A Psychiatric Experiment

Chapter 1

Dr. John Windom’s Story

All characters are over 18 years old

I had been out of medical school for almost 10 years when these event began to take shape. As the Navy had footed the bill for my college and medical school, I owed them 8 year of service after gaining my M.D. certification. But because I liked working with the military’s younger, mostly male population, I chose to remain in the Navy, and so became what is commonly referred to as a “lifer”.

So far, I’ve served my entire career, not only at the same medical facility, but in the same building. For my first 8 years this building was known as Bethesda Naval Hospital’s Psychiatric Unit, and I served as a staff psychiatrist. Then in 2011 Bethesda was taken over by The Walter Reed Hospital Group, and so this unit became known as The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center’s Psychiatric Unit. And at that same time, I was promoted to Chief of Psychiatry.

There is nothing unusual about any of that history as many Navy doctors have come to be “lifers” for those very same reasons. What’s more pertinent to this story, is how that promotion allowed me to handle two attempted suicide cases six years ago. Both of those cases were young military men, Marines to be exact. And both had been injured in combat and suffered from P.T.S.D. which had caused them both to twice attempt suicide before coming under my care.

I’ve worked with all types of mental patients over the years, but in 2010 I chose to focus on P.T.S.D. patients using my hypnotherapy specialty with surprising success. What allowed all this to play out the way it did, is the fact that military psychiatrists have a lot more control over their patients than their civilian counterparts, especially if their patients have been ordered confined. That was the case with both Gabriel Lazio and Cory Hammond. Another factor that contributed to the outcome of their cases, was the fact that I was head of Psychiatry when they came under my care. Being Head of Psychiatry allowed me more leeway in my practice than our regular staff psychiatrists, and so I was able to use my hypnotherapy specialty in ways that were beyond normal protocols.

Most ordinarily I only use hypnotherapy as a method of discovery, a short cut to getting to a patient’s problems rather than as a method of inducing new or different behaviors. But once again, in the cases of the two afore mentioned patients, I was able to depart from that protocol as well.

Gabriel Lazio was the first of the two men to come under my care. He took pills for his first attempt at suicide, and then a month later he tried again by connecting a garden hose to the exhaust pipe of his car to feed its exhaust gasses back into the car’s passenger compartment. At 19, Gabriel was an extremely attractive young man, one who I thought most people, both men and women would consider devastatingly attractive. Even though I am a gay man, as a medical doctor I’ve tried to treat all of my patients equally and without consideration of any sexual interest I might have in them. But the truth is, that some of my patients have been so cute, so sweet, and so sexually attractive that I have sometimes been driven to go beyond the expected level of care. And as you might guess, that was the case with both Cory Hammond and Gabriel Lazio.

Cory Hammond arrived at our unit a week and a half after Gabriel. He was 23 at the time, and had also tried to commit suicide on two separate occasions. Like Gabriel, his first try was with pills, but unlike Gabriel his second try was to run his car into a bridge abutment at highway speed. As you might imagine I took both men’s attempts at suicide quite seriously, and so had them both on suicide watch with all of the restrictions that went with that designation. I’d like to think that it was the seriousness of their cases that caused me to take those two men on as my personal patients, but in all honesty I know that the fact they were both so attractive also played heavily in that decision. I know this won’t sound very professional, but the truth is, that from the moment I first met both of those young men I wanted to save them. I wanted to be the person to guide them to a more meaningful and rewarding life. And because I’d never married, I even began to think of them as surrogate sons, men whom I wanted to become permanent parts of my life.

After 2 weeks of evaluative therapy, which involved daily group meetings with six other P.T.S.D. patients, and twice weekly ‘one on one’ sessions with me in my office, I came to realize that the two boys were different from the rest of the group, mainly because I kept picking up hints that they both seemed to genuinely care for the other. And it was that finding that caused me to decide to begin incorporating hypnotherapy into their regular psychiatric care, if only so I could learn more about what had lead them to their present desire to end their lives.

As it turned out, both boys were willing to be subjected to hypnotherapy, and both turned out to be quite susceptible to hypnotic suggestion, making hypnotherapy a useful tool to further their recovery. So during separate hypnotherapy sessions I asked both boys a series of questions in order to learn more about what troubled them, and how I could best help them get on a better life’s path. And it was during those sessions that I discovered that neither boy seemed to have set any real goals for themselves, and so in effect had no motivating reason to push through their problems. I also learned that both boys had survived a battlefield attack that had killed some of their fellow marines, and that they both felt some guilt for having survived their respective attacks.

But because hypnotherapy can bring the truth forth like no other approach, I also learned several other factors that were of extreme interest to me. For instance, although I had earlier suspected it, I confirmed the fact that both boys were closeted homosexuals, a fact that caused me to take my hypnotic enquires a step further in order to learn more of the details relating to that part of their personalities.

Now I think it’s important to mention here that this is where I went a little further into both boy’s psyches than protocols would direct. I kind of thought of this as one of the perks of my promoted position. I mean a gastroenterologist gets to shove a colonoscope up people’s butts all day long, and I know for a fact that when such a physician finds a patient to be particularly attractive, he just might enjoy the procedure. So this was one of those times for me as I began to question both Gabriel and Cory while under hypnotic trance as to their sexual orientation, as well as their sexual interests. And this is where I learned that both boys were anally oriented, and that both had a repressed crush on the other. Of course I learned a lot more about their histories and experiences, but it was that information that I decided to use as a tool to bring more meaning and purpose to their lives by taking their care beyond normal protocols.

I conducted two more hypnotherapy sessions with each boy, just to get them used to, and comfortable with going into a trance under my direction. And because of my intended treatment plan, I gave them both the rather unorthodox suggestion that they should go along with my new experimental approach to their problems without questioning any aspect of the new therapy program that I had planned for them. Then I set up a joint talk session with both boys, where I explained that I wanted to treat them in an experimental program. And if they approved, I would be moving them from the psychiatric dorm facility where they were both residing, to a private two man room that I felt was better suited to their new therapy. I also told them, that after much blood work and analysis, I had concluded that their depressions were caused by a chemical imbalance in their brains. Of course I really didn’t know that to be true, and so once again questionable when it came to ethical considerations. But I mislead them with that information because it allowed me to proceed with a plan that I hoped would bring them together and give them both the meaning and purpose that both of their lives were lacking. Also while in those joint talk therapy sessions, I told them that if they approved, their new therapy plan would involve a better balanced diet, and a 10 day program of hydrotherapy that would be added to their on-going psycho and hypnotherapies, and that it was because of their hydrotherapy that they would be treated together in the aforementioned semi private room.

Now because of my earlier hypnotic suggestion, neither boy asked for any clarification as to the meaning of hydrotherapy, even when I further explained that I would only attempt my new plan for their treatment if I got an unconditional commitment from both of them that neither would refuse treatment, nor try to back out of the program for at least two weeks. Again, and most likely because of my earlier hypnotic suggestions, both boys agreed to give the experimental treatment plan a try for my required fourteen day minimum, and neither asked any questions as to the program’s details. I then shook their hands and had them sign new ‘Permission To Treat’ forms that committed them on paper to their new treatment plan. And then I immediately rewarded them by having them moved to their new two man room so their new regimen could begin. As expected, both boys took my actions as a positive step in their recovery even though I knew that neither had any idea as to what was actually in store for them.

Now I feel like I need to tell you that I was glad for all of the above as I really wanted the daily enemas that were to make up the hydrotherapy part of their treatment plan, to come as a complete surprise to both of these patients. So immediately after that joint counseling session, I saw them individually in my office for their hypnotherapy sessions. It was at that time that I hypnotized them separately to give them both three essential suggestions. My first suggestion was to insist that no matter how they felt about enemas, they were to fully cooperate with our nursing staff during their hydrotherapy sessions. My second hypnotic suggestion, was to insist that they both boys pay close attention to the other during his enema procedures. And my third hypnotic suggestion, and probably the most important of the three suggestions, was to insist that they both be open and honest with each other, and that they share their feelings and sensitivities with each other throughout the course of their treatments.

Having set the stage, I chose Billy Fields, a younger black nurse who was on the four to midnight shift to administer their enemas. Fields was my only openly gay nurse, and so I felt he was perfect for this task. I filled him in on the details, and could tell that he was eager to assist. And then before leaving for home that evening, I called Billy to further explained that I was eager to hear how things went, and so wanted him to call me at home to give me a detailed report as to how he felt the boy’s first enema session had gone as soon as their irrigations had been completed.

Billy came through with flying colors. According to his telephone report he entered their room at 7:30 that evening. Both boys were watching television in their respective beds when he rolled his enema cart to the center of their room. His cart had two IV poles attached, from which hung two fully filled enema bags. He told me that both boys looked totally surprised and shocked as soon as he announced that it was “enema time”. From the looks on their faces he knew that both boys had an immediate understanding as to what was about to happen to them. He told me that he acted overly cheerful in order to ward off any complaints. And he told me that he had them turn off their TV so they could concentrate on each other during the proceedings. Then he told me how he rolled his enema cart between their two beds, and then how he stood on the outside of Gabriel’s bed to administer his enema in such a way that would allow Cory an unimpeded view of the entire procedure, as well as Gabriel’s reactions to it. And then he explained how he did the same thing when it came time to administer Cory’s enema, thus providing Gabriel with an equally unencumbered view of Cory’s treatment, and his reaction to it.

Billy also told me how he observed both boys paying close attention to each other throughout their enema procedures, even when they were finally allowed to expel in bedpans that he provided while they sat up in their beds. And without my asking, he volunteered the fact that both boys sported partial, if not full erections throughout their treatments. And finally, Billy reported that both boys openly shared their thoughts and feelings with each other, not only about their own treatments, but how they felt about the other’s treatment as well. He went so far as to describe how both boys complemented each other on their bodies, as well as each other’s performance while taking their enemas, and that both boys had admitted that it had been a turn on for them to have observed the other while he was being treated.

Although I expected it, Billy was amazed at the boy’s open honesty, and was so moved by it that his observations turned out to be a fountain of valuable information. He even reported his interpretation of the boy’s conversations and reactions to their enemas, to the point that he told me that he felt that both boys were not only turned on by each other sexually, but that they actually loved each other to the extent that when he left them with orders to take a shower, and then to go immediately to bed, he was sure that they most likely showered together even though the shower in that room was a small single stall.

I then asked Billy about their reactions to him, and he said that both boys were very positive until he told them that they would both be receiving an enema every night for the next nine nights. He also shared the fact that he felt that information was a bit of a shock to the boys, and maybe even something that scared them. I was pleased with Billy’s report and knew that I had chosen the right man to carry out my unusual orders.

Now I realize that what I’m about to share might not read as being very professional, but the truth is, I had a throbbing boner by the time I hung up from Billy’s call, and so immediately prepared an enema for myself that I took while jacking off in my own shower while recalling the details of how Gabriel and Cory had responded to their enemas. That jack-off session was such a turn-on that I was anxious to get back to the hospital to see the two men for their follow-up hypnotherapy session so I could get an even greater detailed report of their enema sessions from their points of view, which of course would be the most important points of view as hypnosis would make their report of their therapies the most honest and accurate.

The next day I saw six separately scheduled patients, and then held my regular group meeting with all of those same six patients together. Then it was time for my scheduled combined meeting with Cory and Gabriel. I’d been looking forward to that session all day, but hopped I was successful at hiding that fact. I really wanted to hear their account as to how they felt their enema sessions had gone, but purposefully didn’t bring the subject up. I started their joint meeting off by asking them what they had learned so far about handling self-imposed guilt, fears, and anxieties when such feelings seemed to pop up unexpectedly during their day to day routines. Both boys contributed to that conversation, but then Cory unexpectedly changed the subject, by saying, “Some black guy came to our room last night and said that you ordered enemas for us. Is that true?”

I comely answered, “Yes, that’s the hydrotherapy part of your treatment that I told you about. It’s to help you eliminate the toxins in your digestive system that we feel are causing the chemical imbalance in your brains. So how did that go?”

“It was fucked up,” Cory said, “I hated it. He gave them to us right in our beds so there was no privacy. Not even one of those flimsy curtains that most decent hospitals have to go around their patient’s beds.”

In as calm a voice as I could manage, I said, “Well that’s why I had you moved to a private room, because psychiatry doesn’t have privacy curtains. I thought it would be acceptable because you’re both getting the exact same treatment. So just try to relax and get through it. It’s only going to be for a few more days.”

“A few more days!” Cory shot back, “That black guy said we’d be getting enemas for 9 more days. And I didn’t like the way he wiggled his finger when he had it up my ass. He wiggled it around inside me the whole time like he was trying to turn me on.”

While suppressing a smile, I said, “Well you will only have to put up with him for 4 more days, because you will have Nurse Jenny for the weekend.”

That was when Gabriel spoke up, and said, “A girl! I don’t want some girl sticking anything up my butt.”

While sounding as serious as I could manage, I said, “Well I’m afraid you don’t have a choice. Jenny is our only swing shift, weekend nurse for “B” wing.”

Then Cory spoke with anger in his voice, saying, “Then I don’t want to do this treatment anymore. I don’t want any more enemas.”

While still trying not to smile, I said, “I’m afraid that isn’t your decision to make. I’m the doctor here, and you are both going to complete the 14 day treatment plan that you signed for, whether you like it or not.”

Then Gabriel spoke again, pleading, “Please Doctor Windom, can’t you give us a pill? You know, like a laxative or something?”

“No Gabriel, a laxative would only introduce more toxins into your systems, and that’s what we are trying to eliminate.”

Both boys looked devastated, and so just before breaking up for their individual hypnotherapy sessions, I said, “There is one concession I could make.”

Cory brightened up and asked, “Oh yea, what’s that?”

If you both promise to follow directions explicitly, I’ll tell Nurse Fields to instruct you both on how to give enemas to each other. And if he tells me that he’s confident that you can perform the procedure for each other, I’ll let you administer each other’s enemas for the remaining nine days. How does that sound?” Neither boy looked happy after hearing that proposal, so I added, “Well you think about it. I just thought you might rather treat each other than have Nurse Jenny administer your weekend treatments. If you want to give it a try, let me know and I’ll tell Nurse Fields to instruct you.”

It was Cory who finally spoke, saying, “Okay, if that’s our only alternative.”

“Okay,” I said, “But remember that you also have to promise not to take any short cuts. How about you, Gabriel? Do you want to give this a try?”

Both boys agreed, and both boys promised to follow Billy’s instructions to the letter while preforming each other’s enemas before we shook hands on this new treatment plan. Then I had Cory go out to my waiting room to wait so I could be alone with Gabriel for his private hypnosis session. And in that session I reinforced the three hypnotic suggestions that I had given both boys the day before, only adjusting suggestion number three, ordering Gabriel to share his honest feelings with Cory while he administered Cory’s enema, and that he must also share his feelings with Cory when Cory administered his enema. And then after bringing Gabriel out of his trance, I had him go out to the waiting room and send Cory in to receive the exact same suggestions.

After sending the boys back to their room, I called Billy Fields again and explained my new approach to the boy’s hydrotherapy, and once again instructed him to call me at home as soon as he completed that night’s therapy session.