pinotbear
Silly Ol' Bear
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 3,781
- Reaction Score
- 8,182
It is easy to judge when you have never had to deal with depression. Someone on here has a tag line of "I'll be ok if I take my meds," which makes mental illness seem like a bit of a joke, but clinical depression can ruin a person's life if not treated. I am diabetic and I take insulin to stay alive. I have depression and I do take my meds to survive and function as a rational (debatable) human being.
I decided once that I was tired of taking daily meds and went cold turkey off of my antidepressant. Thank goodness I had a friend who talked some sense into me after a week or I could have done something I would have regretted. Putting Holdsclaw in jail would have done nothing to help her. In my opinion it would have had the opposite effect and would probably have led to her permanent demise.
I"m the guy who has that tag line, and, it has nothing to do with mental illness: it is a direct quote,over breakfast one morning, from the woman in my life, who deals with rheumatoid arthritis, and a couple of other age-related illnesses. She has never tried to murder another human being, or set fire to them. Don't try to pull me, or her, into a defense of Holdsclaw's behavior. Holdsclaw needs help, but her medical issues do not completely exempt her from responsibility for her own actions. She is a very worldly, college-educated adult. A lot of the comentary in this thread is, basically, asking the question "did she get treated differently, because of her fame and athletic history?" I think that's a fair question.