Oh, Ophelia

    Not very long ago, I was working on a very exceptional case. Instead of the usual middle class patients that I treat, I was contacted to look at someone of nobility named Ophelia. I was honestly quite surprised that I was thought of highly enough to be chosen for something like this. Her brother, Laertes, was the one that asked for my help. The case required me to fly all the way to Denmark to look at the patient. This case seemed to be too good to pass up, so I caught a fly to Denmark the next day.

    After a long trip, I arrived at the Castle Elsinore to meet Laertes. Laertes looked horrible, like he had not slept in days. I assumed that he has been looking after his sister. After the formal greetings, he told me everything that had happened to Ophelia that has caused her to begin acting unusual. I learned that she was once believed to become engaged to Hamlet the prince. However, after the death of Hamlet’s father, he began to show his own signs of madness and no longer showed affection towards Ophelia.. I also learned that their father, Polonius, was recently murdered. The truly bizarre part of the story is that Polonius was murdered by Hamlet. I had never heard of something as interesting as this and couldn’t wait to meet with Ophelia.

    Laertes led me to the bedroom that Ophelia was being kept in. She sitting up on the corner of the bed and looking out of a large window that overlooked the castle’s courtyard. She had a blank stare on her face and seemed as if she didn’t even notice my presence. Ophelia was quietly singing, “He is dead and gone, lady, He is dead and gone.” I asked if she was singing about her father but I received no response.

    My interaction with Ophelia was somewhat disappointing. For the next hour I attempted to communicate with Ophelia but I was never successful. Ophelia would not respond to any of my questions about Hamlet or her Father. She would only continue to sing the same song. It was if she was completely oblivious to what was going on around her. I took what information I had on Ophelia to try to form an early analysis of her condition.

    Ophelia has clearly been through a great amount of tragedy lately with how Hamlet treated her and the loss of her father. While some causes of mental illness are not fully understood, it is known that loss of a loved one can be a contributing factor. In a way, Ophelia has lost two loved ones. Her grief over Hamlet no longer loving her has also had an affect on her health. Losing two people that were so close to her may have caused her to feel very lonely. In some cases loneliness has shown to be a cause of mental illness. During my observation of Ophelia, she was very disconnected from her surroundings. I believe that she may be living in a world that she created because of the grief reality has caused her. I have determined that she has been driven mentally ill from the overwhelming grief that she has gone through. Because of Ophelia’s lack of awareness of her surroundings, I fear that she could easily cause herself harm and may need to be hospitalized until her condition is able to improve.