While it is a terrible heartbreak, and he needs to be held accountable for this crime, have any of you been around anyone that is bi-polar? A sad fact is that some have a tendency to cycle. They get on their meds, do fine, think they do not need them anymore, then stop. They relapse, hopefully get help before something drastic happens, get back on meds and start over. When meds stop working, sometimes it is gradual, sometimes it is drastic. My prayers for the mother of this little boy, and the entire family. This is just terrible.
While it is a terrible heartbreak, and he needs to be held accountable for this crime, have any of you been around anyone that is bi-polar? A sad fact is that some have a tendency to cycle. They get on their meds, do fine, think they do not need them anymore, then stop. They relapse, hopefully get help before something drastic happens, get back on meds and start over. When meds stop working, sometimes it is gradual, sometimes it is drastic. My prayers for the mother of this little boy, and the entire family. This is just terrible.
This is what has always bothered me about the insanity defense.
SO FREAKING WHAT IF YOU DIDN'T KNOW.
When a crime is commited or violence perpetrated the perpetrator needs to be put away; isolated so that they can no longer perpetrate their evil on society.
Sure have, my father is bipolar and I even had the privileged of taking him into the doc this last time before they got his meds just right. It was by far the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I don't buy it for a insanity defense, but that is only based on my experience of course.
Sounds like we are on the same page with this. I know that had to be a hard decision, and hope he is doing well. I have several friends that have children that are bi-polar, and the mood swings and behaviours can be extreme. Sometimes it is hard to find the drug cocktail that actually helps them without becoming a zombie. That being said, I don't see it as an insanity defense.
It does not excuss him from the killing. Ok he's insane. To me he does not get to go free, he is locked up for the rest of his life, with no chance of ever hurting anyone ever again. But my inner voice says he knew what he was doing. And if he knew what he was doing then he knew it was wrong.
The key flaw in your argument is that people are not dogs.
So not knowing the consequences of one's actions should prevent one from suffering said consequences?
That's like saying gravity shouldn't apply if a person doesn't understand it.
That's like saying gravity shouldn't apply if a person doesn't understand it.
If a small child (say, 5 or 6 years old) manages to kill another child, how would you punish them?
We try children and adults differently because children are understood to not have the capacity to understand what they're doing. How are insane people different?
I think the question is whether people with bi-polar are insane. Bi-polar is the "disease du-jour". It gets attention and many people use it as a crutch to excuse bad behavior. The report states:
I'd venture a guess that the "psychotic features" are a substantial basis of the ruling. Everyone focuses on the bi-polar, but it's the underlying stuff that makes a person insane. My wife has bi-polar disorder. She gets really pissed when news reports focus on the person having bi-polar as the most likely reason they did something heinous.
Ah. I was with a bipolar girl for a year or so and her case was similar to your wife's. However, I believe that bipolar disorder can be more/less serious depending on the individual; some people function at a higher level than others.
I really wish that the public discussions of things like this were more nuanced, since this looks like it really won't help the public image of people with bipolar disorder.
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