jumpthegun | IC Inbox (v1.0)

[Mania. Like Stein, but... He'd already had problems. It sounds like Ginger's focused on something that isn't quite as destructive as lobotomizing people or carrying out questionable experiments. The problem is, he's not certain that medication will have any impact on it. She does need some relief, though, if he can give it to her.]

I know this has been really, really hard for you, Ginger. I appreciate you coming to me, honestly. It takes a lot of courage to speak up about something like this. A lot of people don't, and it's hard to know how to help if we don't know what the problem is.

In your family, is there anyone you know about who's suffered from any mental illnesses? Bipolar disorder, maybe? Or depression by itself?

[Watson's calm demeanor is beyond soothing. It's refreshing, honestly, when she thinks about some of her interactions with House. Maybe it's just his bedside manner, but he strikes her as just a good person in general.]

Thank you. I wasn't sure if I should bother you about it...

[But she's glad that she did. Even if he isn't sure how to help her, in the end, at least he's trying. And at least he's being so nice and understanding.]

Umm...yeah! My older sister was, like, super depressed for a couple years. She had all these medications with really big names that I totally don't remember and was really bad about taking them because she would tell me that nothing was working, and she never wanted to get out of bed. I don't know about anyone else, though.

[History is a check, then. Right class of illnesses, too.]

Okay, Ginger. This is going to sound a little scary probably, but I want you to know it's going to be all right. I think you're having a manic episode. This place, it does a lot of strange things to people. Part of the MN poisoning, I heard.

There are medications for what you're going through, though. Lithium is one of the oldest treatments out there for a manic episode. It'll calm you down, stop everything racing, probably let you think a little more clearly. We can pair that up with something called a mood stabilizer. That'll help balance you out so you're not feeling constantly sad, right? Meds can only do so much, though. They're a good solution, but you need to keep talking make sure you're actually stabilizing, coming down from this, but not sinking into something worse. We can adjust dosages, talk about anything bothering you, just get it all out so we know what to do as things come up.

I say we, but if you'd be more comfortable talking to someone else about any of the problems you're facing here, it doesn't have to be me. But I'm happy to keep listening, if you'd like me to.

A manic episode? Like...isn't that what happens to villains in cartoons when they laugh and stuff?

[She's trying, she's really trying. She continues to listen thoughtfully to the things that Watson has to say, because she understands that they're all super important and he's doing his best to help her! It's just hard to process it--this is all such foreign territory for her.]

I'm comfortable talking to you about it. You're already doing so much to help me--and you really sound like you know what you're talking about, so that makes me feel a lot more relieved already. I'll totally do my best. I know I keep thanking you, but, like...thank you. This just means so much to me.

No, that's not what mania looks like for most people, Ginger. It just means everything in your head is on, constantly, running faster than it should be. Manifests different ways. Some people can't sleep, some people get obsessed with doing things, or start a hundred different projects, but can't find the concentration to actually finish them. Some people get irritable, or start feeling like they're top of the world, even when they aren't. It's got nothing to do with villains or laughing.

And that's good. We can talk any time you need to. Doesn't matter the time. Never worry you're waking me up or bothering me, okay? I'm going to request the Admin to put you on lithium - 3 pills, morning, afternoon, and evening. The other one we'll have you on is Haloperidol. Same schedule to make it easy. Once you have the medicine, let me know. I can work with you to set reminders to take them. Or, if you've got traveling companions you trust, you can ask them to remind you. It might be a little hard to keep track of at first because of the condition you're in now.

The medicine might take a little bit to kick in, but you should start feeling better, more level, more like y'self, after a few days. There are some potential side-effects, but we're going to start you off on lose doses to try to make sure those don't happen. Let me know if anything strange starts happening when you start on those meds, okay? We can adjust if we need to.

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