Week of March 16, 1998Why in her right mind would a 36-year-old school teacher have sex with a 13-year-old boy? And when she was released from prison on the strict condition that she never see him again, why would she go right back to him? Her doctor and her lawyer say there is good evidence that she was not in her right mind at all. Their position is that a mental illness, manic depressive illness, and a condition often related to manic depression -- called hypersexuality -- provides an explanation for her seemingly irrational behavior.
For more information about the treatment of manic depressive illness, you can call: the National Depressive and Manic Depressive Association at 800-826-3632; the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill at 800-950-6264; and the National Mental Health Association at 800-969-6642. A brochure on depressive disorders is available through the National Institute of Mental Health at 800-421-4211.
Jackie Lyden is a senior correspondent for National Public Radio. Her new book, about her mother’s manic depressive illness, is called Daughter of the Queen of Sheba.
You can reach Mary Ellen Copeland, author and educator on manic depressive illness and other depressive disorders, at 1-802-254-2092, or order her books The Depression Workbook: A Guide for Living with Depression and Manic Depression and Living Without Depression and Manic Depression here through the LCM Bookstore.
Manic Depression: Voices of an Illness, an award-winning one-hour radio documentary narrated by Academy Award-winning actress Patty Duke, is available through the LCM Bookstore.
