My Delusion So-Called

In 2013 I was attacked in my robes in the Church vestibule. I went to see a doctor with my injuries, a kind and capable man, who duly wrote them up. But somebody said to me afterwards: “Get the doctor’s notes. Now!” Which is, his clinical notes. I went back, and he opened his file. From here on, I shall describe it from the doctor’s point of view. I was mad. To be exact, I was “delusional”. I had been seeing things. Above all, I saw him write up his clinical notes, and now I saw that he had changed his clinical notes (the date, the reasons for the consultation, and so on). So then, in my delusion, I reported the doctor to the Health Professions Council, for tampering with his notes. And the doctor, in his defence, sent the Council a statement that my complaint was “born [borne] of delusion”. But I sent full details, too, to the Human Rights Commission (HRC), saying I was embarrassed that they had to read this. I said it looked like religious discrimination to me (delusion is something that vicars suffer from, as in the God delusion). Last month, after (very) long deliberation and “careful assessment”, the HRC wrote no, not religious discrimination. Crimen injuria. They concluded: “You can therefore lay charges.” This confirms earlier opinion I received, but I would think it carries more weight. The point of this post, however, is that I needed to decide what to do with the HRC’s advice. I prayed over it for the last month, then (one of a few precautions) visited the police and made a statement, but did not bring charges. Instead, I requested that Church elders take a pastoral approach to the matter, to seek to resolve it. OBSERVATION: “Deluded” people do not see things, though. It is not a symptom of delusion.

POSTSCRIPT: I should perhaps add that there was more than clinical notes in this situation. There were prescriptions, photographs, audio, and so on.