seekingcalm

Am I the only one who thinks this mom in Tampa who killed her teenage children is an alcoholic?

She is shown shaking all over the place, and the FBI agent is quoted as saying it is from shock.

I find myself amazed time and again that most people, seem to know little or nothing about alcoholism.

I could be wrong, but this seems so obvious to me. Not that it will bring back those two beautiful children. I am going to hug mine a little closer today.

stella27

I thought mentally ill, but they can overlap.

Tuffgirl

Ohhh - I read that article yesterday in SHOCK! I have two teenagers and yes, they can be super mouthy at times, but good heavens! She killed her kids! WTF??!!! Horrifying, just horrifying.

I also thought mental illness - a complete break with reality. Never occurred to me to think substances could be involved, but they often are, aren't they?

tryintosmile

According to this article - you could be right. Definitely - either alcohol or drugs, but as they say here - she wasn't tested after hitting her daughter.

Mom held in slayings was accused of hitting daughter

seekingcalm

Thank you for that link...I did not know about the hitting or the auto accident. So sad...I am sure that alcohol and/or drugs were involved in this woman's downward spiral.

What a disease! The things that addiction leads to. If only...

Learn2Live

Whenever I see things like this I always think there is substance abuse involved. From the pictures I have seen of her on the web she looks pretty WHACKED OUT to me. It's my opinion that mental illness itself does not cause people to murder, unless they are psychotic and living in some other reality. I've had pretty severe (debilitating) depression in my lifetime and although I was out of my normal mind and neglecting myself and my care, I was still conscious of right and wrong. This woman KNEW what she was doing, knew it was her kids, and gave the cops her excuse for killing them, which indicates a rational mind to me. Just my two cents.

Cyranoak

Tough to say but I will say this. One time, while drunk, my wife did try and get into my gun safe. She claimed it was because she thought I was going to try and kick her out of the house, but who really knows for sure. In this case, my control freak nature, which would not allow her to know the combination, may have saved my life (or that of my daughter).

I respectfully disagree with L2L about mental illness. I think people who kill like this are always mentally ill (and may also be drunk or on drugs). Just because you know what you are doing does not mean you are not mentally ill.

Take what you want and leave the rest.

Cyranoak

Learn2Live

She may very well BE mentally ill but mental illness itself does not cause one to murder. People who are mentally ill are just as capable of knowing right from wrong as people who are NOT mentally ill. It is judgments such as, "Oh, she murdered someone, therefore she MUST be mentally ill," which create so much stigma, prejudice and discrimination regarding mental illness and toward people with mental illness to begin with. There are MILLIONS of people with mental illness living on earth today, and MILLIONS more who have lived and since passed away, who NEVER murdered or harmed another person. We have consciences and FOLLOW our consciences just like all the "normal folk" out there.

All murderers are NOT all mentally ill. They are PEOPLE with distorted views of their RIGHTS, who make the very selfish, disgusting decision to take another person's life.

stella27

I should have said psychotic break instead of mental illness. I thought I was being un-offensive by not saying bi-polar, but of course, you are correct. Mental illness is common, murder is, thankfully, rare.

invisigoth

Alcoholic or not that woman needs to marched right into the gas chamber IMHO. Mental illness my @$$. Either way she's no good to society and we're all going to end up paying for her up keep for the next 50 years. Harsh, perhaps but thats life...or death. Ask her kids how they feel about it...Oh, wait thats right...

Learn2Live

Thanks Stella. I was not offended by anything you wrote.

What I have written here about mental illness is just like what we see on these boards every single day regarding alcoholics. People use alcoholism, or the fact that somebody is alcoholic, to provide rationale for bad behavior. When the fact of the matter is, it's not alcoholism that CAUSES the problems, it is the person's CHOICE to continue to drink, and the resultant behavior from alcohol consumption, that causes the problems.

Alcoholism does not excuse bad behavior any more than mental illness does. Nor does having alcoholism, or mental illness, mean that you will behave badly and treat others poorly. Nor do you have to be alcoholic, or mentally ill, to act selfishly or hurtfully. It is selfish desires and self-righteous thinking that cause these people to act this way. And you don't have to be alcoholic, addicted, or mentally ill to be an a$$hole.

Learn2Live

Since I'm on it, I'd like to add that I actually agree with you Stella, about "psychotic breaks." When a person is psychotic, they are delusional, have hallucinations, and are not perceving the world as it truly is. When you are this way, you may THINK your child is someone other than who they actually are, such as a burglar or other person who is trying to harm you. And in reaction to THAT psychosis, you may harm your child, not knowing it is actually your child. My point was, this woman KNEW it was her children and had a rational excuse in her mind why she shot them (because they were mouthy). She was NOT psychotic.

On the other hand, bi-polar is only a mood disorder. It does not cause you to have psychosis. Nor does having bi-polar eliminate your conscience, your sense of right versus wrong.