Dr. Sangfroid

Dr. Sangfroid wasn't his real name, but it was the one we gave him because of his cold-blooded manner and his stubborn reliance on Freudian psychoanalysis. He was one of those people who took pleasure in instilling fear in others, but even more he enjoyed inflicting pain on others. Unfortunately for Dr. Sangfroid, as his reputation spread, people stopped coming to him and went online to relate their stories. As a result, Dr. Sangfroid's effectiveness was limited to people who didn't know him, which is why he moved from city to city.

Social media were filled with terrible stories about Dr. Sangfroid. But not just that. They also gave detailed descriptions of his appearance, the latest make, model and colour of the BMW or Jaguar he was driving, and in which building his office was located.

From their Facebook accounts, some patients wrote about how Dr. Sangfroid typically started with psychoanalysis about 15 minutes into the 30-minute session. According to one patient, "He asked about my childhood (third time) and ended one session by asking when my father started and stopped molesting me. I was depressed for weeks."

Another patient tweeted that Dr. Sangfroid "wrote a scrip for an anti-anxiety med. caused cognitive impairment, ST memory loss & over-sedation. next session, said give it 3-4 more weeks. meantime, lost my job."

A suicidal patient was told at the reception desk on a Friday afternoon that "there's not enough time for your session today, and since you're probably just seeking attention anyway, you should just go home and sleep it off. And for God's sake, don't cut yourself again. It's so messy." Yet, regardless how the sessions went, he always closed by saying "Enjoy life a little."

Complaints were filed and malpractice lawsuits were initiated, but basically people just stopped making appointments, and the office would have to close down. When he moved, Dr. Sangfroid got to where he didn't even unpack his boxes anymore other than the DSM-5 manual which always lay open on his desk—as if he consulted it. Even other psychiatrists in what is usually a closed circle refused to rise to his defence when his patients came to them and complained. And his own therapist stopped returning his calls.

No formal disciplinary action was ever taken against the Dr., but unable to make a comfortable living, he had to move south to practice psychiatry in a more "congenial and tropical environment." What he hadn't counted on was the flexibility of police enforcement when the local cartel's daughter was given medication which caused severe adverse reactions and nearly killed her, something that her family doctor said should have been foreseen from her medical history.

Dr. Sangfroid spent the next two years in the local jail. Never one to give up, he wrote his mostly fictional memoirs and had them published in six languages bestsellers in two. After his literary success, the cartel boss forgave the Dr. and made him a travel guide in one of the beachside hotels.

First published in Scarlet Leaf Review, November 2017, No. 6.