The Chorus

 

The extant information on Cucurucu and Rossignol (see the “Encyclopedic Glossary” near the beginning of this packet) indicate some connections to names, words, characters, archetypes, and concepts within, if not exclusively the French tradition, at least within Romantic culture; whereas, Kokol and Polpoch—distinctly Slavic-sounding—reveal little-to-nothing without a massive stretch within phonetic morphology.  Nevertheless, exploring roots is useful.  Dr. Theodore Herstand of the University of Oklahoma finds no significance in the names Kokol or Polpoch in the Yiddish or German dictionaries. However, he did find some connections within the Hebrew dictionary.  Here it is: KO = vomit, KOL= all, OR sound, OR voice, SO-Kokol= vomit voice; POL= bean, Poch= can, OR trap, OR snare, SO-Polpoch= bean can (tall and skinny?).

 

Dr. Pender’s comments on these linguistic “chunks” is that, “These may not have been the definitions Weiss had in mind, but they are definitely hooks for acting and design.  And, they do not detract from the content of the text.”

 

What is known for certain textually is that Kokol, Polpoch, and Cucurucu all suffer from alcohol addiction.  This comes directly from Weiss’s script.  Rossignol is not given a diagnosis, per se, by the playwright, but merely named as a “former prostitute.”

 

With this small amount of information at hand, perhaps it is best to outline the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal as detailed in the DSM.  This is considered a major mental diagnosis (Axis I), and is often accompanied by a secondary diagnosis of physiological dependence.

 

291.8 Criteria for Alcohol Withdrawal

 

• A patient who has been drinking heavily and for a long time suddenly stops or markedly reduces alcohol intake.
• Within a few hours to several days of reducing intake, two or more of the following develop:
• Autonomic overactivity (sweating or rapid heartbeat)
• Worsened tremors of hands
• Sleeplessness
• Nausea or vomiting
• Short-lived hallucinations or illusions (visual, tactile, or auditory)
• Speeded-up psychomotor activity
• Anxiety
• Grand mal seizures

• These symptoms cause clinically important distress or impair work, social, or other functioning.
• The symptoms are neither the result of a general medical condition nor explained by a different mental disorder.

 

Case Study of Alcohol Withdrawal

 

On Quentin’s next visit, he looked gray and unhappy.  He signed in at the registration desk with a wobbly scrawl, and his hand shook as he reached out an arm to have his blood pressure and pulse taken.  Both of these measures were elevated.

 

For three days Quentin had drunk no alcohol.  Beginning the second morning, he had felt increasingly anxious.  It was a sensation that he could only compare to the feelings he had his first night in Vietnam, when he had awakened to the booming of howitzers.  His anxiety grew throughout the day.  Although he was exhausted by bedtime, he hardly slept at all. 

 

Of Further Interest

 

If delirium occurs related to the withdrawal from a substance, including alcohol, another diagnosis may be pertinent.  Below is the the criteria for substance withdrawal delirium:

 

291.0 Criteria for Substance Withdrawal Delirium

 

• The patient has a reduced level of consciousness and difficulty focusing, shifting, or sustaining attention.
• There has been a cognitive change (deficit of language, memory, orientation, perception) that a dementia cannot better explain.
• These symptoms develop rapidly (hours to days) and tend to fluctuate during the day.
• History, physical examination, or laboratory data suggest that the symptoms developed during or shortly after substance withdrawal.

 

Case Study of Alcohol Withdrawal Delirium

 

When the mental health consultant appeared in his doorway, Rodney was propped up in bed; he was restrained by a canvas halter around his chest and by leather cuffs around his ankles and left wrist.  His free hand trembled and roamed the bedclothes, pausing occasionally to pinch up a bit of air and fling it to the floor.  Then Rodney took a triangle of toast and threw it at the curtain rod over his window.

 

“Got him! Cheeky bugger.”

           

“Got who?” the consultant wanted to know.

 

“Oh, my God!” Startled, Rodney lurched against his chest restraints and dropped a second piece of toast onto the sheet.  Leaving the toast where it lay, he returned to plucking at his bed clothes.

 

“Got who?” repeated the consultant.

 

Rodney’s gaze returned to the curtain rod. “It was those guys up there.  One of them mooned me.”

 

The guys were about four inches tall and wore short pants, green jackets, and pointed caps.  For half an hour they had been parading around the top of the curtain rod, making obscene gestures and throwing multicolored caterpillars onto Rodney’s bed.  Whenever a caterpillar landed, it would begin crawling toward him, munching a swath across the sheet as it came.

 

Although he wasn’t exactly frightened, Rodney was far from placid.  With his gaze constantly darting around the room, he seemed to be watching for other predators.  He insisted that the guys and caterpillars were real, but he had no idea why they were there.  He was also vague about his orientation.  He knew he was in a hospital whose name he had “never been told,” thought he had been admitted a week earlier, and missed the date by nearly five months.  Tasks such as subtracting serial sevens, which require a patient to focus on a problem, can help identify problems with attention.  When Rodney was asked to subtract seven from 100, he responded: “Ah, 93…80…um…there’s a purple one.”