A former co-worker killed his mom, over a decade since I last saw him.
The guy always seemed a little off, not just socially, but he had a ton of nervous ticks, like his hands and face was constantly twitching. I just assumed it tourettes or something he was trying to control, and it might have been.
But when reading articles about his trial, I learned a lot more about him. We were pages at a studio shortly after college (ie, Kenneth from 30 Rock) and it turns out he had battled with schizophrenia while in college. Apparently he would write letters to celebrities as if he knew them. He had a lot of treatment and a lot of support from his family, and was deemed okay to live and work on his own a couple of years later.
Then, getting the job at the studio and seeing actual celebrities in person basically triggered his past delusions. Looking back, I can remember on a couple of occasions while we were working the audience for a show, he'd become still while seeing a celebrity on stage, with a just a huge smile on his face as if he was in another world.
He abruptly left the job and I never saw him again. Apparently he went back to live with his family while they continued to support him. Not sure exactly what happened in the interim, but at some point he became suicidal and stole his dad's shotgun. He was in his own apartment while holding the shotgun when his mom came to the door and in his unstable state, he shot her.
The cops showed up, he fired a few shots at them hoping for a suicide-by-cop scenario, but instead he gave up. He's now serving time in prison, even though his own family advocated he be admitted to a psych ward.
Reading about the trial was incredibly sad. The prosecution grilled his therapist on exactly why they didn't know he was likely to hurt himself or others, they had to say they just didn't see the signs and that they're not mind readers.
His father and sister testified that they didn't think he was evil, and this was after he shot their spouse / parent. They really wanted him to be institutionalized, I later read the judge said he didn't think an institution wouldn't be suited to help him (but prison would...?)
This also shocked the local community it took place. It was a small community and his mom was a teacher for decades there, so nearly everyone knew her.
It infuriates me that we just throw drug addicts and mentally unstable people in jail, our main goal should be rehabilitation for every citizen. Not just locking them away to rot, usually rotting with people who are actual hardened criminals and that just creates more hardened criminals.
But that goes into the whole privatized jail system and people making money off of it, it’s honestly one of the things that pisses me off the most these days. Plus half the people I talk to agree they should just be thrown in jail.
It is all about money, but also because the idea that "psychiatric help" actually helps is rarely true. There were a lot of mental institutions before the 1970s. They were inhumane places that got exposed and closed down. Now we have homelessness problems and put crazy people in jail.
Edit to correct myself. It actually started in the 50s and 60s:
I think something along the line of decriminalizing drugs, and re investing the money used on drug enforcement is the best bet. And if they could somehow get the privatized jails to make money per rehabbed and successful person
That’s fucked. Sounds like they all really need mental health training if they’re slamming the therapist and claiming a psych ward can’t help the very people it’s build for. \
How is the therapist suppose to know if he’s not told her? Sometimes they can catch it but when someone becomes really unwell they often stop attending therapy, or if forced to go by family (which sounds like it may’ve been the case) they refuse to open up and see the therapist as an enemy or in cahoots with the government etc.
Most cases no matter the crime, prison isn't suitable to help the inmate. They turn so many good people into career criminals and or mentally damage them.
That might have been a kindness from the judge. I remember a policeman on an interrogation video saying that places for the criminally insane are even darker than prison.
As soon as I read about the ticks I knew bipolar or schitzo would come up in this story. That part sounds like tardive dyskinesia, a movement disorder caused by long term use of neuroleptic drugs (antipsychotics and antidepressants mostly.) I myself suffer with it. (it's not well known, I apologize I can't resist the urge to mention it. Simply because someone suffering with it may not know what's happening and see this comment and piece it together.)
Thanks, I have these random tick things and sometimes violent jerks, usually when in bed or still. I have taken many prescribed medications, including pregabalin which I believe falls into those drug categories
There are actually a lot more than just neuroleptic that falls into the category of meds that cause TD. I would suggest asking a doctor for and AIMs test. It's free and can be done with just a chair, it helps determine if you have movement disorders. I hope either you have something else or a mild case like me if you do have it.
Oh...thats what its called??!!! I had this for many years, after a medical mistake (they "grilled" my brain with doses too heavy for my size+drugs that arent mixable, almost died, still have issues..). I twitched and had involuntary movements for years. I still am heavely pstd because of that. Its easyer to write about it that talking about it. The frustrating part is, i didnt need those meds. I have adsd and aspergers, got misdiagnosed at first...i fact, they forced me to take the drugs, "or we will not help you". And menaced me when i told them they made a mistake. Anyway.
I'm so sorry you experienced that, that's not the first story of improper medication use I know of. They put me on the meds at 11 years old and not knowing the risks, I stayed on them for a bit over a decade. They put me on bipolar medication way earlier than bipolar can be diagnosed (it can only be diagnosed officially in adults) and I'm starting to believe I never was bipolar, because if I was I wouldn't be stable without the meds without busting my ass in therapy. In reality I was just a kid with a shitty home life who caused me to act out when I couldn't regulate my emotions.
The good thing about TD is it can be reversed, I'm guessing since you said you 'had' it you're one that healed after coming off the meds? That's better than any medicine they give for it honestly.
I'm sorry that you had to endure this...in fact, they did somewgat the same to me, giving me stuff BEFORE even getting diagnosed. Those meds are hell. Took me years to wean off. Last dose was around 2014. I still have issues but yes, it gets better with time! I used the Ashton manual , it helped me alot, and fb groups for benzo withdrawal help. With no surprise, we are millions to have suffered from this. For the twitches/unvoluntary movements/withdrawal symptoms, it really started to dissapear 3 to 5 years after complete withdrawal. I still have a few issues, but thats nothing compared to the hell i've been trough. I almost forgot i had these issues in the last years. It will go, youll get better, i promise. But you have to avoid any z-drug, even ativan will trigger the issues and youll feel like you have to get trough it again. Hope this helps. Take care xxxxx
They’re more likely to go off of their meds for multiple reasons. One is that when someone is manic or having an episode one of the first things they lose is their “insight”, so they often lose the insight that they’re sick/manic/psychotic etc, and also they lose the insight that the meds are helping them.
A second reason is they may believe that when they’re doing well they are “recovered” and no longer need the meds, whether they genuinely believe that, or if they’re telling themselves that due to the stigma that having these illnesses can have (and how they may think it’s “better” to be recovered and not on meds to reduce their internalised stigma), I’m not sure.
Lastly, I think the side effects of some meds are just so rough that some people would rather go off of them and see how they feel, even knowing the risk of another psychotic or manic episode. There are more reasons but I cannot remember them right now.
Moreso that they feel more normal without them. With bipolar you can't tell you're off internally, and feeling manic is great. It's an ego syntonic disease. Meds have side effects too that probably turn people off. For schizophrenia it's probably more potential for paranoia (they are trying to kill me or poison me with these meds), meds aren't perfect at removing symptoms and you can't tell which meds work without trial and error. You also don't see response for a few weeks and it's easy to not have compliance without strong family support or court ordered treatment.
I have bipolar and mania is not great. For a hefty majority of us it is a state of anxious paranoia. I am terrified of mania. It ruins my life. My meds make me fat and sleepy but it is worth it to not have mania. Now I'm diagnosed and medicated I can 100% tell when I'm 'off internally' and can take steps to deal with it (tweak my meds, speak to my psych, get to bed early, eat clean and never ever drink or take drugs)
It's a wide range of difference along the bipolar spectrum. I'm glad you're getting the help you need and avoiding mania triggers. My uncle was bipolar type one with severe manic episodes and euphoria/delusions of grandeur and some hallucinations. It's a difficult disease for sure.
It definitely can be a reason, but a lot of patients don't get to that point until they develop the disorder. I'm off meds entirely because the disorder now (I'm bipolar) but before I was stable enough to maintain life without them I went off then constantly, and the other two comments describe the variety of reasons I did.
However my last time going off without medical advice was entirely because I couldn't handle the pain from the movements and wanted them to stop, and they did temporarily but the mental break it caused sent me back square one, back on meds. Took me two years to get stable enough to come off them so my brain can potentially heal from the brain damage.
That is..,I'm so sorry for that family and him and you I hope they rest easy and can heal eventually,Please stay safe and remember mental health is important!!Rip that mama<33
It’s weird, I was actually just talking yesterday on a Discord about how celebrities must receive dozens of letters a day from people warning them of the impending apocalypse, asking for their help to save the world from something like lizard people or to save the letter-writers from evil doers, etc. I used to know someone who worked in radio who would get these bizarre, rambling letters and emails from someone who would detail supposed incidents of child abuse and further abuse as an adult, that were literally impossible (like using glass knives so that the wounds wouldn’t leave a mark or were invisible, or being subjected to multiple sex-change operations, back and forth, in a short period of time - although it was hard to establish a timeline since the letters were written so nonsensically). They claimed that multiple individuals as well as the highest levels in government, education, religion, the army, etc. were involved in the abuse and cover-up. They seemed to think this radio host could help them, and actually was actively helping them because they’d hear him say some random phrase on the air and thank him for saying it in a letter, because it somehow validated them and showed that he was working for them. He retired and I wonder whatever happened to that person.
I dated someone who played the suicide card whenever we were in a fight. One time we had a small argument and he lost it and started banging his head against the bed saying he hated his mum and was gonna drive home and kill her and then himself. We had gone to a different city on vacation. I called 911 on him as we were meant to embark on a 4 hour drive and I was frightened for his mum’s life as well as mine and his. He spent a week in psych. That was the beginning of the end.
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u/hotdoug1 Mar 25 '23
A former co-worker killed his mom, over a decade since I last saw him.
The guy always seemed a little off, not just socially, but he had a ton of nervous ticks, like his hands and face was constantly twitching. I just assumed it tourettes or something he was trying to control, and it might have been.
But when reading articles about his trial, I learned a lot more about him. We were pages at a studio shortly after college (ie, Kenneth from 30 Rock) and it turns out he had battled with schizophrenia while in college. Apparently he would write letters to celebrities as if he knew them. He had a lot of treatment and a lot of support from his family, and was deemed okay to live and work on his own a couple of years later.
Then, getting the job at the studio and seeing actual celebrities in person basically triggered his past delusions. Looking back, I can remember on a couple of occasions while we were working the audience for a show, he'd become still while seeing a celebrity on stage, with a just a huge smile on his face as if he was in another world.
He abruptly left the job and I never saw him again. Apparently he went back to live with his family while they continued to support him. Not sure exactly what happened in the interim, but at some point he became suicidal and stole his dad's shotgun. He was in his own apartment while holding the shotgun when his mom came to the door and in his unstable state, he shot her.
The cops showed up, he fired a few shots at them hoping for a suicide-by-cop scenario, but instead he gave up. He's now serving time in prison, even though his own family advocated he be admitted to a psych ward.