Jason (Chapter 1)

His life went on a downward spiral
From the day he believed he was possessed
He remembered that fateful day
At his uncle's funeral
When out of nowhere
He started hearing voices
But there was nobody talking to him
The voices were real
Just like yours and mine
Male and female
Conversing about him
"Look at Jason. He's cursed.
His life will fall apart. He's cursed."
He was terrified of course
But there was little he could do about it
The voices came from outside
Not from his imagination
He tried to shove them out of his ears
But they just wouldn't go away
They rattled on and on
When he was alone
Or in the company of friends
When he was doing his tutorials
Or when he was watching television
They were everywhere
Tormenting him
From days to weeks to months

He finally confided in his parents
Who brought him to see a psychiatrist
He was diagnosed with schizophrenia
A serious mental illness
That makes him lose touch with reality
Such that he is unable to distinguish
What is a real perception
From what is a hallucination
(Hallucination is different from imagination
In that hallucination occurs outside the mind
Whereas imagination occurs within the mind)

The psychiatrist also said
That he needed to be on long-term medications
To control his symptoms
And prevent further deterioration of his functioning
He laughed at the cruel joke
Fate has played on him
He was a final year student
Majoring in Arts at NUS
But instead of seeing the bright future laid out for him
His world is now disintegrating right before his eyes
He thought of his late uncle
Who jumped to his death
He was also diagnosed with schizophrenia
Maybe it runs in his family
Or maybe he was possessed by his uncle's spirit

So instead of taking the medications
Prescribed by the psychiatrist
He sought help from Chinese mediums
Whom his friends recommended
But instead of casting out the demons in him
The talisman and holy water
Only exacerbated the voices
Made them hurl profanities at him
And command him to kill himself

Standing at the ledge of the window
He could not resist the temptation to end his suffering
Once and for all
As he put his right foot over the ledge
He suddenly remembered the pills his psychiatrist prescribed
And at the very last moment of desperation
He put his hand into his pocket
Took out a tablet of haloperidol
And popped it into his mouth...

(To be continued)