Act 1, Scene 3

Scene: Same scene, slightly different time. A young man in his twenties lying on the couch. His name is Justin.

Doctor: Well Justin, what seems to be the matter?
Justin: My self-esteem is shattered.
Doctor: Have you tried Haldol?
Justin: Is that a new therapy?
Doctor laughs.
Doctor: No, no. Haldol, or Haloperidol, is an ol’ timer med.
Justin (a little sarcastically): Really?
Doctor: Oh yes! We discovered it in the 1950’s. It kind of hit us over the head, when it first came out.
Justin: Yeah?
Doctor: Yeah. But its mysteries were deceptively attractive.
Justin: Yeah?
Doctor: We used to prescribe 10-15 times the dosage we now use.
Justin: Really?
Doctor: But then people started exhibiting symptoms of tardive dyskinesia.
Justin: Tardive…?
Doctor: Dyskinesia. Yes.
Justin: And does this lead to low self-esteem?
Doctor: It can. People develop symptoms such as peculiar facial tics and gestures, involuntary protrusion of the tongue, cheek puffing, pursing of the lips… these kinds of things, all without volition.
Justin: Without… hope?
Doctor: Once you have tardive dyskinesia, you have it for life.
Justin: Without hope!
Doctor: Oh, look, our time is up.

Scene ends.