Oh, My Goodness...

[Carol]

I'm wondering whether or not something such as, say, Mercury poisoning could be involved? There's no way that I see, IMO, she could have gotten through such training and screening as she did over the course of 25+ years (Naval Academy, Navy Career, Shuttle crew) with as many screws loose as this behavior appears to represent.

I'm not sure. While it's possible...there are a lot of people that have gone up in space...mental health issues can happen to any body at any age...including astronauts.

The stigma of mental health issues is still present in civilian society...its a lot worse in the military, and she's undoubtedly a disciplined person. She may have gotten very good at concealing her loose screws.

We largely know about the story because she was an astronaut and a high ranking military officer. Had she been an ordinary citizen and done this...especially where no one was killed...this probably would have been just another crime in a rather violent city.

 

[IcemanSK]

The media makes a monster or freak out of this woman: cuz it's just more interesting that way. The reality is, she is in need of mental health treatment. If she were a bag lady on skid row, this wouldn't be a story. Because she's an astronaut, it's a sexy story.

It's just sad.

 

[IcemanSK]

This woman is obviously mentally ill. If she weren't an astronaunt, it wouldn't be the "sexy" story they make it out to be.

It is just really sad. I'm glad no one was hurt. This woman needs help.

 

[tellner]

Love, sex and jealousy make people do stupid things.

 

[donna]

This woman is obviously mentally ill. If she weren't an astronaunt, it wouldn't be the "sexy" story they make it out to be.

It is just really sad. I'm glad no one was hurt. This woman needs help.

Well said, my sentiments exactly!

 

[exile]

I'm not sure. While it's possible...there are a lot of people that have gone up in space...mental health issues can happen to any body at any age...including astronauts.

The stigma of mental health issues is still present in civilian society...its a lot worse in the military, and she's undoubtedly a disciplined person. She may have gotten very good at concealing her loose screws.

We largely know about the story because she was an astronaut and a high ranking military officer. Had she been an ordinary citizen and done this...especially where no one was killed...this probably would have been just another crime in a rather violent city.

Carol's post started me thinking about this issue of craziness and its concealment... people are remarkably good at concealing mental aberrations. Often they know they're disturbed, or worse, in a strangely compartmentalized way. That kind of compartmentalization—separating your life out into parts where you're disciplined and parts where you're out of control, delusional and violently (self-)destructive—is something that can fool even mental health professionals, let alone workaday folk whose image of mental illness is based on garbage TV shows. But it's very common.

Sure, it's possible exposure to as yet unkown disruptive effects in space might have affected her. But it's going to be hard to show that; the derangement power of space exploration isn't all that evident in the population of current and former astronauts. There might be some specific condition she suffered from which space exposure eventually ramped up to the breaking point... but how could you show it? We don't have a large enough population who've been exposed to prolonged periods of life in space. My own guess is, this is someone with a long-term mental pathology which developed, like a kind of psychological cancer, to the point where it began to override her control system. People with mental illness tend to get worse over the course of time, not better, if no one is treating them...

 

[Makalakumu]

This sort of thing doesn't surprise me. The Greeks were onto this sort of thing thousands of years ago. All of their heros had foibles that eventually did them in. This woman is no different.

"No matta how "new age" you get, old age gonna kick yo ***."

 

[grydth]

Now there's 'news' that she had been stalking this woman for months - before she had separated from her husband of 19 years. Maybe when he's done wiping the pie off his face, he can explain it to the three children. Who cares about those 4 people, though?

Plenty of people who've never been on a plane, let alone a space shuttle, engage in this behavior. I watched 3 middle aged friends tear themselves and their friendship apart over a guy that was a complete dirt bag..... but he was a special catch, one told me, because he was with the CIA! She wouldn't listen when we tried to tell her the CIA didn't assign many of its top agents to seedy bars in North Syracuse.

Space happy? No. Middle age crazy compounded by fear of being alone. Hits high fliers and ground pounders alike. Sad.

 

[qi-tah]

Quote:
But police said Nowak intended to kill Shipman, 30, when she bought a knife, BB Gun, and other supplies, got in her car in Houston, and made the 12-hour drive to Orlando, wearing diapers so she would not have to stop along the way.
But that's just silly! Wouldn't she have to stop to refill her car anyway? Or don't they have toilets in petrol stations in America?

What's sad i guess is that i found the whole diaper angle to be the most bizarre thing about this whole mess. The cruelty that we continue to perpetuate on each other has ceased to surprise me.

 

[grydth]

Do you Aussies realize just how disgusting American public restrooms can be? :barf:


Me, I kind of liked the idea of putting a GPS bracelet..... on an astronaut.:ultracool

 

[exile]

Me, I kind of liked the idea of putting a GPS bracelet..... on an astronaut.:ultracool

:lol:

You have a very accurate sense of irony, grydth!