The Diagnosis

Clark had a desk in a smallish room. There was a chair next to the desk and I sat in that chair. Kootch sat in another chair across the room. Clark asked me what the problem was. I tried to summarize the problems I was having with the fish and his 'assistants;' then I explained that Kootch seemed unable to understand what was going on. Clark listened. Clark asked no questions. Then Kootch presented her side. It was the most inept, unintelligible gibberish I have ever heard her utter. Clark seemed to understand every word perfectly. Clark asked her no questions.

At the end of the session Clark said, '(the fish) would never do anything like that.' This ended the interview. I was astonished that Clark knew the fish. I was also astonished that Clark did not reveal that to me until the end of the interview. We left the interview much unedified. It had been a total waste of our time.

What I did not know was that the setup had worked. I walked away from Clark's office with a 'diagnosis.' The 'diagnosis' was that I was 'delusional.' It was all in my mind. Clark did not inform me that I now had an official diagnosis, and that with that diagnosis I had lost all credibility, and nobody at that HMO would ever believe anything I ever said about 'fish matters' again.