Armchair Psych Profile and Treatment

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One of the problems with the medication is getting it right. You have a number of symptoms that you have to treat individually when it comes to any type of bipolar disease. Then within the various medications you have to find out which one and what the right dose is. If the diagnosis is acute the physician typically prescribes the highest dose and then it's a waiting game. In the meantime, the medications interact, and there are side effects - it can be difficult. You have to have talk therapy, if you have a new diagnosis it is scary . You have to have the support to help you understand what is going on in your mind.

One of the worst parts of a mixed state is when you're up for days and days without sleep. There is nothing you want more than sleep, but your your body/mind won't let you have it. Your mind becomes very confused. I can see where it might go from confused to deluded. If the other part of your mixed state is depression. It becomes considerably worse with the lack of sleep. If the other half of your mixed state is dysphoric - I can't even imagine how bad that would be. But, I don't think the diagnosis for James is accurate.

But, If the diagnosis was correct, and he stopped taking his medication he may have started taking other drugs as a way of self-medicating, he would've been compounding the problem he already had.

mo
 
Nemont said:
IF what we are reading now is true, then I strongly disagree with you. The only "public misconception" will be that all mentally ill people are potentially more dangerous than you can ever imagine…that they should be forcibly controlled because they cannot be trusted when left to their own devices. JH had ALL the advantages. He knew he was MI, and more importantly, UNDERSTOOD it in a way that most people will never comprehend. He knew that it could be (and was) successfully controlled with treatment, had access to more mental illness professionals than any layperson could possibly dream of, with treatment fully insured (it is my understanding that all campuses require health insurance). He knew he was "bad news" and did nothing about it. He didn't even have to worry about repayment of his tuition as he was on a full grant with stipend! Even with all these advantages, he still made the decision to stockpile an arsenal which he used against innocent people according to a careful and meticulous plan MONTHS in the making. There is no one to blame for this murderous rampage other than James and James alone. Just my own opinion…
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Not to make excuses for Holmes, certainly, but I feel that financial advantages and access to good medical care, in combination with a keen intellectual understanding of a diagnosis, might not in every case be enough to offset impaired thinking arising from that very same mental illness about which the person/patient is so book-knowledgeable.
 
ladeda7777 said:
One of the problems with the medication is getting it right. You have a number of symptoms that you have to treat individually when it comes to any type of bipolar disease. Then within the various medications you have to find out which one and what the right dose is. If the diagnosis is acute the physician typically prescribes the highest dose and then it's a waiting game. In the meantime, the medications interact, and there are side effects - it can be difficult. You have to have talk therapy, if you have a new diagnosis it is scary . You have to have the support to help you understand what is going on in your mind.

One of the worst parts of a mixed state is when you're up for days and days without sleep. There is nothing you want more than sleep, but your your body/mind won't let you have it. Your mind becomes very confused. I can see where it might go from confused to deluded. If the other part of your mixed state is depression. It becomes considerably worse with the lack of sleep. If the other half of your mixed state is dysphoric - I can't even imagine how bad that would be. But, I don't think the diagnosis for James is accurate.

But, If the diagnosis was correct, and he stopped taking his medication he may have started taking other drugs as a way of self-medicating, he would've been compounding the problem he already had.

mo
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Great post!! :seeya:

I forgot about someone trying to sleep in a mixed state. And insomnia/lack of sleep makes all of the symptoms they are already having amplified.

It was reported he took Vicodin before the shooting - sadly MI people do try to self-medicate their psychological pain with pain mediation. He could have thoughts they were making him clearer and feel better - when in reality they could have made his mind even cloudier and foggy than it already was.
 
redsky said:
Someone with MI, often thinks they do not need their medication once they feel better from it. If he stopped his meds as the article states - he did make the choice to do so but once the medication stopped and if he is as reclusive as has been stated - he likely felt he made the right choice in stopping his medication because his mania/depression/mixed episode/delusions took over.
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No, that is not what the article says…it says

"She messaged back, asking him if dysphoric mania could be managed with treatment. Mr. Holmes replied: “It was,” but added that she should stay away from him “because I am bad news.”

We don't know what the treatment was, or that anything was stopped. Could be he was still being treated, but it was no longer affective. Could be he voluntarily stopped treatment or altered it on his own. We don't even know who diagnosed him or what his diagnosis truly is. All we really know is that he was/is MI. Could be he was diagnosed prior to admittance into the Univ. and they knew he was MI before accepting him. Could be he was clinically diagnosed with one disorder and diagnosed himself with another. We don't know at this point. But if the above article is correct, then JH KNEW he was a danger to others (warning her to stay away). And as far as being "reclusive" - NONE of his victims entered, intruded or interrupted JH's personal world - he went to them! His victims didn't have a snow balls chance in hell when he entered that theater. JH had choices, his victims did not…

Just my own opinion...
 
Nemont said:
No, that is not what the article says…it says

"She messaged back, asking him if dysphoric mania could be managed with treatment. Mr. Holmes replied: “It was,” but added that she should stay away from him “because I am bad news.”

We don't know what the treatment was, or that anything was stopped. Could be he was still being treated, but it was no longer affective. Could be he voluntarily stopped treatment or altered it on his own. We don't even know who diagnosed him or what his diagnosis truly is. All we really know is that he was/is MI. Could be he was diagnosed prior to admittance into the Univ. and they knew he was MI before accepting him. Could be he was clinically diagnosed with one disorder and diagnosed himself with another. We don't know at this point. But if the above article is correct, then JH KNEW he was a danger to others (warning her to stay away). And as far as being "reclusive" - NONE of his victims entered, intruded or interrupted JH's personal world - he went to them! His victims didn't have a snow balls chance in hell when he entered that theater. JH had choices, his victims did not…

Just my own opinion...
Click to expand...

I agree that we don't know what his treatment was. Talk/Psychological Therapy alone is not usually effective for what he said (well, as far as being reported) he suffered from. I am hoping we hear more about his mental state and what happened in the months before the shooting.

I completely agree that his victims did not interfere with his life - they are truly victims and that make me terribly sad for them and their loved ones and well everyone.

About him being reclusive - I was thinking if he had deteriorated to the point where he was not going out of his apartment much, he would have had a hard time realizing his actions/thoughts/behaviors were off.

He is to blame, no question - I am just trying to understand. The problem is, we are trying to rationally understand something that is likely irrational.
 
I did a search for JH's ebay user ID and it appears he had two, which I bolded below.


The box below contains the User IDs that this member has used on eBay.

This person's no longer a registered eBay user.

User ID Effective Date End Date

sherlockbond Nov-13-02 Not a registered user

hrbigbob Oct-19-02 Nov-13-02
 
And if a doctor doesn't catch the signs of mania and only treats the signs of depression with antidepressants, it could actually exacerbate the mania, Swann says, as "antidepressants often backfire in bipolar disorder because they can make someone who's depressed and activate them."
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Source

This has me wondering if JH wasn't being treated with antidepressants, which might very well be the case.

MOO
 
Interesting as my husband deals with "agitated depression" which is also a mixed state. It is treated w/ anti depressants, but he takes xanax to deal with the agitated states.
 
Mood stabilzers and anti psychotics may also be used for those with mixed states. Anxiety meds (xanax, ativan, valium, klonopin may be as well. If insomnia is an issue - generally the first line of defense against that is sleepingmeds - ambien, lunesta, sonata, restoril among others.
 
The way the doctor described it was the SSRI is to stabilize the depression, and the xanax a stop gap treatment as needed for the agitation. The combo has worked wonders since he was dx'ed... but of course hearing he suffers from the same aliment as the shooter makes me a little nervous!

He is also a very highly intelligent individual
 
Something tells me that there were "signs" of something amiss with James "Jimmy-James" Holmes dating back to his early years. In my opinion these flags were dismissed as the quirks associated with genius rather than indicators of schizoid or other mental illness. Here is a puzzling fact regarding his recent past:

CLAIRIVOYANCE in problem solving?
http://www.scribd.com/doc/104414945/James-Holmes-University-of-Iowa-admissions-record-redacted

Do Not Offer:
http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_21433754/university-iowa-re-james-holmes-do-not-offer
 
And according to this article, Fenton only met with James ONCE, on June 11! I've also included a strange comment by him regarding the children he mentored at camp - it does not seem like he was a fan of medication...

Article located at
http://www.centurylink.net/news/read.php?rip_id=<DA0VQ3GO0@news.ap.org>&ps=931&page=1

U. of Iowa rejected Colorado shooting suspect
By RYAN J. FOLEY Associated Press The Associated Press
Thursday, August 30, 2012 6:33 PM EDT

Excerpt:
Fenton testified that she met with Holmes only once, on June 11, and that she believed their privileged relationship was limited to that day.

When Chief Deputy District Attorney Karen Pearson asked Fenton if she had a doctor-patient relationship with Holmes on July 19, when he mailed her the package, Fenton said, "I believe I did not."

Excerpt:
Holmes noted an average of two children in each cabin at the camp had ADHD, or attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, and that he mentored one child who had schizophrenia.

"The medication changed them from highly energetic creative kids to lax beings who slept through the activities. I wanted to help them but couldn't," he wrote. "This is where neuroscience research becomes invaluable."
 
DeadCat said:
Should we add this to official documents thread? I wonder what caused them to say "do not admit." Based on his application, he was invited for an interview. So, I think something must have turned them off at the interview.
Click to expand...

This professor might be a very astute person.
 
We&#8217;ve been under the impression that there was an ongoing relationship between Fenton and James , but we also know that he saw three mental-health professionals at Colorado University.

Also, when he was speaking with that other student about dysphoric mania she asked if it couldn't be helped with medication and he said it was. Which might mean that prior to Fenton, someone had been prescribing the medication for him?

In regard to the statements about not being admitted to the University of Iowa. It may show a little bit about bipolar. You can be at one end of the spectrum or the other end of the spectrum. Or you could be in the middle where you are really in pretty good shape. James could've been at either end of the spectrum when he met with the folks at the University of Iowa. There can't be a large population of neuroscience professors or applicants out there. That small pool can have people who know each other. That big red flag could&#8217;ve come up because of professional or personal relationships in the field.

I know there are others here believe that his illness became apparent much earlier than Colorado. I think he started to have symptoms possibly during high school. His experience at the camp with children who have ADHD or schizophrenia may have been an experience that would aim him toward neuroscience but also show him what his life might be like with mental illness. A sort of transference.

tsomp
 
I think Holmes supposedly seeing the three mental health professionals while at University was a bogus report. Why would only Fenton's name be released if he saw other mental health professionals?
 
ciela said:
Something tells me that there were "signs" of something amiss with James "Jimmy-James" Holmes dating back to his early years. In my opinion these flags were dismissed as the quirks associated with genius rather than indicators of schizoid or other mental illness. Here is a puzzling fact regarding his recent past:

CLAIRIVOYANCE in problem solving?
http://www.scribd.com/doc/104414945/James-Holmes-University-of-Iowa-admissions-record-redacted

Do Not Offer:
http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_21433754/university-iowa-re-james-holmes-do-not-offer
Click to expand...

That is extremely interesting... "Do not admit under any circumstances". Not just them passing on him as an applicant, but actually saying that?
 
newsleuther said:
That is extremely interesting... "Do not admit under any circumstances". Not just them passing on him as an applicant, but actually saying that?
Click to expand...

It wasn't "them"-one professor said it in an e-mail.
 
jjenny said:
It wasn't "them"-one professor said it in an e-mail.
Click to expand...

With another professor agreeing.

I find the language used interesting.

Instead of "pass" or "not sure", "not under any circumstances" is very strong language.
 
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