Mythomania: A Psychodrama

By Michael Mangold

How can we lead sane lives in a world gone mad? How do we create a sane world when we are sick ourselves? Dr. Mangold interweaves politics, medicine, and psychology in a real-life account of how he was broken by forces fueled by fear and lies. This heart-felt and intimate account takes us on a personal journey into a world that is flying upside and on the verge of crashing soon.

This true story recounts the struggles Dr. Mangold faced not only from an uncaring, punishing, and unforgiving government but also from a wife whose own psycho-pathologies prevented her from performing the two tasks he needed so desperately during those struggles: love and support. It is more than an account of persecution and victimization. It is a story of falling and discovering that the rescue rope had been severed by those entrusted to throw it in the first place.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael Mangold
• Release date: Sep 13, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370251872

Michael Mangold

Winding down my career as an ER physician, I went to Nicaragua in 2013 to teach medical English to the med students in Puerto Cabezas. Our plans changed when the medical director of the school could not obtain funding so I was forced to look for other sources of income in Managua first, then San Juan del Sur, our adopted home. While in SJdS I published three eBooks on Amazon: "How to Think Like a Doctor," "Cómo Pensar Como un Doctor," and "Barefoot Doctors." I wrote all three with the intention of bringing quality medical knowledge and practice to underserved areas of the world. My "mission" was cut short over the Thanksgiving weekend that year when I was mugged five times that Thursday and Friday night. The first two weren't so bad but by the fifth mugging I was left for dead. Why would any sane gringo be out after dark in a large Central American city? I was trying to find my son Ben, who (as I later found out) was being hidden by the American embassy there. Find the full story in my new book, "My Worst Thanksgiving Ever."

Book preview

Chapter 11: The Cost Of A Life

Chapter 12: A Miniature Sick Society

Chapter 13: And Pain Is All Around

Chapter 14: Neck Deep

Chapter 15: If This is a Real Emergency

Chapter 16: Elder Abuse

Chapter 17: Paranoia

Chapter 18: Double Vision

Chapter 19: Sperm Donors and Financiers

Chapter 20: Delusions

Chapter 21: A State of Sickness

Chapter 22: PTSD

Chapter 23: Mythomaniac

Chapter 24: The Spin Nurse

Chapter 25: Wrists and Rights

Chapter 26: Bi-Polar

Chapter 27: The Cuckoo’s Nest

Chapter 28: Conclusion

SEQUELAE

Treatment Plan

DEDICATION

To my beautiful daughters Teri and Ami.

Some of my most cherished memories are of when we sat on the floor in the living room of our home in Lake In The Hills and packed the medications and medical equipment for The Medicine Cabinet together. Remember how we listened to my record albums and sang along to songs like All My Life’s a Circle by Harry Chapin? You are my everything and I dedicate this book to both of you for being such an important part of my life.

Think of all the good we did together! We will never know the number of lives we saved, the amount of pain we relieved, or the broken bodies we healed. We saved the the world one small, repackaged pill at a time. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I couldn’t have done it without you.

I have no doubt that you two will pass that servant’s spirit on to my grandchildren.

Love, Dad

PREFACE

Mythomania: an excessive or abnormal propensity for lying and exaggerating.

Mythomaniac: noun or adjective; a pathological liar.

"This is one of the oldest and most effective tricks in politics. Every hack in the business has used it in times of trouble, and it has even been elevated to the level of political mythology in a story about one of Lyndon Johnson’s early campaigns in Texas. The race was close and Johnson was getting worried. Finally he told his campaign manager to start a massive rumor campaign about his opponent’s lifelong habit of enjoying carnal knowledge of his own barnyard sows.

‘Christ, we can’t get away with calling him a pig-f**ker,’ the campaign manager protested. ‘Nobody’s going to believe a thing like that.’

‘I know,’ Johnson replied. ‘But let’s make the sonofabitch deny it.’"

Hunter S. Thompson Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ‘72

As I have said, those who are evil are masters of disguise; they are not apt to wittingly disclose their true colors - either to others or to themselves. It is not without reason that the serpent is renowned for his subtlety.

M. Scott Peck People of the Lie

PROLOGUE

The Midwest was in the middle of a heat wave and drought that Independence Day . It was so hot and dry that our Township banned outdoor fires on the 3rd. The closest large municipality, Milwaukee, set a record high of 102º Fahrenheit on the Fourth. I was inside our Mansion On A Hill in my recliner drinking a cold Diet Mountain Dew when I heard a loud rush of noise, comparable to a speeding semi-truck passing in the opposite direction, except it was constant and getting louder. I looked out of the kitchen window and saw that the chicken coop was on fire. I yelled for my wife Angie to call 9-1-1 and I rushed to put it out.

The coop is so far from the house that the two connected hoses ended about 15-20 feet from the fire. Yelling over the roar of the fire I shouted to our son Ben to grab the hose-end nozzle and throw it to me. I was downhill from the house and saw Angie put the other two children Jon and Savannah, into our S.U.V. which was partway down the driveway. She then shouted something to Ben who had picked up the nozzle to throw to me. He dropped it on the ground. When he turned from his mother to face me, he shrugged his shoulders and started walking towards the vehicle. I yelled again for him to throw me the nozzle. He stopped, looked at me, then faced Angie who said something to him. He started for the S.U.V.

In unbelieving desperation I turned back towards the fire which was so hot that I had to back up a few paces. Placing my right thumb over the end of the hose, I tried to create a stream forceful enough to reach the coop. It was hopeless. Goodwife Angela convinced Ben to abandon me in the midst of an emergency. Later that day, after they took off for God knows where, she told him something that was confusing and schizophrenic-like in its reasoning. She told him that he was a Hero.

Chapter 1

Snake Oil

It is a three hour drive from West Bend to Black River Falls, Wisconsin. My passion is working in medically underserved areas so the length of the drive meant little to me compared to the satisfaction of serving. Fifteen minutes before 8 o’clock that warm Spring morning, I pulled the Grand Am into the parking lot, turned off the engine, grabbed my duffel bag, and headed into the hospital.

I walked into the ER and announced my presence to the nurses and the doc I was replacing. He said that there weren’t any patients so I went to the call room to change. The call room at Black River Memorial Hospital is adjacent to the doctor’s lounge. I dressed in my scrubs, grabbed a cup of coffee, and sat down on a couch in the lounge to drink it. At 8:30 am the E.R. nurse called and said that I had a patient with a fever who was ready for me. I went to the Emergency Department, evaluated the patient, and ordered a Complete Blood Count or CBC to be drawn. During the exam, an overhead page announced that there was someone in the doctor’s lounge who wanted to see me. When I was done with my examination and after I wrote the order for the CBC, I headed there, curious about my visitor.

I opened the door to the doctor’s lounge and there were two men in black suits waiting for me. One was skinny and quiet. The other was nerdy-looking, with a smarmy expression on his face. He was of medium build and looked like a snake ready to strike. He also did most of the talking.

Doctor Mangold? he asked.

"I am. Can I