fltsfshr

From The St Pete Times
Article link
Runaway teen uses Hummer to ram police cars

By:
Dave BalutSt. Petersburg, Florida - A runaway teenager now faces felony charges of attempting to kill a police officer after her joyride spun out of control.

St. Petersburg police say 15-year-old Maggie Jacobs stole a Hummer H2, and backed up over onto one police car, then ran over a second patrol car.

The hummer crushed the engine of that second cruiser, but the officer escaped with only minor injuries.

Jacob's mother says her runaway daughter suffers from severe bipolar disorder and has been without her medication for two months.

Kim Jacobs, Maggie's Mother:

Matt_in_VA

I guess at the age of fifteen she does not know that what she did was WRONG?

Barry in Wyoming

[QUOTE=Matt_in_VA,Jul 4 2006, 04:16 PM]I guess at the age of fifteen she does not know that what she did was WRONG?

RACER

fltsfshr

I suppose the courts will determine if she is "bipolar" or if it's a parental excuse. 14 and 15 year olds have been doing stuff like that for a long time.
Either way she sure did a job on the cop cars.

fltsfshr

NNY S2k

The article said she didn't take her medication for 2 months so some medical person has already determined she is bi-polar.

fltsfshr

The article said "her Mother said"

fltsfshr

Barry in Wyoming

"Determined she is bi-polar" makes it sound like bi-polar disorder can be diagnosed with certainty the way cystic fibrosis or sickle cell anemia or type I diabetes can be diagnosed.

Not so. "bipolar disorder" is diagnosed by seeing how well a person's behavior fits a constellation of behaviors in a template. Medical opinions on the diagnosis vary widely.

Cystic fibrosis or sickle cell anemia or type I diabetes can be suspected based on behavior, but can be diagnosed by blood tests including searching for the specific gene or specific hemoglobin molecule that causes the behaviors.

Some day we'll have a gene test or a PET scan or an EEG test to diagnose bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression and many other mental problems.

To use an automotive analogy, we can diagnose "roadster" accurately, but diagnosing "exotic car" or "super-car" is not so straight forward.

NNY S2k

Thanks for the clarification.

fltsfshr

Those are pretty common and vague symptoms aren't they?

If you knock off the reactionary ones. It pretty much sounds like most 14 or 15 year olds doesn't it?

All this sounds like adolesence

Increased energy, activity, and restlessness
Excessively "high," overly good, euphoric mood
Extreme irritability
Racing thoughts and talking very fast, jumping from one idea to another
Distractibility, can't concentrate well
Unrealistic beliefs in one's abilities and powers
Poor judgment
Spending sprees
Increased sexual drive
Provocative, intrusive, or aggressive behavior
Denial that anything is wrong

Then of course there's
Abuse of drugs, particularly cocaine, alcohol, and sleeping medications
Little sleep needed which could all be related. I wonder if there's any relationship between bi polar diagnosis and Ritalin and attention deficit disorder, the other great excuse used to medicate teenagers.