Psychoanalysis

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Psychoanalysis (01%)

The skill refers to the range of emotional therapies, not just to Freudian procedures. Formal psychotherapy was still in its infancy in the 1890's, though some procedures are as old as humanity. Sometimes it was looked on as a fraudulent study, even in the 1920s. The common term then for an analyst or scholar of emotional disorders was "Alienist". In the present day, a combination of therapies has evolved, and this skill now could be justly named Psychiatric Treatment.

Intensive psychoanalysis can return Sanity points to an investigator patient. Once per game month, to learn the progress of the therapy, make a 1D100 roll against the analyst or doctor's Psychoanalysis skill. If the roll succeeds, the patient gains 1D3 Sanity points. If the roll fails, add no points. If the roll is fumbled, then the patient loses 1D6 Sanity points, and treatment by the analyst concludes: there has been some sort of serious incident or dramatic setback in the therapy, and the relationship between patient and therapist has broken down beyond saving.

In the game, psychoanalysis alone does not speed recovery from indefinite insanity, which requires 1D6 months of institutional (or similar) care, of which psychotherapy may form a part.

Successful use of this skill can allow a character to cope with the subject of a phobia or mania for a short time, or to see delusions for what they are. In play, this would allow for an insane investigator to ignore the effects of a phobia or mania for a brief period, allowing a claustrophobe to hide in a broom cupboard for ten minutes for example. Equally a person might make a Psychoanalysis roll to help a delusional investigator see through their hallucination for a brief period.

Treatment by a psychotherapist can add Sanity points during indefinite insanity.

Psychoanalysis cannot increase a person's Sanity points above 99 - Cthulhu Mythos.

Opposing skill/Difficulty level:


 * Regular difficulty: standard therapy within a hospital setting.
 * Hard difficulty: intermittent therapy over a longer period.

Pushing examples: this is a skill that can be attempted month after month without requiring a pushed skill roll. However if one failed the skill roll in a given month, one might choose to push a roll during a single session on the follow day with some form of radical intervention (if a quick result was required). For example: forcing a patient to face their fear by actively forcing them to confront its physical reality; getting the patient's friends and close colleagues to actively participate in the therapy.

Sample Consequences of failing a Pushed roll: curing the patient's fear of spiders by locking them in a room full of tarantulas backfires as the patient goes berserk (possible damage to self and to others) and now thinks they are the "spider king" (the patient now has a new mania and has lost additional Sanity points - the therapist should make a Sanity roll too, their actions caused this!). Much like the blind leading the blind, it is possible for an insane character to practice psychoanalysis.


 * An insane character who fails a pushed roll could seek to become a cult leader, with their patients as recruits.