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Originally Posted by Dravyk
So much to say, but I'll save it. Not really anything new, would just be expounding on things said actually. However, one new thought -- and yet another Oprano tangent --
The thing about being stripped bare. Maybe it's from too much tv, movies and books also, but one thing I've always found a bit fascinating is the concept of amnesia. Usually it's handled in the entertainment "fantasies" as little more than an interesting plot line for that week. But every once in a great while you see that "plot" handled in a more interesting way (at least one novella comes to mind):
What is a person like at his or her core when stripped away of everything else? For instance ... Having amnesia, does a real "leader" take command during a crisis? Duck and hide? Become just another follower? That sorta thing.
And while I don't want amnesia. LOL! (And how would I remember if I had it, huh?) Makes one wonder, what would you, what would I, be like under those circumstances where there's just the pure unvarnished core?
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I don't keep a diary, but if I did...your ass would be in some serious trouble now, kiddo.
It is not at all uncommon for diabetics to have a "pre-diabetes" stage where they suffer from hypoclycemia. Despite being the exact opposite of diabetes, it is often the precurser. Down through the ages, hypoglycemics have been hospitilized for everything including schizophrenia.
When it hit me, what it gave me was...amnesia. It occured most often when I'd do what made my doctor groan when I told him: I'd start work, have a cup of coffee, a pastry from the box always there, and a cigarette. Caffeine, sugar and nicotine hit the bloodstream...and I'd go blank. I'd suddenly look around and realize I didn't know who I was or where I was. The only thing I knew for sure - and this may help to give one person's perspective on "what takes over" - is that if I just calmed down and didn't panic, it would all come back to me, which it always eventually did. I had an attack once when I was driving. I looked at my passenger, my then-boyfriend and had no idea who he was. I managed to say "I don't know where I'm going." (At the time it seemed like controlling the car was the primary issue.) He knew about the condition, and said "you're doing fine, keep going straight, turn right up here, etc." These "episodes" never lasted very long. (They can hit diabetics much, much worse, often resulting in a diabetic coma.)
Now. Amnesia comes in kinds, from the "I don't know who or where I am" kind all the way to the "I don't know how to move my hands at will" kind. Does what I experienced give any insight into the "pure, unvarnished core" of myself? No clue. How did I know to think "if I just remain calm it will all come back to me"? No clue there, either, but that's exactly what I thought every time except for the car one, where I was only focused on driving the car and not killing the both of us, which definitely outranked whatever his name - or mine - happened to be.
It's also not taken for granted that you'd forget having amnesia, which would result in you actually having amnesia twice, Dravyk.