This article appeared in the June 2020 issue as "Downward Spiral." Subscribe to Discover magazine for more stories like these.
Tegan, a middle-aged elementary schoolteacher, had become lightheaded and collapsed in front of her students. She hit her head against her desk, cutting open a gash on her forehead — a chaotic scene that had her rushed to the hospital in the middle of the school day.
When I first met her in the emergency room, Tegan was sitting up in bed, voraciously eating a full tray of food. Fresh stitches adorned her bruised forehead as she relayed her story to me. She was angry and embarrassed that her students had to witness such an event, but it wasn’t the first time Tegan had experienced an odd bout of lightheadedness.
Tegan said that over the previous few weeks she had undergone several similar episodes without a clear trigger. Some were ...
