Just How Many Types Are There?

Posted on Sat Feb 25th, 2017 @ 9:43pm by Captain Brady Dering M.D., PhD & Lieutenant Cole Dering M.D., M.S. & Captain Madeline Sanchez
Edited on on Wed Sep 12th, 2018 @ 6:44pm

Mission: My Place In This Universe
Location: The Subspace Cafe
Timeline: 2388/08/13 1700 (August 13 2388 1700)

Pacing her apartment, Maddie debated about heading off to find Brady. I mean, surely it couldn't hurt to understand Connor a bit more could it? Maybe it would help their friendship if she could understand a bit more about what made him tick.

That thought brought her to a stop. Why exactly did she want to know what made him tick? Why was she thinking of going to see Brady to find out more about his condition? Why did she care? And why had she agreed to have dinner with him later?

"It's just to be friendly." she told herself curtly, "Nothing more...you're getting over Drago, you're devastated that you left him." she nodded to herself as she told herself what she wanted to hear. "So...in the spirit of being friendly..." she tapped her combadge...

***

Brady was walking through one of the many beautiful campus gardens when his comm chirped, =A= Sanchez to Lieutenant Dering, I don't suppose you're free right now?=A= He stopped walking. And looking concerned, he responded, "For you, Captain, anytime. Name the place."

"How about now?" Maddie asked hopefully, "And as for where...where about are you right now?"

=A=I'm near the Subspace Cafe. Meet me there?=A=

"On my way." Maddie acknowledged before heading for the door and making her way over to the Academy restaurant.

***

Mere minutes later, she found herself approaching the cafe and stepped inside, looking around for Brady.

Sitting at a table in a corner, one with a view of the place and no way for anyone to sit and listen in and not be noticed, was Brady. He waved her over before taking a drink of his coffee.

"Hi." Maddie smiled as she approached Brady and slid into the seat opposite him.

"Hi." Brady smiled back, and his eyes slightly narrowed, "It's good to see you smiling." he said, still holding his cup up.

"Thanks." Maddie replied as she flagged down a waiter and placed her coffee order, "So how are you?" she asked for want of something to say.

"I'm good." he said, his eyes studying her, and he sat back. "So what can I help you with?" he asked, not wanting to give her the chance to back out of whatever it was that was on her mind, that she needed to speak with him about.

Looking down for a moment, Maddie finally raised her eyes to meet Brady's and asked "I'm trying to understand Connor more...and I was hoping that you could explain a bit about the type of OCD he has." She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, feeling like the request was an admission of the fact that she was interested.

Brady leaned forward a bit, and with both arms on the table holding onto his coffee, he looked at her with a little concern. "He told me he was going to tell you..." he paused as the waiter returned with her Coffee, and continued once she left, "Has he told you what type he has?"

Shaking her head, Maddie replied "No...but I haven't seen him doing any of that odd stuff like switching lights on and off so I figured that it must be different. Unless he just saves it for when no-one is around." She watched Brady, hoping that he wouldn't interpret her interest as anything other than just a friendly one.

Breathing in deeply, Brady raised a brow at the last of her statement. "Okay", he nodded, " I'll help you understand as much as I can, but I can't discuss Connor's case specifically. "

"That's fine." Maddie smiled, aware that Brady was bound by confidentiality. "Whatever you can tell me would be appreciated."

Nodding, Brady set his cup down and regarded her for a moment before saying, "I appreciate you wanting to understand. I'm sure Connor would too. After we have this talk, I would like you to consider asking him what type it is that he has."

"I will but I'm not sure that it'll make a difference." Maddie replied, "I kind of lost it last time we met but then you know that." she added with a sigh, clearly down on herself about the whole situation, "We're having dinner tonight but I can't help but think it's his attempt at making me feel like I'm not a total loser. He has to work with me after all." she looked down at the table and picked at a napkin that she found there, her own insecurities coming to the fore.

"I doubt that." Brady slightly smiled, his eyes looking intently at her, and taking in her actions, "Connor is nothing if not sincere, and that's not always out of a sense of morality. The man says what he feels, if not at that moment, sooner rather than later."

"You've known him a long time?" Maddie asked as she watched Brady and tried to force her mind from drifting off and thinking about a certain Australian man.

"I first met him about three and a half months ago." Brady answered, setting his cup down as he thought about how to explain. "It's not detailed there, but it's in his personnel file that you would have access to that it was reported he had died a month before. I was called in...when it was discovered he was alive after all. It's...complicated, Maddie, but Connor and I have spent a lot of time together."

"I knew that bit." Maddie replied, thinking of the time they had spent together when he had opened up his crate of belongings, "And I'm glad that he had you around for that time." she smiled over at her new friend.

Brady nodded. "Me too.." he replied quietly before inhaling deeply. "Okay, OCD, which stands for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder often times confused with OCPD, Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder. It's important," he continued to explain, "to understand the differences between the two."

"Okay...with you so far." Maddie commented and waited for him to continue.

"Good," Brady nodded again, and took another drink of coffee before doing so, "OCD is an illness..with..symptoms that change in severity over time, while OCPD reflects an overly rigid personality style that does not change much over a person's lifetime. Both may carry out repetitive behaviors, but the underlying motive is very different. While someone with OCD might repeatedly write out lists or organize items around the home to keep a catastrophe from taking place, someone with OCPD would be more likely to do these activities to increase their efficiency or productivity. And while people with OCD usually want to get rid of their symptoms, it is not uncommon for people with OCPD to see nothing wrong with their behavior and to feel that 'other people' are the problem."

"Okay, so Connor has which one?" Maddie queried, still not sure.

Brady angled his head at her and looked concerned, "He has OCD...which there is different types of... Am I confusing you, Maddie?"

"I'm sorry, I never was good at medical stuff." Maddie admitted sheepishly.

"Hey its okay." he placed a hand over hers and smiled. "Just let me know if you need me to explain things for you more clearly."

"I will." Maddie nodded, looking down at their hands, "So tell me more." she encouraged him to continue.

"Okay," Removing his hand from hers, Brady paused and looked thoughtful. He took another swallow of his coffee. "There's a lot I could tell you," he said setting his cup back down, "including the characteristics of OCD, the misconceptions, but I don't want to fill you up with too much information all at once. So we'll go over the four areas, that typically, the different types of the illness fall into, and then the most common type within each one. I think that would be the easiest." Brady inhaled deeply and continued, "There's the area of checking. The need to check is the compulsion. The obsessive fear might be to prevent damage, fire, leaks or harm in some form. The most common checkings are door locks, windows, security alarms,..all for the fear of allowing a burglar. Candles... for fear of causing a fire, It could be the need of reassurance for fear of saying or doing something to offend or upset a loved one. There's a lot more and with these types, untreated, unchallenged, the checking can be carried out multiple times, sometimes hundreds of times, hours on end, and can have a serious impact on a person's ability to hold down jobs and relationships."

"Okay, I'm with you on that." Maddie nodded, thinking that this is what she expected when she thought of someone with OCD, "And what's the next thing?"

"Contamination." Brady replied, "where the need to clean and wash is the compulsion. The obsessive fear is that something is contaminated and/or may cause illness, and ultimately death, to a loved one or oneself. The cleaning or washing is often carried out multiple times often accompanied by rituals of repetitive hand or body washing until the person 'feels' it is clean, rather than someone without OCD who will wash or clean once until they 'see' they are clean. Untreated, this can become very debilitating, not only have a serious impact on a person's ability to hold down jobs and relationships, but there is also a secondary physical health impact of the constant scrubbing and cleaning on the skin, especially the hands."

"I haven't seen Connor doing any of these things though." Maddie replied before adding "But do people tend to keep it secret and do it only behind closed doors?"

"Some people do," Brady said, his gaze steady, "and for different reasons. It can depend on the type of OCD. There are a few more types I'm going to tell you about...are you ready? "

"Ready." Maddie nodded with a smile that said 'Go on'.

"Okay." Brady smiled back, and then his smile lessened as he said, "There's hoarding, the inability to discard useless or worn out possessions. It has three categories: 'Prevention of harm', 'Deprivation', and 'Emotional'." He lifted his coffee cup towards his mouth, "It's pretty much obvious when someone has this type, and it has been one of the most difficult to cure." He took a drink, and then motioned for the waiter that happened to be looking their way for a refill.

"Okay, what else?" Maddie prompted, knowing that didn't describe Connor, she had seen his quarters and he definitely didn't seem to be the hoarding type.

Brady's eyes studied her the whole time as his coffee was poured, and hers added to. "There's 'Symmetry and Orderliness'" he said as the waiter walked away. "It's where the need to have everything lined up symmetrically 'just right' is the compulsion. The obsessive fear might be to ensure everything feels 'just right' to prevent discomfort or sometimes to prevent harm occurring, to anyone. Okay.. one more..." he took another swallow of his coffee, this time as he worked on sorting out the best way to sum up the most complicated, in his opinion, of all the OCD types he knew about.

"There's more?" Maddie wondered just how much more there was to know.

"Last one," he assured her and slightly smiled, "Intrusive Thoughts.." and he frowned, "Intrusive Thoughts in the spectrum of OCD, are where a person generally suffers with obsessional thoughts that are repetitive, disturbing and often horrific and repugnant in nature." He paused before saying, "For example, thoughts of causing violent or sexual harm to loved ones."

"Sounds disturbing." Maddie replied softly, wondering what it must be like to have such thoughts.

"Yeah," Brady inhaled deeply, "They're repetitive and not voluntarily produced...and they cause the sufferer extreme distress. For someone who suffers with this, the very idea that they are capable of having such thoughts in the first place is often horrifying. The important thing to understand is that they are the least likely people to actually act on the thoughts. This is partly because they find them so repugnant and they go to great lengths to avoid them and prevent them happening. Intrusive thoughts can cover absolutely any subject. The most common ones have to do with Relationships, Sexual Thoughts in regards to the fear of doing something sexually inappropriate, Magical Thinking in regards to believing that even thinking about something bad will make it more likely to happen, Religious, and Violent Intrusive Thoughts...obsessive fears of carrying out violent acts against loved ones or other people."

"Wow." Maddie sat back in her chair returning the coffee cup that she had only just lifted to her lips back down to the table. "And Connor falls into this last group I take it." she said softly.

"I can't confirm that," Brady answered firmly and tilting his head down, he said, "and my advice to you, Maddie, is not to guess which you think it is, but talk to him about it."

"I will." Maddie nodded before adding "Though it sounds like I'll have to pick the right time to do it." she added, thinking aloud, "I mean I can't really walk up to him and ask straight out can I?"

"In a matter of speaking, yes." Brady replied, "He took the initiative to tell you he has it, so encourage him to tell you more. He'll appreciate it in the long run." His expression becoming hard and concerned, he then placed his hand over hers, "But Maddie, be careful."

"I know." Maddie sighed as she looked down at her rapidly cooling coffee, "Last thing I want to do is alienate him, he is my commanding officer after all and I have to work with him if nothing else." she added, wondering what she meant by 'if nothing else' then pushing the thought away.

Brady continue to stare at her. There was a knowing look in his eyes. "Try to be patient and maintain a non-judgemental attitude, but him being your commanding officer is not what I was referring to..." he said quietly, "You're falling for him."

Maddie's eyes immediately skittered away and she let out a nervous laugh before asking "Whatever gave you that idea...I mean, it's silly, I've not long gotten out of a serious relationship." she rapidly made up excuses in an effort to try and resist what she deep down already knew.

"Exactly, Maddie," his hand tightened over hers as he immediately moved to draw her eyes back to his. "It's too soon."

"I know." Maddie let out a deep heartfelt sigh as she forced herself to face the tumult of roiling emotion deep within her.

"We need to talk more about this..." Brady stopped as something caught his attention over her shoulder. His eyes widened, "I'll be damned..."

"What?" Maddie swiveled in her chair to follow the direction of his gaze.

A man, the same color hair and eyes as Brady swaggered towards them, a smile growing on his face. Releasing her hand, Brady slid out of his seat and started heading towards him, "Oh my god, Cole..." and he pulled him into a manly hug.

Raising an eyebrow, Maddie stood and watched the two men embrace, seeing some resemblance between them and figuring that whoever Cole was, he was family of some kind.

Brady pulled back and grabbed his arms, "I can't believe it."

"Well you know me," Cole smirked, "always doing the unexpected."

"Ahh yeah.." Brady chuckled. He released him to pat the side of his face, and turned to Maddie. "Captain Madeline Sanchez, I would like to introduce Lieutenant Cole Dering, my younger brother. Cole, Captain Sanchez is the Assistant Dean."

"Ah brother, now it makes sense." Maddie smiled then held out a hand and said "Pleased to meet you Cole."

"Captain, and assistant dean..." Cole took her hand, his eyes taking in all of her quickly, "The pleasure is mine. Looks like I arrived just in time."

Brady held an expression of "here it comes."

"Just in time for what?" Maddie enquired with interest.

"To add in some excitement into your conversation. Brady here," Cole jerked a thumb over at his brother, "although well intentioned, can be a bit boring at times. But I can tell you some stories about him that you..." he glanced over at Brady as if hesitating, "No..? Don't say anything..?"

Brady tried not to smile, and shook his head, "Don't say anything."

"Oh..okay. Well then," Cole smiled at her again, "nevermind..."

Standing next to him, Brady slapped him on the back and gripped his shoulder tightly as he pulled him roughly to him, "Cole, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to surprise you." Cole looked over at him.

"Well, that you did." Brady smiled, staring back at him. It was obvious he was happy to see him.

"I should leave you two to catch up." Maddie said, suddenly feeling like a third wheel.

Brady stared at her, and inwardly sighed. Cole's timing was...per usual. "We'll finish this conversation later." he said to her.

Cole looked between the two and raised an eyebrow.

"Sure." Maddie managed a weak smile not really looking forward to the continuation of their conversation. Turning to Cole she said "It was really good to meet you Cole." she smiled at him and then at Brady, "Have fun." she added before turning to head for the door.

"Yeah...same here.." Cole said. His eyes curiously followed her for a moment before going back to Brady. There was something obviously bothering him. "You okay?"

Brady turned away from watching Maddie leave. "Yeah," he said. He smiled, and gestured towards what had been Maddie's seat. "We have alot to catch up on."


End


Captain Madeline Sanchez
XO/Assistant Dean
Magellan Campus

Lt Commander Brady Dering
Zulu Fleet Psychiatrist
Temp assign - Magellan Campus

Lieutenant Cole Dering, M.D.
Medical Officer/Surgeon
Magellan Campus