Anybody, Anyone

The patient’s delusion pertains to body-image. He imagines that he is not a mobile, self-contained organism but a collection of loosely associated organs and body parts, spreading out to fill the available space. Accordingly, he identifies himself with the rooms in which he spends most of his time, and exhibits additional peculiar behaviour when forced to move between them, namely episodes of narcolepsy, which last until his relocation in a familiar space.

During interviews, the patient is verbally responsive but fails to engage in normal displays of body language.

Strings of viscera cobweb the room. One eyeball hangs from the ceiling by its optic nerve; the other is nowhere in sight. “I made a mistake,” says the mouth, which obtrudes from a strip of unidentifiable tissue positioned above the door. “I thought that it would be easier like this.” “What would be easier?” “Finding myself. You probably think I’m joking.”