22‑year‑old man initially presented with emaciation, altered mental status, ecchymoses over extremities and trunk, and bilateral mandibular fractures.
karmaNow, he is s/p two weeks of total parenteral nutrition and able to provide a full history, as follows.
– Computer science student in university
– Recently became devoted to improving his technical abilities
– Started isolating himself, talking to no one
– At a family gathering, suddenly got the impression that his parents thought him selfish for spending all his time studying, that people must think him a traitor to his country given the war for independence happening
– Paranoia around his parents → avoided any contact with them
– One day, while in the middle of the street, heard auditory hallucination: “traitor," "coward,” "sissy," "your brothers are dying"
– “For 18 hours my heart beat at 130 bpm; I thought I was going to die.”
– Went home → isolated himself in darkness → kneeled in prayer for 18 hours at a time → suddenly unable to swallow → got thinner
- Refused to see his parents
– Days later, went out on impulse into the European sector of his town, where other Algerians were being arrested and frisked
– Walked to the French staff headquarters and saw soldiers with machine guns → hurled himself onto one of them, trying to take the gun, shouting “I am an Algerian!”
– Soldiers beat him up, breaking his jaw → took him to the police station to be interrogated
- He hoped the officers would kill him, but they quickly realized he was “sick” and sent him to the hospital
– Now, he reports being happy to have been beaten, as it proves to him that the French consider him an enemy
“I’m not a coward. I’m not a sissy. I’m not a traitor,” he says.