Chapter 1: About the Story
This is the final book of my psychological trilogy "A life with no Existence"
Alena: The King of my Teenage Heart
Geeta: A life with no existence
Born to live in the shadows
This story is based on the medical conditions Endocrine Ambiguity and Dissociative Identity Disorder. The objective behind the story is to create awareness about how self-medication or Incomplete knowledge of a condition might lead to disastrous side effects.
"Born to Live in the Shadow" is based on a series of 23 interview tapes of Amell Harper who was suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder and the conditions that led to the birth of these identities.
Amell Harper was born with a medical condition called Endocrine Ambiguity. Where a person possesses a genetic makeup of both the sexes caused by the presence of an extra X chromosome. They associate themselves with the gender they were born despite possessing traits of the other gender. They are generally discomfited or estranged by their secondary gender quirks.
When I am saying that they possess the genetic makeup of both the sexes, they are certain physical appearances that affect them too.
Physically these people are very strong. Probably stronger than an average human being.
They have smooth and softer skin, barely grow hair on their face and body.
They also have delayed puberty. Mostly around the age of 15 or 16. Sometimes they have a feminine voice.
Problems with reading and writing, but with proper counseling support they can get over it.
Please note this condition should not be confused with Kline-felter syndrome which has almost similar conditions.
The thing was this condition Endocrine Ambiguity happens to 1 person in a million, and as per the latest information records available with Médecins Sans Frontière, there are only 12 known cases, of which 2 cases are from India.
Of the 12 cases, there was one case where the subject was exposed to an erroneous treatment which made matters worse. People born with this condition requires constant psych counseling sessions throughout their life, and in the case of Amell Harper, treatment was stopped at the age of 12 for a brief period of 5 years.
When I said matters turned worse, I meant that because of improper treatment meted to him, 12-year-old Amell harper began showing signs of another mental disorder termed as "Dissociative Identity Disorder" previously known as "Multiple Personality Disorder" and then a psych session was finally conducted and we found the presence of more than 9 different identities in him. It was probably his body's defense mechanism to shield him from the mental abuse meted out to him.
As a student of Criminal Psychology, I went through the psych sessions conducted on Amell Harper during my final year dissertation paper. I decided to make it my life goal, to locate Amell Harper. It took me 6 months of an extensive search to finally get in touch with him and get to know more about him.
However, after meeting Amell Harper I got to know that the family he lived in confused the condition of Endocrine Ambiguity with Transvestism and put him through random treatment.
Have we ever contemplated the consequences of putting a child through random treatment without consulting a specialist, how it affects their psyche, and how suffocated would they feel?
The greatest disadvantage of the condition Endocrine Ambiguity is that, because of the physical traits, 90% of people confuse it with transvestism, homosexuality, bisexuality, or gender identity issues. As parents, we should not base our facts on some random books or quacks hearsay which can turn matters worse.
In most cases, our body develops defense mechanisms. If the child is lucky, the defense mechanism would counter the ill-effects but, in most cases, it is totally the opposite.
People, in general, tend to lash out at such people and ostracise them as freaks which ends up hurting them. As a Criminal Psychologist, Amell Harper's life was unique, not because of his medical condition, but because of how his body and mind developed a unique defense to shield him.
When he finally came to know who I am, he thought I was another college student who came searching for him just to listen to him and submit a project report on him because of his special medical condition. I was finally able to convince him that I want to help him, and I have got no hidden agenda. As days passed, he finally confided in me his story, probably with the hope that someone might finally believe him and help him get over his nightmares.
He was treated for "Dissociative Identity Disorder" and was able to get over it. They were able to help him get over the pains of the 6 years of mental abuse and tortures meted to him.
However, the counselor/psychiatrist ignored the other situation, a 45 days period that led to the birth of the identity that calls itself "Amanda" and the femme fatale identity of "Athena" This was the phase when Amell Harper was forced into sissification by his brother.
The sense of guilt, the humiliation of living as someone of the opposite sex in the presence of his sisters and his brother, and constantly been made fun of about the present situation he was made to live in, was too much of a nightmare for a 12-year-old and the counselors totally ignored that part of his life.
It has been 2 years now, Amell and I have been together, and he has finally got over the nightmares of those 45 days.
Let us ride through this cautionary tale of how the wrong step could forever change the life of a helpless, young teen.
AmeliaH
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