Compassionate Reader,
THANK YOU! This is blindblowing and telling. IMHOO.
Here is "telling" information that was taken from the affidavit of George W. Woods, M.D. about DE.
(Dr. Woods is a psychiatrist, board certification in psychiatry and neurology, diplomate in the American College of Forensic Examiners, and Affiliate Professor at the University of Washington.)
Mr. Echols first recalls being overwhelmed by distressing and terrifying emotions in the second grade when he was positive there was going to be a nuclear war. He believed he had to get back to where something told him he came from before the war started. As he grew older this obsession evolved into a driving force that consumed him and took up every bit of brain space and brain power. He became convinced that he was an alien, from another world, not like any human on earth.
He reported periods of dissociation in which he lost long spans of time. He also endorsed numerous physical problems, including frequent severe headaches (for which he was treated with prescription medications as a child), heart palpitations, difficulty breathing (he was diagnosed with and treated for asthma), and chronic sleeping problems. He reported having nightmares from which he awakened in a terrified state as often as twice a night. These symptoms persisted throughout his childhood and adolescence and grew to include periods of psychosis.
Mr. Echols mental status worsened with time. He developed a psychotic euphoria that caused him to believe he would evolve into a superior entity, would be assisted by similar deities, and eventually would be transported to a different world. His psychosis dominated his perceptions of all aspects of the court proceedings. He developed delusions of reference in which he believed every event or movement, regardless how insignificant, was a potential sign that the deities were attempting to show him the pathway to the other world where he would join other entities like himself.
Prior to and during his trial, Mr. Echols heard voices that were not really voices and he was not sure if it was a voice inside his head or somebody elses voice. He thought it was nearly impossible to tell if it was his voice or somebody/something else. He experienced visual hallucinations that were personifications of others. They were like smoke, changing shape but present and constant. The personifications had specific names and activities. One was Morpheus Sandman who was a hybrid of a human being and a god. Another example was Washington crossing the Delaware. Mr. Echols saw Washington cross the Delaware with Hermes on the boat. Hermes was able to cross with Washington because Hermes was moving backwards through time. Mr. Echols came to believe that he was the same as these personifications, made of the same material and from the same place.
Mr. Echols stated that at some point in his adolescence he came to believe he was something that was almost a supreme being that came from a place other people didnt come from. (Mr. Echols believed) This transformation caused him to change physically, the pertinent changes appearing in his appendages, hands, feet, hair. He acquired an entirely different bone structure that was not human. He developed stronger senses. His eyesight was better and his ability to smell and taste changed. He had a different stance, moved his eyes and held his head differently. He grew his nails so that they would be a perfect 1 ½ inches long. His weight dropped to 116 pounds, consistent with neurovegetative signs seen in mood disorders. This period of physical change began the year before his arrest and lasted for about two years after he was on death row.
Mr. Echols became so debilitated by his escalating mental illness that he was hospitalized three times during the year prior to his arrest for the current offense.
http://callahan.8k.com/wm3/gwoods.html
