SUPER freaky!!!!!!!

So I get to my lecture at the university, on a topic related to modern China. It's a lecture that was open to community members who pay for the lecture series. The second one I attended. I hadn't been that well hours before feeling extremely agitated, but I went anyway. I sat down in the mostly full lecture hall and...

I notice a red-headed guy. I look more closely and realize it was the psychiatrist that initially diagnosed me with bipolar disorder about 16 years ago. He was the one who, one year later, had me hospitalized for the first time after not having seen him for a year. Seeing him triggered all kinds of racing thoughts that I would suddenly lose it and everyone in the lecture hall would witness a mental breakdown. In my catastrophic whirlwind of thoughts, I imagined that my current psychiatrist of 14 years suddenly appeared to save me. My current psychiatrist also happens to be the inpatient psychiatrist I had during my first hospitalization 15 years ago. The two docs even talked during that hospitalization about my case. Well...

I look to my left towards the back of the lecture hall, and who do I see? My current psychiatrist sitting next to his wife.

Freak out!!!!! I had my face in my hand for several seconds, then just made myself deal with it. It was not a hallucination. I stayed. At the end, during the Q & A, my psychiatrist asked the speaker a question. I'll admit it was not a great question. What does he know about the Chinese-US economic relationship? What interested the red headed psychiatrist to go? Me? I have a degree in Chinese and China studies. My psychiatrist knows that. I'm sure he didn't think about that when agreeing to go.

Wow ! I would have been like WTF !!!!

That would have totally freaked me out. WTF were they doing there? Super weird. How are you going now you’ve had some time to process this?

I'm glad I'm not the only person who sees this as a WTF experience. Thanks!

Wander, I'm now OK. I'm sort of nervously laughing about it. I see my psychiatrist this Friday and need to tell him about the experience. I'm not sure if he saw me. He'd obviously recognize me having seen me over 100 times over the years. The old pdoc might not. I didn't and won't approach my psychiatrist in public. He and the other psychiatrist may attend some of the remaining four lectures. I imagine my psychiatrist knows my old one. I wonder if they noticed each other.

Our town is not that small, but the university is a huge draw. There were maybe over 100 people in the lecture hall.

can't wait to hear the followup story!
bizi

Cue twilight zone music.