Trained as an
actress, Barbara Nadel used to work in mental health services. Born in the East
End of London, she now writes full time and has been a visitor to Turkey for
over twenty years. She received the Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger
for her novel DEADLY WEB, and the Swedish Flintax Prize for historical crime
fiction for her first Francis Hancock novel, LAST RIGHTS.
Is mental illness transmittable? Yes, I know it's not something most
people think about every day, but it is a subject that comes up in secure
psychiatric units. I know this because I used to work in one and came across
what may have been examples of this contentious phenomenon.
I use the word 'may' because whether or not psychosis can be
transmitted from one person to another is very much open to question. First
conceptualised by French psychiatrists Charles Lasegue and Jean-Pierre Fairet
in the 19th century the idea of folie a deux or the madness of two is, at least
in the world beyond secure units, a rare phenomenon - and a scary one. That
said, I did come across it 'outside' once, when I was working in the community
with a couple I will call Ja and Jb.
Ja was a middle aged woman who had been suffering from a psychotic
illness since her early twenties. Jb, her partner, was a young man whose mental
state had broken down at university. Both were highly intelligent, but while Ja
tended towards aggression, Jb was a quiet contemplative character. His
delusions, though frightening, were very much personal to him and he rarely
shared details, unlike Ja. Ja lived in a world of terrifying phone calls from
aliens and hordes of murderous crows. She was very vocal about her delusions
and would often resort to violence in an attempt to bring them to peoples
attention. This, eventually, included Jb who, over time, began to see what she
saw, hear what she heard and started to act in a violent manner if his
experiences were denied. Eventually, for the sake of Jb's health, the couple
had to be separated. Jb then recovered his previous equilibrium.
Whether Ja actually transmitted her symptoms to Jb or whether she
imposed her beliefs on him (known as folie imposee) is open to question. But
for me, working with Ja and Jb, their situation opened up a whole world of
psychological debate I knew I wanted to explore in fiction one day. Cue my
latest Cetin Ikmen book, 'The House of Four'.
The main plot of Ikmen book number 19 concerns a family secret but
there is also a sub-plot that revolves around a series of apparently random
attacks on individuals on a bridge across the Golden Horn, in the Grand Bazaar
and on a tram. Suspects include a couple whose behaviour is described as
'bizarre'.
Could this be a case of folie a deux or is there something more
organised and more sinister at play? I'm not going to reveal anything here as
it will spoil enjoyment of the book, but do look out for it. With my background
in psychology I like to explore the more contentious and extreme corners of the
human psyche because these things are out there and so finally I'll leave you
with some advice that was given to me by one of my lecturers when I was a
student back in the Dark Ages.
We had been looking at a group of conditions known as the
paraphilias. These are obsessions some people develop, mainly sexual in nature,
with inappropriate life forms and/or inanimate objects. At the time, a man in
London had just been arrested for the crime of offending public decency by
having sex with a paving stone. It was all over the news and so we talked about
it in one of our sessions. I asked our lecturer whether it was possible there
was some sort of limit on a person becoming
obsessed or 'infected' by desire for something. Was it possible, for instance,
for someone to be attracted to or obsessed with wallpaper paste? His response
was as follows:
'If it exists, someone somewhere will want to either take it home
and care for it and/or have sex with it.'
And so, especially with my books, I suspect, be prepared for the
psychological oddity. Don't be shocked - these things do, I believe, exist - oh
and keep an open mind. That's very important.
The House of Four by Barbara Nadel, published by Headline on 18th
May 2017. Reviewed by John Parker
Back in 2004 Barbara wrote a fascinating article entitled WHERE THE BODIES ARE HID. Check it out.
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