opnet [OpNet] M-R.I.P.

[Guest]

Dear Abbie,

Mood-swings, bouts of rage, suicidal depression.... all of these things hit baselines pretty hard - but THEY can see a shrink who can prescribe medication to put their body back into balance! I erupted a few months ago, and since then I've LIVED at the Utopia clinic here in Memphis (a DUMP). My M-R node is monstrous, and still growing. It's crushing my pituitary gland, and causing the previously mentioned mood-swings in addition to totally relieving me of my sex drive. Drugs have no effect on me, and the doctors say that removing the MR node would kill me.... Is there a NOVA neurologist/surgeon that you could recommend me to? If this node doesn't stop growing soon, my pituitary gland will cease to function, and I will die.

- M-R.I.P.

[Abbie]

Dear M-R.I.P.,

There are relatively few private nova doctors currently in operation--Utopia has swallowed most of them up. I would advise you to do what you can to try to get an in-house nova to see you. Dr. Mazarin may be able to help, as well, being one of the only big names in the field, and also a Utopian. If Utopia doesn't seem able to provide you with adequate service, however, there are several specialists you may be able to consult. Dr. Mirai Hasham at Massachusetts General is a well-respected nova surgeon. He is not a trained neurologist, but given his nova-enhanced medical aptitude and penchant for speed reading, he should be up to the task in a day or two. Dr. Sandra Johanssen at Duke is also preeminent in the field; while not a nova, she has been doing neurosurgery for over thirty years and has made an intense study of the M-R node since it was discovered. She has published over fifteen papers in the last five years alone relating to new discoveries about the node and its effects on human physiology. Lastly, I'll go ahead and put a plug in for my analyst, Dr. Pedersen. After many, many hours talking about my father, I think I've finally come to terms with my obvious sexual attraction to men with toupees. (Thanks, doc!) And while this is ever so slightly tongue-in-cheek, the reality of the matter is that drugs don't work for everybody, even baselines. You may want to consider seeing a psychotherapist to help deal with your mood swings. The mind is a remarkable organ, and it has an incredible ability to bend itself to suit the thought processes of its owner. You may be able to control your emotions through some simple breathing exercises and a bit of self-insight. Remember: chemicals in our brain do not make the emotions we feel; rather, it is how we interpret the presence of those chemicals into the greater scheme of our current place in life that determines our emotional state. Low serotonin can lead to both aggression and depression--two rather distinct and separate psychological states. A therapist may be able to help you control your mood swings, then, and help you better deal with the other events in your life. Obviously, this will have no effect on whether or not your node keeps growing, but it has the potential to greatly improve your quality of life, and should not be discounted out-of-hand.