Throwback Thursday: ‘Full Spectrum’ by Susan Pieters

I didn’t want to see a full-fledged psychiatrist, and wouldn’t have, except that work was paying for it. A free benefit, my supervisor had called it. I had only mentioned something to him at a coffee break, and I’d thought I was just making conversation, because didn’t all the employees at Paper Unlimited feel that life was passing them by?

The first thing I’d noticed about the psychiatrist’s office was that the furniture looked much too expensive. He clearly didn’t push paper documents for a living, at least not the bureaucratic kind I processed. He surely understood that life was meant to be more than a day job. When I shook his hand, I decided to be honest with him.

His name was Will. He was a good listener, and he took notes for the first thirty minutes.

“So, Patricia, let me summarize.” Will nodded at me. “Your work routine has a lot of power over you, and it seems other people dictate your choices. In essence, you feel out of control of your life. This indeed is normal, but not pleasant. And there is a cure.”

“A cure for life?”

“A cure for the lack of control. I can give you a way to shape your destiny, to be in charge so you can respond rationally and thoughtfully to your environment.” He put down his pen and folded his hands, looking directly at me.  

I wasn’t sure if what I felt was hope or suspicion. The man did have a lot of degrees framed on his wall. I nodded for him to continue.