Mykel

Mykel Ziva Dyan

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  Often disheveled, dirty and sporting a lost expression. Her waist length, dark curls are usually greasy, pinned up into a messy lump on the back of her neck. Her naturally sun kissed skin is on the pale side, making her blue eyes seem brighter. Unfortunately it can do nothing to clear them of their perpetual fogginess.
  
  It is typical to find her wandering the streets, whispering to herself of staring off into some unforseen spectacle. She often sleeps in churches or homeless shelters when she can find them, or on the streets otherwise, when she isn't locked up.
  
  She is usually seen wearing baggy clothes over her dangerously thin frame, keeping most of herself hidden beneath layers. She has a variety of scars from various accidents, surgeries and procedures over the years, most of which she won't talk about. In addition, she has a phoenix tattoo that goes up her right side over her ribs and down to her hip.
  
  
  Mental State
  Mental Disturbances: She was diagnosed several years ago with Schizoaffective Disorder- Depression Type. Her symptoms include common ailments of both Schizophrenia and Severe Depression.
  
  Symptoms Include: Auditory, visual and sensory hallucinations, delusions, emotional withdrawal, social anxiety/withdrawal, paranoia, insomnia, violent outbursts, loss of appetite, suicidal thoughts/actions, digestive issues, fatigue, headaches.
  
  Psychosis: Patient has delusions of being poisoned stemming from abuse at her stepmother's hand. Patient believes she has a twin sister named Danika, who she believes has been locked in an institution in some unknown place. She believes she can communicate with her telepathically.
  
  Risk Factors: Patient has a history of drug/alcohol abuse. Patient refuses medication. Patient is a suicide risk.
  
  Emergency Contacts: Dr. Jeremiah Adams
  Living Relatives: Monica and Joseph Dyan
  
  
  History
  Mykel was born into a normal family, for the most part. Unbeknownst to her, her mother was also a schizophrenic. When she was five her mother committed suicide, leaving her and her father alone. At first things seemed fine, until about a year later when her father remarried.
  
  The woman he married didn't like children, and she especially didn't care for Mykel. She was often mean to her; yelling at her, starving her, locking her in her room for days. Her father's relationship with this nasty woman quickly began to crumble, and he sought comfort in his daughter's bed at night to satisfy the needs his wife could not.
  
  Mykel began having night terrors, even wetting the bed around the age of 9. This only made her stepmother hate her all the more.
  
  Her father was a perfectionist, expecting nothing but the best from his daughter and pressuring her to achieve. She was enrolled in a private school, where she took advanced courses in nearly every subject. She played both the violin and piano, and participated in the school choir and basketball team. She rarely had time to do anything she wanted.
  
  At the age of 13 the pressure began to weigh heavy upon her, especially when coupled with her horrifying home life. She began hearing voices, whispers when there could be none. It frightened her, but she kept it a secret for fear of what they'd do to her if she told. She began cutting, burning, herself to relieve the stress. She was always careful about where, making sure it was only in places no one would see.
  
  It only got worse as she got older, and she began to withdraw. Her relationship with her stepmother worsened, and she became convinced that the woman wanted to kill her, that she was poisoning her food. She stopped eating at home, or at school- refused anything she hadn't made herself or bought herself.
  
  When she was 15 her father unknowingly impregnated her. She hid this fact with baggy clothing til she began to show, and then told her parents she was going to a summer camp. She hid out in a hotel a few cities away and got an abortion. When she returned the guilt was too much for her. She began to drink and quickly turned to recreational drugs to ease the pain when hurting herself could not. This only made her psychosis worse, and soon she was barely able to function. She managed to graduate, but only just.
  
  A week after she finished school she overdosed on pain killers she'd bought from someone, she had to be taken to the hospital, and she nearly died. Her father, furious at her weakness, kicked her out of his house and completely cut her off. She was sleeping on the street, since she really had no friends. She was arrested a few weeks later for stealing food and committed for the first time at the age of 18.
  
  She did well there in her 3 months. She got clean, and showed just enough improvement that they tossed her out, given that she wasn't paying for this treatment. She couldn't afford outpatient treatment either, and so she quickly began to slip again when she was back on the street. She overdosed on the anti-depressants they gave her, and ended up back in the hospital. She was committed for 6 months this time.
  
  Upon being released this time she went to stay in an outpatient treatment facility, where she shared a room with another young woman with delusions like herself. She stayed there for four weeks before she returned back to the streets, and her old life.
  
  Some time after that she was arrested again, this time for fighting. She was sent to a long-term facility. There she worked with Dr. Bennington. She made little progress with him, and the small steps she did make those first few weeks were hindered after a severe episode. She had an allergic reaction to something they gave her to eat, and she became convinced that they were trying to poison her, too. During this episode she saw a young woman leaving the facility and became convinced that this woman was her twin sister. When they wouldn't let her chase this woman down, she believed they were hiding her sister away from her someplace. She became so violent she had to be locked in solitary for a week.
  
  She made some small improvement, but she refused any medication. She was eventually let out on good behavior. She was stuck in another treatment facility where they helped her get a part time job. She seemed to be doing better, managing her psychosis, even forming friendships and bonds despite her lack of medication. Everything was fine until she was mugged on her way home one night, sending her sliding right back down that slippery slope. She disappeared, and hitchhiked to Louisiana.
  
  She lived on the streets there til about 3 years ago, when she was picked up for theft and resisting arrest. She was deemed unfit to stand trial after she threw a chair during her hearing, and was sentenced to 18 months in a psychiatric treatment facility. It was there that she met Jeremiah Adams.
  
  He was the best doctor they had, and she ended up assigned to him. She did therapy every day, he even managed to convince her, after a few weeks, to take her meds. She made more progress with him than she had with anyone else. She was released 3 months early, stayed on her meds, and even began working as a piano teacher. She continued to attend twice weekly sessions with him for several weeks. Things looked hopeful for her, for once.
  
  Fourteen months ago she was coming home from work, and waiting in front of her door was her father. He had tracked her down and come to talk to her. She didn't give him the chance before she slammed the door in his face. She lost it and locked herself in her house for three weeks, refusing to come out. He kept coming by, calling, showing up without warning. Her fragile mind couldn't handle that reminder of the abuse, and it snapped. She took off without warning, leaving everything she owned behind, and fled to New Orleans. She's been living on the streets since then, all her progress undone twice over.
  
  Jeremiah has not yet given up looking for her, though there seems to be so little hope for the unfortunate girl.