Restless Shadow Spasms
Restless Shadow Spasms is a medical condition that causes debilitating pain. Greta, the protagonist, has this condition. It slowly eats away at the myelin in the brain in the pain receptors. First, the patient starts to feel tired and achy all over, similar to the flu but with no other symptoms. Then, over time, the pain starts to increase. The brain is affected over time and, by the end of the disease, the pain receptors are completely overloaded and the patient feels extreme pain at all times, followed by feeling no pain. While this may be a welcome respite, it means the patient is now susceptible to burns and injuries and must closely monitor their bodies for increasing infections from injuries they didn't realize they sustained.
Transmission & Vectors
The degenerative disease is acquired through magic. It is thought that a lack of proper parental nurturing makes the pain receptors sensitive to magic, especially shadow magic. When someone performs shadow magic or is near another performing shadow magic, the pain receptors pick up the shadow and the disease begins.
Causes
The pain is mild at first, thought to be a case of the flu. If the symptoms are recognized in time, the shadow can be removed and the disease averted. This is rare because it requires a witch of great skill to both notice the symptoms and to do the removal ritual. In Greta's case, she worked through the pain without complaining, otherwise her grandmother would have been able to reverse the effects and remove the shadow.
Symptoms
Early symptoms include fatigue and achiness all over, similar to the flu. Later symptoms include increasing pain that comes and goes. A patient may have a streak of good days where they can be mobile and productive, followed by several bad days where they're forced to stay in bed and take painkillers. By the time the disease has progressed to its final stages, the patient is bedridden with pain and nearly always on painkillers. In the very last stage, the patient is able to be up and around, though exhausted, but the pain is gone. This means those nerves are fully degenerated.
Treatment
The only way to prevent the disease is to catch it before the shadow has had time to take hold of the myelin and do a ritual to remove the shadow. Treatment includes rest and painkillers, such as pale summer birch bark tea or milk from the silky black poppy.
Prognosis
The disease is degenerative. There is no cure. Prognosis is poor, though treatment options exist. Death usually occurs not long after the final stage due to infection from unnoticed wounds.
Sequela
Depression, anxiety, infections.
Affected Groups
Patients who have Restless Shadow Spasms all suffered from adverse childhood events, such as abuse, neglect, trauma, or the loss of one or both parents. Not every person who suffers from these adverse childhood events gets Restless Shadow Spasms, even if exposed to shadow magic. It's thought this is because they were resilient in other ways, such as a good support system or a healthy self-image prior to the event.
Prevention
Avoid shadow magic, though this is difficult because it's all around. Wear a protective amulet, though this weakens any magic one tries to do.
History
At first, this condition was not given any merit and the people who had it were shamed into thinking they were just oversensitive and lazy, as well as drug-addicted. However, when the king's nephew, a promising witch, began to show symptoms in the 1790s, the condition gained attention. In 1794, a study was completed that showed a correlation between patients' childhood experiences and their pain as adults. In 1832, a study of patients with similar symptoms (the condition was still being called Exhaustion Syndrome) revealed the connection between childhood experiences and shadow magic. In an 1839 study, a group of doctors coined the term Restless Shadow Spasms, birthing many more studies and paving the way to study new treatment options. Currently, there is still no cure and the only treatment remains pain control.
Cultural Reception
Historically, this condition was considered to be the product of lazy people who weren't "tough enough" to manage simple aches and pains. Patients were, at best, tolerated by their families. They were typically ostracized by the community. Currently, the public is aware of this condition as a medical disease. Thus, it's acceptable to acknowledge that a person has a disease, rather than just thinking they're lazy or faking it for attention.
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