Being in Wild Places

Walter Gove an emeritus professor of Sociology at Vanderbilt University.. He has published 6 books and edited books, and more than130 professional articles that focus on deviance and drug use, mental and emotional problems, and the complexity of social relations. This story presents a painful account of what he experienced when going through the processes I had studied.

My wife, who was in her early seventies, developed Parkinson's and I quickly became her main caretaker. Over a number of years I slowly became deeply exhausted. The time came when I was unable to function. At that time, I watched my wife slowly die. With the loss of my wife, life became meaningless, I lacked any direction.I was miserable.

In mid-February I had to have back surgery. After the surgery, when I woke up, I was on Narcotic medication, my mind was occupied by delusions and hallucinations and my behavior was out of control. I spent 2 days in the hospital's recovery unit; I was then transferred to a rehab center. The first night in rehab center I found myself in a yard surrounded by a 9-foot-high wooden fence. I decided to climb over it. As I was lifting my leg over the top of the fence, the fence broke and I landed flat on my back. I was then transferred to another rehab unit. At that facility I used an AMA (Discharge Against Medical Advice) to get out of the facility. Once out, I called friends. They were shocked I was not in a facility, but they came and took good care of me. A task they found very difficult.

Once I was with my friends I slowly started to behave normally. After a few weeks in Seattle, I was able to go home.

One night, when he was grieving the loss of Nina, I accidentally overdosed on prescription medications. This resulted in a 2-hour ambulance ride to get an emergency hospitalization.

My overdose, hospitalization and past behavior convinced my family and friends that I was addicted to drugs. Using the framework that describes how to get someone into a drug rehab center they organized an intervention. I knew I was not addicted, but I was having emotional problems. I used the framework for a nervous breakdown to combat their actions. The intervention lasted 10 hours, then hey then got up and left.

The intervention was very well planned. The intervention was run by a professional organizer. Outside my house 2 men waited. They were supposed to take me for the 5 hour drive to the Airport in Salt Lake, fly with me to Georgia, and then drive me to a rural drug rehab facility in Georgia.

It took 10 hours before the intervention failed.

Immediately after the intervention I had a short and effective psychiatric hospitalization.

My friends and family were very angry at me and the failure of the intervention. I was extremely angry at their view of me and I was particularly angry at what they were trying to do to me. Our anger did not quickly disappear.

The book ends with a discussion of social relationships of the people involved in this story.

-- Walter Gove