Bipolar News for December 11, 2004

Bipolar News

December 11, 2004

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Right pill, wrong patient
The Times - London,England,UK
... and probably also his father, upon whom Mr Micawber is loosely based, exhibited many of the classic signs of manic depression, now known as bipolar disorder. ...

Jury deadlocked on whether woman who ran over man she called 'road ...
KESQ - Palm Desert,CA,USA
... the man "road kill.". West's attorney contend her client was bipolar and in the middle of a manic episode. Yesterday, a judge declared ...

Lawyers: State of mind is key Attorneys on both sides of Anson ...
MaineToday.com - Portland,ME,USA
... on medication at the time of the shooting and Paul Sumberg, one of Watland's lawyers, said Wednesday that his client has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. ...

Suspect who fatally beat med student agrees to extradition
philly.com (subscription) - Philadelphia,PA,USA
... There, Ali was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, with psychotic and schizophrenic symptoms, Elbert said. Sullivan, 25, was attacked from behind on Nov. ...

Man Freed From Okla. Death Row in '99 Dies

AP Online; 12/10/2004; JULIE E. BISBEE, Associated Press Writer

AP Online

12-10-2004

Dateline: OKLAHOMA CITY
Ronald Williamson, a former death row inmate exonerated by DNA evidence five days before his scheduled execution, has died, his sister said Thursday.

Williamson died Saturday at age 51, five years after he was freed from prison and nearly seven weeks after being told he had cirrhosis of the liver, Annette Hudson said.

Williamson, a second-round draft choice for the Oakland Athletics in 1971 and a star high school athlete from Ada, spent six years playing baseball for farm teams of the Oakland A's and New York Yankees, Hudson said.

When arm injuries ended his career, Williamson returned to Ada, where he had a brief marriage and held various sales jobs. He then moved back in with his parents and stopped working, Hudson said.

"From the disappointment of not making it in baseball, he turned to alcohol," Hudson said. "He just started declining."

In late 1982, the body of Deborah Sue Carter, 21, was found in a garage apartment. Williamson was arrested for the murder four years later.

Williamson _ diagnosed as suffering from bipolar disorder _ told authorities he recalled having a dream in which he pulled a cord around the woman's neck, but he also dreamed he stabbed her. Carter had not been stabbed.

He and another man allegedly linked to the slaying by hairs from the crime scene were convicted in the case. After 12 years, they were freed in April 1999 after DNA evidence proved their innocence; Williamson was just five days away from execution. Their civil lawsuit was settled in 2002 for an undisclosed sum.

Another man who prosecutors used to link Williamson to the crime was ultimately sentenced to death for Carter's murder.

"Ronnie was a complex person," Hudson said. "He was kind and gentle. When he was not on his medication, he was out of control."

After his release from prison, Williamson lived with his sister, unable to live on his own because of his mental problems and alcoholism.

"The only time he had happiness in his life, he told me, was his years playing baseball," Hudson said.

Copyright 2004, AP News All Rights Reserved

Man Charged With Killing Parents in Ala.

AP Online; 12/10/2004

AP Online

12-10-2004

Dateline: MONTGOMERY, Ala.
The son of a prominent Montgomery couple who were killed in their home Thanksgiving night has been arrested in Colorado and charged with capital murder in their deaths, police said Thursday.

Brent Springford Jr., 28, was arrested early Thursday at a mental hospital in Louisville, Colo., authorities said.

His parents, Brent and Charlotte Springford, both 62, reportedly were beaten to death. They were found the morning after Thanksgiving on the second floor of their Garden District home, police said.

The son appeared at an extradition hearing Thursday in Boulder County, Colo., and authorities said he planned to fight extradition to Alabama. He spoke with a lawyer, who said Springford did not retain him.

The Springfords had been active in civic projects in Montgomery and in Luverne, where Charlotte Springford grew up and the family owned a Pepsi-Cola bottling plant.

A man identifying himself as the younger Springford called Alabama television stations from the Colorado mental hospital in recent days. He told WSFA-TV of Montgomery that he did not kill his parents. He also spoke of suffering from bipolar disorder and other illnesses.

Police said investigators had determined a motive and recovered a weapon, but they did not disclose details.

Police have said the Springfords' black Jaguar was stolen at the time of the killings and found later near Tulsa, Okla.

Copyright 2004, AP News All Rights Reserved

This Week's Bipolar News

Most important things we can give: love, time
BizJournals
Dr. Paul Keck Jr. is president and CEO of the $28 million, 64-bed Lindner Center of Hope in Mason and executive vice chairman and Lindner Professor of Psychiatry & Neuroscience in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. A graduate of Dartmouth College and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Keck is an expert in bipolar disorder and has published more ...

Discrimination at Work
About - News Issues
... is really disturbing that an employer could be so crass. Have you told your employer about having bipolar disorder? What has your experience been with this?

Bipolar mom is too much for hard-pressed couple
The Standard-Times
Dear Annie: Three months ago, my husband and I accompanied my 71-year-old mother to our home in California. She was released to my care because the authorities in Pennsylvania felt she could no longer manage on her own. She has a history of mental...

Man gets 30 years for murdering mother
Naperville Sun
Cliff Newcomer suffers from bipolar disorder, the release said. The mangled body of Marilyn Newcomer, 55, was discovered about 11:45 pm on Jan. ...

Many Famous People Suffer With Bipolar Disorder
Corsavoo.com
Writers have been some of the most famous people with bipolar disorder. Mark Twain was one such writer. He, like many other writers, was highly functional ...

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Featured Article:

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Featured Article:

Why People with Bipolar Disorder
Don't Take Their Medications

The word used to describe not taking your medications is called "noncompliance." When you are noncompliant with your medications, you could be causing great danger to yourself (and possibly others), and it could even be fatal.

Studies show that roughly 25 percent of medications are not taken as prescribed. As far as psychiatric medications, this number is doubled. With bipolar disorder, one in two patients will stop their medication in the first 12 months of treatment; usually because they will experiment with their dosage and/or go off their medication altogether (many because they enjoy their manic "highs"). Click here to read the entire article.

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Bipolar News

December 11, 2004

Man Freed From Okla. Death Row in '99 Dies

Man Charged With Killing Parents in Ala.

This Week's Bipolar News

Featured Article:

TAKE ACTION!

Featured Article:

Why People with Bipolar Disorder Don't Take Their Medications

BipolarCentral
Your One Stop Source For Information On Bipolar Disorder

Why People with Bipolar Disorder
Don't Take Their Medications