SIGNS OF MENTAL ILLNESS.

“DEAR PARENTS FORGIVE ME IF I HAVE OFFENDED YOU.”

I knew there was something wrong, the moment I saw her.

The way she gazed at me made me very uncomfortable, I shifted in my seat.

But she wasn’t looking at me – she was looking through me. She never blinked all the time I looked at her, the tears streamed down her eyes from the pressure of keeping her eyes open without blinking. Her neck remained at an awkward angle as she continued to look at / through me.

She was in her mid 20’s and she had lost her mind.

It had started gradually, she forgot little things – she forgot where she kept things in the office and at home, she forgot how to operate her Laptop.

She had told her mother about this and was subsequently taken to the hospital. After some tests were done, they saw nothing wrong with her .

Now, she was no longer talking, all she could do was continue to stare and pull at her hair.

I enquired about the usual predisposing factors for a mental breakdown for a girl that age – boyfriend, drugs, alcohol and substance abuse – nothing significant.

Except this – Dad had decided to live with his girlfriend and had been in an argument with her mother, she had been caught in between the argument. But was that enough to lead to a mental breakdown?

Another thing – she had kept some money in an envelope addressed to her parents saying, “Dear Parents, If I’ve in anyway offended you, please forgive me.”

Had depression about her parents’ separation led to her mental breakdown? Was that just a tip of the iceberg? Was she contemplating suicide?
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