PBF: The Dreaming Ward

Role-playing games Play by Post
#93

@RogerBW @Suz,
The agreement Dr. Thorne presents is essentially as follows:

  • The study will last for seven nights. You may be invited to participate in further studies in future, but are not obliged to do so.
  • Day 1: registration and introductions; basic medical checks; a tour of the ward; open discussion. Night: Patients will be regularly observed as they sleep.
  • Day 2: patients gather for a group session to describe their experiences of the previous night. The rest of the day is theirs. Night: patients are hypnotised with the aid of mild soporific drugs. Therapeutic techniques of suggestion and association will be used to investigate underlying trauma.
  • Day 3: a possible side effect of the drugs is tiredness; thus, the following morning patients get to sleep in for longer than usual. Later, patients are interviewed to record their response to the therapy session. Further medical readings. Night: patients will be monitored during sleep.
  • Day 4: A second group discussion, and a session led by Dr. Lewinsky to explore latent dreaming and the collective unconscious as techniques for self-guided therapy. Night: second hypnosis session.
  • Day 5: Second interview session. Further medical readings. Night: patients will be monitored during sleep.
  • Day 6: A third group discussion in the morning. Individual discussions with Dr. Thorne and Dr. Lewinsky in the afternoon. Night: third hypnosis session.
  • Day 7: Third interview session. Further medical readings. Night: patients will be monitored during sleep.
  • Day 8: End of the study. Final medical readings. Debriefing and departure.

Participants agree:

  • to treat the identities and disclosures of other participants with the strictest confidence in perpetuity, under penalty of a fine of [significant $$$] and the possibility of legal action.
  • to comply with the restrictions on personal freedom and possessions described in the study.
  • to follow the instructions of medical staff and all hospital rules [these are reasonable, unremarkable rules]
  • not to disclose details of the study and treatment regime for a period of 1 year, in respect of academic confidentiality and publication rights.

The restrictions

  1. No contact with the outside world is allowed until the program had ended and the patient has left the hospital. Therapy is being conducted in a carefully controlled environment; external stimuli can disrupt this and affect the study’s results. Reasonable exceptions may be made by agreement with Dr. Thorne.
  2. No alcohol, opiates and other sleep-altering substances are permitted.
  3. Participants should remain within the ward and the attached garden for the period of the study.
  4. Participants must observe respect and consideration for one another, and avoid causing unnecessary disturbance.

Do you have any questions?
Are you happy to sign the agreement?
If there’s nothing else you want from Dr. Thorne, let me know and you can head out.

@Naith @Asydic @EliScrubbs
you will all be offered the same agreement once you’ve spoken to Dr. Thorne, but I’m assuming you may want to actually speak to him

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#94

McQueen: “Ah, well, very well, I suppose so.” (I’m thinking that I can use this a few books down the line; a year to wait is nothing, and if Thorne gets famous, I’ll have a manuscript ready to go to cash in on it.) (Signs.)

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#95

Stella adjusts her glasses and gets comfortable in one of the chairs to read through the agreement. She straightens up a little though as she reaches the part about ‘personal freedom’.

“I’m happy to sign, but just to be absolutely sure… I assume, if there’s a family emergency, we would be free to leave the study? I’m not expecting anything but I left the hospital contact details with my husband just in case.”

She laughs as she turns the piece of paper over, pretending to search for something. “I can’t quite seem to find the get-out clause!”

#96

“Oh, dear me! Yes, naturally, anything of that nature- let me be clear, any of you are free to leave the study any time you wish, without reservation. Paragraph… nine, I believe?.. covers that. The restrictions are simply to restrict ordinary affairs - business matters, family squabbles, everyday life - from influencing the results of the study and of your treatment.”

He looks apologetic, and settles back in his seat. “If I may speak generally for a moment, everyday troubles and strain frequently play an influential role in maintaining and exacerbating the symptoms of trauma. By removing patients from those daily frictions, we achieve several things.”

“Firstly, we exclude a complicating factor from the equation. It will help to ensure our results are robust, and demonstrate the effectiveness of the treatment.”

“Secondly, a complete change of environment and routine can make the mind more amenable to treatment - more flexible and creative. I’m sure you’ve heard of authors taking a country cottage to finish their masterpiece? And simply leaving the room for a stroll to clear one’s head can let worries melt away or bring the inspiration needed to solve a puzzle.”

“And thirdly, those daily concerns often magnify the underlying problem. A busy day in the office leaves the mind over-stretched and when bedtime comes, our brain is still digesting. A patient’s family may be unsympathetic and critical, adding to the existing strain. If our patients were to call the office every day, or receive demands from a manager, or pop home for dinner - it could severely upset the progress of treatment and undo whatever good we have accomplished.”

#97

Stella rereads paragraph nine, “Oh yes, I don’t know how I missed that. I’ve been doing so much reading lately… my brain is so full there’s standing room only.” She smiles as she signs and hands the agreement back. “Thank you Dr Thorne, that all makes sense to me.”

There’s nothing else Stella wants to ask.

#98

Dr. Thorne thanks you, and asks for one of the staff to show you to the common room where everyone in the study will be congregating. As you exit, you see Mr. Wellerby arrive with three more people.

“Would you wish to see Dr. Thorne together, or should I show you in one at a time?” he asks, hand poised to knock.

#99

Antonella examines the contract and sighs softly to herself, having never particularly enjoyed paperwork. She considers trusting her gut that everything looks relatively straightforward overconfidence check 12 or less to resist:: 2+6+4 = 12 success! but despite her tiredness, she taps to point day 2 and how sporific drugs could possibly mean possible trauma (most likely with a worried look in here eyes…) Happy to continue whatever the answer!

#100

“A reasonable question, miss de la Cavallería. Anything of that nature could muddle the results of our research here, you see. It becomes hard to distinguish the influence of our own treatments on sleep from that of, say, a large brandy before bed.” He half turns, and taps a volume on his bookshelf - you can see the title, The Influence of Diet on Sleep. “A lot of my work has been with military men, who have a reputation for hard drinking at the best of times. I’m sure you’re familiar with the image of retired colonels with a bottle of Cognac always at hand, so so on.”

“In fact, the hypnotic treatment itself depends on lulling the brain into a specific state of semi-consciousness where memories and associations are more susceptible to change. Any form of soporific or stimulant could disrupt that, and prevent the treatment from working.”

#101

When Mr Howard is seated he glances over the contract, frowning but making no vocalisation until the end.

“These experimental treatments, the soporifics and the like, do you have papers on them? I’m assuming we aren’t the first ever test right?”

#102

@EliScrubbs Thorne gives you a smile and an especially firm handshake as you join him, but he takes a cue from you and sticks to professional matters for now. He repeats much the same summary and hands over the agreement for you to review.

At your question, he raises an eyebrow slightly. "No, certainly not. The usual suspects… " and he reels off a list of familiar drugs. It all seems in accordance with the current medical consensus; one or two you might be dubious about for long-term use, but a mild dose on this sort of timescale doesn’t ring any alarm bells.

“The hypnotic treatment is based on Laudner and Hale’s work - I can dig out a paper or two if you’d like. There’s a solid body of evidence for its application in obsessive disorders, so the novelty of our study is in applying those same methodologies to traumatic insomnia. You’ll be our third cohort since the study began, so the staff are nicely familiar with our protocols now and it should all run smoothly. We plan to study five cohorts in all, and with any luck, the findings will support a large-scale study. But you know how these things go, mustn’t count any chickens.”

He can confirm that they wrote up a preliminary study of two patients, which was used to establish the protocol, and is happy to share that with you.

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#103

@RogerBW @Suz @EliScrubbs @Naith @Asydic Anything else you want to do, other than sign the agreement and head to the common rooms?

@EliScrubbs if you want to talk to Dr Thorne, you can do it now or catch him later on, either works.

#104

McQueen is happy to sign.

#105

[ I think Stella has already been shown the way to the common room? So I guess that is where she is hanging out just now ]

Stella will be completely absorbed in scribbling in her notebook with a stub-sized pencil, sharpened at both ends. She’s been itching to get her first impressions of the hospital on to paper ever since she got here.

Someone able to decipher shorthand would read things like: "…Dr T sounds like he knows his stuff… Need a story angle that fits this study into the bigger picture (what the heck is the bigger picture???)… Staff cheerful… McQ more normal than I expected… Saw other fellow participants in passing… an eclectic bunch, I’m intrigued already [Stella is a real nosy parker!] "

#106

Aurore moans gently after seeing the commitment about no alcohol but will eventually unhappily sign after having a flashback to one of her dreams.

#107

Antonella is still a smidge sceptical but will still sign and move to the common rooms, whistling as she goes.

#108

After clarifying your various concerns and signing the paperwork, you’re all shown the way up to the common room. Mr Wellerby and his colleagues carry your luggage to the rooms that have been set aside for you.

It’s a spacious, pleasant room with plenty of light. From the looks of it, this was a parlour or something similar, and needed little alteration. It’s probably a little more austere nowadays, but still eminently comfortable. Five people are standing or sitting around the room, some already engaged in conversation. There’s a definite waiting atmosphere here.

A young man and woman with a scholarly appearance are sitting on the sidelines with notebooks. They move to greet you as you enter the room.

“Good morning, sir, madam,” says the woman. “Please take a seat wherever you feel comfortable. I’m May Leiter, one of Dr. Thorne’s students, like Mr. Jacobs here. Would you care for something to drink?”

“W-we have coffee, tea, sarsap-p-arilla, chicory, sodas, and some herbal t-teas,” offers Jacobs.
he has a notable stutter which I will not keep typing out because it’ll get annoying

#109

McQueen: “Coffee would be welcome, thanks. Well, we’re a motley bunch. I suppose soon enough we’ll be passing the time by telling each other stories…”

#110

“If it comes to that, you should be the one to get the ball rolling, Mr McQueen! You’re certainly the most qualified in that department. I don’t know about you, but I’m more used to telling other people’s stories rather than my own.”

At this point Stella looks slightly embarrassed and pockets her journalist’s notebook and pencil, aware that it’s not a good look under the current confidentiality agreement.

“Thank you Mr Jacobs, I’ll have plain old chicory if you don’t mind.”

#111

"Whan that Aprille with his shoures sote
The droghte of Marche hath perced to the rote…

“But you’ve heard that one. And we all know why we’re here. So instead let me tell you about the time that Scotty came back to visit New York and got it into his head to burn down his publisher for not promoting Gatsby well enough, and instead of stopping him Zelda got a load of firecrackers, don’t ask me where, and so there we were in the Speed Six…”

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#112

Stella hasn’t heard any Chaucer before, but she has heard of the Fitzgeralds and nods with encouragement as she quietly recalibrates her initial assessment of Mr McQueen.

By the way @Naith, now that we’re all in the same room together, would Aurore’s face be familiar to Stella from reporting on local public events where high society might be present? (exhibition openings? charity concerts?) Is that the sort of thing the Courbet family are into? Or does Aurore prefer private parties?

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