Bipolar Disorder News Wrap Up For The Month
From service monkeys to pregnant women!
That's the extent of the news this month that deals with bipolar disorder.
Yes, the service monkey. It seems that a woman in Texas who suffers form bipolar disorder was jailed for writing bad checks. While she served her three-month sentence, her brother apparently gave her pet monkey away. This little primate eventually made its way to the Humane Office of Forth Worth.
When she was released from jail, she complained that the monkey was actually her "service monkey" who helped her to remember to take her medications for her bipolar disorder. She had to sue to regain custody of her bipolar disorder service monkey, but the court ruled in her favor.
In other, more serious news, researchers are looking into the dilemma many women of child-bearing age who also have bipolar disorder find themselves in. These women must make a choice of abruptly stopping their medication when they discover they're pregnant for fear of harming their unborn babies or continue to reduce their own symptoms.
It's really a choice no person with bipolar disorder should be faced with.
There's also a relatively new, natural supplement on the market in the United States called 5-HTP. It helps your body deal with the depressive episodes of bipolar disorder in a more natural fashion. Specifically, it helps your body create more serotonin a substance some medical experts call your body's natural endorphins.
The State Supreme Court of North Dakota recently ruled in favor of a lawyer suffering with bipolar disorder. She had been accused of neglecting cases. Later it was learned that she suffered with bipolar disorder.
The lawyer with bipolar disorder, Elizabeth Jane Sundby, was suspended five years ago. The court order mandated that she pay more than $4,000 in restitution. There were two limits placed on her return to practicing law. She must be supervised by another licensed attorney and she must continue her mental health treatment.
On another legal note, a judge in New Jersey failed to reduce bail for an individual who claimed that his charge was related to his failure to take his bipolar disorder medication. The man is accused of coaching his four-year-old to steal a pocketbook.
The man was arrested when police recognized him as the individual who pushed the young girl under a security door on the boardwalk at Seaside Heights. She had been instructed to steal an employee's purse.
Before this incident, the gentlemen had been arrested 29 times, according to news reports and convicted a total of 18 times. The man's attorney also requested that the man undergo a substance-abuse evaluation. This was also denied.
