Dutch comfortably laid on the couch with his mouth constantly open, speaking out his inner struggles of his condition while I write on my handheld notebook to keep track of everything he tells me.
I am currently sitting on a chair in front of him, writing every word he says onto my paper while keeping eye contact. Although he is not the typical ‘patient’ that we usually have here, I do believe that it would be good for him to speak more about his condition as in letting out his thoughts and feelings to someone other than himself.
“Dutch,” I decided to Interrupt his monologue by calling him, “please continue your story. How long have you been suffering from these urges?” My tone is gentle yet stern enough to get the message across. As I already know the answer but still need to hear his words so that we can come up with a plan of action together.
He looked at me, his face showing deep sadness and despair, “months probably? Don’t know when it just ‘hit’ but these urges are driving me insane. It is like I am being possessed by some sort of evil force, influencing me to do something that I do not want to.”
I nodded, taking notes as he continued, “it started with seeing a fresh female dead body laying on the ground. Then, I, uh, I do not know if I am comfortable speaking about this…” he said while averting his gaze, looking away from my eyes, “…but I smelt a strange aroma coming from her dead body and I do not know if it was just her perfume or me…” Dutch shamefully stared down in silence, becoming uneasy of what he was saying. He has never felt so ashamed before…
A soft hand touched his shoulder, looking up to see my sympathetic and caring face, “please continue your story. I understand what you are going through and I will do my best to listen and give non-judgmental advice. Please tell me everything that happened, including all details as much as possible.”
“Okay, okay,” Dutch agreed with me while slowly sitting backup, “I lost my virginity from the corpse of a woman that was found on the side of the road. I do not know how she died, but there is something about her scent that just drives me wild! I am so confused as to why? Why is this happening to me?!”
He broke down into tears, unable to contain himself anymore with his hands covering his face and sobbing in shame. I had no choice but to gently soothe him with comforting words, “Dutch, what is done is already done, there is nothing we can do now, let us focus on the future instead.”
Dutch sniffled, wiping away his tears and trying to regain composure as he took a deep breath before continuing. “I could not help myself as I kept smelling her perfume and became obsessed by it. It was like some sort of drug addiction, causing me to crave more of her scent and want to smell more. I began digging corpses from the graveyard to have sex with until I was caught by the authorities and then sent here,” he said while glancing at the wall, avoiding eye contact with me, “but I am still craving for more!”
I expected him to make a confession or confess to his crimes. Necrophilia is sexual attraction towards corpses and dead bodies, but I was surprised when Dutch continued, “the urges are getting worse everyday! The urge to smell more of her scent, to be able to taste and lick her flesh, skin, even her blood, I cannot control myself any longer!”
I gave a loud clap to snap out of his trance and shake him awake from the strange obsession that he has with the deceased female. He jumped up startled, rubbing his eyes in disbelief and shock as he saw me sitting there looking at him while shaking my head and sighing, “I am sorry about what I did. I will not do it again.”
“It is alright,” I assured him with a smile, “in society, we do not condone any taboo subjects such as this, but necrophilia is common among the animal kingdom. Although, some people are attracted to corpses and want to become one themselves, it makes sense given your situation.”
Dutch stared blankly at me, “what? are you saying that necrophilia is tolerated in society?”
Ha! Definitely not, I thought, chuckling, “nope, It is just another form of fetishism or sexual interest, although some people are born with it due to genetic disposition and the environment they were raised in,” I explained, “but there is nothing wrong with being sexually aroused by dead bodies as long you can control yourself and not act upon them.”
He nodded slowly and looked down at his feet, ashamed of himself. After a few moments of silence, Dutch asked, “how do you know so much about this subject matter?” Interested in hearing more from someone who knows so many things.
“I know many things sir, but lets get back to the topic. You wish not to have these urges anymore? From our conversation and display of this subject, I am one hundred percent sure you want to be normal or am I wrong?” The words came out like a question, but I was really curious about what he wanted to say.
“You are correct, I want not to feel those urges any longer,” Dutch replied while looking straight into my eyes, “it feels dirty and disgusting. I would never want anyone else to see me like this, it makes me feel disgusted with myself for doing such a thing.”
“Okay then, I will help you with that. To suppress those desires, we must eliminate all traces of that event by replacing the memory with something that you fear the most,” I said as I took a deep breath and exhaled loudly, “so let’s start by talking about death and how you hate the idea of dying. Right now, death is an unknown factor to you which leaves you vulnerable. So, I need you to focus on the fact that you are afraid of your own mortality and the end of everything around you, okay?”
“Yes,” Dutch responded, “but why does death and my condition have to do with anything at all?”
“Because,” I started, “you fear the loss of life because you know you are going to die someday. Death is a concept that humans have to accept sooner or later, so close your eyes and imagine yourself as a rotting corpse.”
Dutch did exactly what I asked him to do, closing his eyes tightly and thinking about nothing but death. He was clearly frightened by the thought of being dead, even though he knew in reality he would not die right away.
“What do you see?” I asked, intrigued by the process, “is it dark or light? Are there any sounds around you?”
He shook his head, “no, no sound. It is quiet,” Dutch replied, “I can…see myself on the coffin, rotting away…” His voice trailed off and he turned pale.
Sounds of scribbling resonated in the air, writing down on my notebook while listening to what he said as I stared at him intensely, “what else?” I asked, “do you feel pain?”
“No,” Dutch answered, shivering from the thought, “just cold and numbness. The coffin feels like it was made of ice. Everything around me is so dark.”
His body trembled slightly as his face grew more frequently pale.
“Now imagine the corpse to have disgusting insects and maggots crawling out of your skin,” I continued, “you will feel disgusted and repulsed just by thinking about it.”
“Okay then, I am feeling that way now,” Dutch said with a shaky voice, “but why is this necessary?”
“Because,” I replied, “that is how we suppress our urges and desires when they are unwanted. Like I said before, we replace them with something we fear the most.”
Dutch nodded his head, but his eyes were still shut tight, “okay, I am doing it,” he said while taking deep breaths, “now what?”
“Listen carefully, you are lying in a coffin, surrounded by darkness and cold. You can hear the sound of insects and maggots crawling on your flesh. Your body is covered in blood and pus, as you slowly rot away. The body reminds you of that dead woman, but something feels wrong isn’t it?”
His whole body began to sweat, “yes,” he whispered, “it does.”
“You are not sure if you want to die or live anymore,” I continued, “your urges are racing around inside your head, making you feel confused and livid. Now imagine every corpse you see is your rotting body from the coffin, just as it is now.”
His breathing became heavier, “I can hear my heart beating in my ears…”
“Now,” I said while closing my notebook, “imagine the urges to be your rotting corpse, replaced by disgust and fear, every corpse is your dead body. The urge to continue yourself will fade away, because you no longer desire corpses, only living people. Then conceive bright light appearing between your eyes, absolving all of your sexual attraction towards dead bodies. Finally, you would forget everything about the urges.”
Dutch took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, “oh…I feel much better now,” he whispered after exhaling deeply. “You can open your eyes Dutch, the session is done,” I told him with a smile.
He opened his eyes, but remained silent for a moment, until finally speaking up again, “I also feel different” he said with an awkward tone of voice.
“Different? As in not being attracted to corpses anymore?” I asked, curious.
“Yes,” he replied, “as if something had changed inside me. Although, I don’t know how.”
“Hmm, I guess that is good then,” I smiled at him, walking to my desk as I pulled a picture of a dead female patient from one of my drawers, “this is her right?”
Dutch nodded his head, staring intently at the photograph. He was still looking into it when suddenly, he spoke up, “reminds of that dead woman I had sex with, just looking at it now made me feel disgust and revulsion.”
I chuckled, “because I convinced your subconscious to replace with every rotting corpse of your image, hence why you felt disgusted and revolted upon seeing this photograph,” explained with a grin. “Your mind has accepted what I have been trying to do now,” I added while holding my hand over the picture, “and that made you stop from feeling sexually attracted towards corpses or dead bodies altogether.”
A gasp escaped from his lips before he regained himself, “how did you do all of these things?” he asked with curiosity.
“Its simple,” I answered simply, “I am the world’s best psychologist.”
He stared at me blankly in disbelief, “what?”
“being the world’s best psychologist,” I continued with a chuckle, “what? Don’t believe me?” I questioned him, watching his expression shifting from disbelief to shock.
“No, its just hearing you proclaimed yourself with that title sounds like fraud or fake to me,” Dutch admitted, “after all, I know there are many people who were considered the best in their field, but never achieved anything extraordinary after being named so.”
I shrugged, “oh well, perhaps they are not as good as I am,” I said jokingly, though it was true. “Anyway, our session is done and your condition is cured. Have anymore questions sir or shall you leave?”
“Well…you are really something…” he trailed off. “You actually managed to cure my attraction of corpses, even without any physical contact or doing anything else. But how did you do that?”
“Simple,” I replied, “I just convinced you.”
Dutch looked confused, “yeah, I already know that. But how did you exactly do it?” he asked again.
Annoyed sigh released from my mouth, “it is a long story but we are done Dutch, the session is over and my shift is over. It is time to part our ways,” he bluntly stated with a bored tone, waving goodbye to him.
“Wait, I have-“
The office opened, cutting him off mid sentence. We turned around to see Claire standing there with a tired smile on her face, “Dutch, I am here to retrieve you from your doctor’s appointment. Shall we go?” she asked while motioning for him to follow.
“Sure,” Dutch answered with a nod, following behind Claire out of the office.
“Did everything go alright?” Claire questioned him, curious about whether his condition had been cured or not. She knows that every patient interviewed by me always comes out fixed and mentally stable, no matter what their problem is.
“Yeah, I am fine now,” he assured with a small grin on his face as if nothing had ever happened before. “Thanks for your help.”
Claire gave him an amused smile, “do not mention it. If anything, it is doctor Adam’s job to ensure you are in good health and happy,” she replied kindly with a slight laugh. “Anyway, shall we get going? It is getting late, and I do not want to be here when night falls. Let us take the elevator down together.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Dutch agreed before turning to my direction, “thanks for curing me doc. I really appreciate it. Now, I can finally move on from these urges,” he said with genuine gratitude in his voice.
I smiled back at him, “you are welcome. Anytime you need me, just let Claire know. She will relay your message to me. Have a nice day,” I told him with a polite tone.
