Sea-Addling

Gracie just ain't been the same since she got back from her voyage. At first I thought that maybe them sailors had given her a taste for liquor, but I looked in her room and there ain't a drop to drink in there. Mrs. Pryce thinks that its that damn ocean sickness, and I'm inclined to believe her, what on account of her predicting that drought two years back. If she's right and it is the hasindalmavena, I'm not real sure what we can do about it. Hell, I hardly even know about the damn disease, except that apparently it turns your brain into seaweed. I'm gonna try to find an herbalist to talk with, and if they can't tell me anything, then I'll just have to go see what the ocean itself has to say about it

Short passage from the journal of a man living in Heilen.

Causes

The sea-addling, known as "hasindalmavena" in Fharyne, is a mysterious and infrequent ailment that is whispered about in fear among the seafaring folk of Morova. Little is known for certain about what causes it, but it is widely agreed that it can only be contracted by exposure to the sea. However, this fact raises more questions than it answers, as many people can live their entire lives at sea without contracting the sea-addling, whereas others who go on a single short voyage may contract the illness. Some medicinists believe that there are vapors released by the sea that cause sea-addling, whereas folk herbalists report that it is caused by staring at the horizon, and even some religious healers insist that it is the work of Lagan.

Symptoms

A person who has been sea-addled acts spacey and disconnected, sometimes completely dissociating from their surroundings. They see hallucinations of waves, which will sometimes convince a person that they're drowning despite standing on dry land, and can cause them to drop dead of fright. When a sea-addled person speaks, it's rumored that you can hear the crashing of the sea behind their voice. There are varying degrees of severity of this illness- some people with mild sea-addling can live their entire lives relatively normally, only occasionally manifesting the worst of symptoms. Those with severe sea-addling rarely survive for long, as they will either succumb to their visions, or heed the insatiable urge to simply walk into the sea.

Treatment

This disease is not common, so there are few tried and true treatments. However, there exist reported cases of people overcoming the sea-addling, though they are even rarer than the affliction itself. The most widely believed cure is to take the afflicted individual out in a boat (restrained for their own safety) and remain on the ocean for an entire night. This is a risky procedure, as there is a great likelihood that the addled person will have violent and prolonged hallucinations, increasing the chance that they will die of fright or simply struggle out of their bonds and fling themselves into the waves.

Type

Mental