In January 1917, Fish's wife left him for John Straube, a handyman who boarded with the Fish family.[6] Following this rejection, Fish began to hear voices; for example, he once wrapped himself up in a carpet, explaining that he was following the instructions of John the Apostle.[5] It was around this time that Fish began deliberately harming himself. He would self-embed needles into his groin, which he normally would remove afterwards, but soon he began to insert them so deep that they were impossible to take out.[4] Later x-rays revealed that Fish had at least 29 needles lodged in his pelvic region.[4] He also hit himself repeatedly with a nail-studded paddle
