenic blackouts can stop altogether without any treatment or intervention. In some cases, treatment may help you to have fewer attacks and/or cope better with them. The best form of treatment is talking treatment.”

“Talking treatment? What is it, Doc?” mabilis na pagtanong ni Tammy.

“One common type of talking treatment is psychological therapy. There are different types of psychological therapy and they may be offered by people with slightly different types of training, including psychologists, psychiatrists, psychotherapists, counsellors, cognitive behaviour therapists and some specialist nurses . . .”