# Courtney Love has been institutionalized **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 15, 2004, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/courtney-love-has-been-institutionalized/255219 "2004-07-15T04:57:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/courtney-love-has-been-institutionalized/255219/21 "2004-07-15T20:45:15Z")
Curt’s mother was fighting for custody last year, but it seems that the authorities handed Frances Bean over to Courtney’s stepfather after one or another of her overdoses/freakouts last fall. Poor kid. ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/courtney-love-has-been-institutionalized/255219/22 "2004-07-15T20:54:01Z")
Quote from above link: > [@](#): > > “This is unrelated to any type of substance use or abuse,” Love’s Los Angeles criminal lawyer Michael Rosenstein said in a statement last Friday. > “This is not (an) injury related to any altercation, nor is it a suicide attempt. We categorically deny that it has anything to do with drugs,” said the attorney. Riiiiiiight. Like the Olsen twin is in rehab for an eating disorder, not cocaine. Yes, I read the _Star_. 😛 Courtney looked so good in the picture dated March 2004. What in the world could have made her look like that in May 2004? Wow. I do feel bad for her. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/courtney-love-has-been-institutionalized/255219/23 "2004-07-15T21:13:15Z")
Even though I’ve ripped on Love in the past, I hope for her kid’s sake she can get cleaned up. But you know what? I don’t think it’ll happen. She’ll spend a few weeks in rehab and get out long before she’s cleaned up. It won’t be long before they find her corpse. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/courtney-love-has-been-institutionalized/255219/24 "2004-07-15T21:32:45Z")
> [@](#): > > What in the world could have made her look like that in May 2004? Could be crack but I’m going with crank. Maybe a combination. Oh was that rhetorical? ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/courtney-love-has-been-institutionalized/255219/25 "2004-07-15T21:33:17Z")
Aaaaaand on _that_ note I feel compelled to point out that 13 people picked her for this year’s Death Pool. And **Captain Lance Murdoch** was not one of them. She’s worth 60 points. ---
**Author:** ![malkabat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@malkabat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malkabat)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/courtney-love-has-been-institutionalized/255219/26 "2004-07-15T21:39:32Z")
> [@DaToad](#): > > I Looked at this link: [http://www.stereogum.com/archives/000669.html](http://www.stereogum.com/archives/000669.html), posted by **AveDementia** in another thread and thought, OMG, she’s taking lessons from Courtney Love. Ya know, Brit, keep up with that smoking and it’ll make it really tough to sing while you’re doing all that dancing in conc…oh, wait. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/courtney-love-has-been-institutionalized/255219/27 "2004-07-15T21:43:48Z")
Ya know, I googled “tertiary syphilis” and found that one symptom is neurosyphilis. The signs and symptoms of that include: ``` * Irritability * Poor concentration * Mental confusion * Depression * Visual disturbances * Abnormal reflexes * Abnormal gait (walk) ``` - Dementia Which certainly explains a lot about her behavior of late… Anyway, here’s another vote for: It’s a shame to see such a talented person throw her life away and ruin her daughter’s childhood. I hope she gets her shit together sooner rather than later. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/courtney-love-has-been-institutionalized/255219/28 "2004-07-15T21:50:31Z")
It looks more serious than your average run of the mill drug addiction. Courts don’t ordinarily give third parties legal guardianships over people checking themselves into the Betty Ford Clinic. A legal guardianship means she’s not making her own choices anymore about her legal decisions, financial affairs, or comings and goings. That’s a pretty serious affair; courts here require that three medical doctors certify that a person has dementia to the point of complete incapacitation. If she’s been institutionalized and a legal guardian had been appointed for her, she probably won’t be able to walk out anytime soon. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/courtney-love-has-been-institutionalized/255219/29 "2004-07-15T21:57:43Z")
Coincidentally, while I lived in Prague I had an acquaintance who went psychotic from undiagnosed tertiary syphilis and a roomate who was hospitalized for acute methamphetamine psychosis. My acquaintance had one symptom she didn’t: large unexplained skin lesions all over his body. Both very sad cases. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/courtney-love-has-been-institutionalized/255219/30 "2004-07-15T22:21:07Z")
> [@angelicate](#): > > Love was later spotted in the lobby of her building complaining, “Today is my birthday and I had an abortion.” \* > Who knows? Who in God’s name would fuck her in the first place? I’d rather stick my dick in a barrel of toxic waste, it’d be cleaner. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/courtney-love-has-been-institutionalized/255219/31 "2004-07-15T22:34:05Z")
Say, could this be some kind of legal gimmick to keep her out of court on those criminal charges? ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/courtney-love-has-been-institutionalized/255219/32 "2004-07-15T23:37:24Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > Say, could this be some kind of legal gimmick to keep her out of court on those criminal charges? Doubtful. Several doctors would have to be on board, as mentioned, to have Love declared incapable of self-management to the extent that she now has a legal guardian. She’s clearly quite ill, mentally and seemingly physically as well. Though I was not being terribly serious in my post last night suggesting tertiary syphillis, whatever is wrong with Love is far-reaching and has been long in the making. Frances has suffered greatly by virtue of losing her father and having a mother who has been ill essentially her entire life, if not because of organic mental problems, then because of substance abuse. I hope that Love recovers, but more importantly, I hope that Frances will have opportunities to overcome her dismal beginnings. Poor little rich girl, I pray she’s got (or is growing) the wings to fly above all of this crap. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/courtney-love-has-been-institutionalized/255219/33 "2004-07-15T23:39:15Z")
Courtney’s been kind of a joke for years, but at this point, it’s no longer funny. It’s just very sad. ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/courtney-love-has-been-institutionalized/255219/34 "2004-07-16T00:19:28Z")
> [@theR](#): > > If Courtney’s mom and stepdad have custody of Courtney’s child, I wouldn’t hold out a ton of hope that she’s much better off than if the child was with Courtney. The biographies I’ve seen about Courney Love seemed to paint a pretty depressing picture of her childhood. I hate to automatically blame her parents. Her father Hank Harrison strikes me as self-absorbed famewhore with no sense of empathy (hmmm), but Courtney’s maternal half-siblings are reportedly well-adjusted. > [@pravnik](#): > > Coincidentally, while I lived in Prague I had an acquaintance who went psychotic from undiagnosed tertiary syphilis and a roomate who was hospitalized for acute methamphetamine psychosis. My acquaintance had one symptom she didn’t: large unexplained skin lesions all over his body. This may not be _that_ far-fetched. Remember those courtroom pics of Courtney with what looked like cigarette burns on her bare arms? [ ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/courtney-love-has-been-institutionalized/255219/35 "2004-07-16T00:31:42Z")
Who would this legal guardian be? How is Frances Bean doing, anyway? Anyone know, beyond who she’s living with presently? ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/courtney-love-has-been-institutionalized/255219/36 "2004-07-16T00:36:15Z")
Y’know, I think it’s Kurt’s mother, actually, who has custody of Frances. I seem to remember someplace reading that Courtney and Mrs. Kurt’s Mom were estranged, and that Courtney was convinced she was trying to screw her out of Frances’ trust fund. Something like that, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/courtney-love-has-been-institutionalized/255219/37 "2004-07-16T00:52:22Z")
No, Frances is in the custody of Courtney’s former stepfather, Frank Rodriguez. She lives with him, and reportedly with one of Courtney’s sisters. The arrangement was supposed to be temporary while Courtney and Kurt’s mother fought it out in court, but God only knows how long it will last now. The identity of Courtney’s guardian has not been released. It’s most likely a lawyer or social worker who has no previous relationship or connection with her, someone with no personal stake in her finances. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/courtney-love-has-been-institutionalized/255219/38 "2004-07-16T12:23:37Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > Even though I’ve ripped on Love in the past, I hope for her kid’s sake she can get cleaned up. > > But you know what? > > I don’t think it’ll happen. She’ll spend a few weeks in rehab and get out long before she’s cleaned up. It won’t be long before they find her corpse. Don’t be such a Gloomy Gus. Lots of people in equally bad (or worse) shape have straightened out their lives. Geez…why don’t you just throw the rope over the rafters for her??! ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/courtney-love-has-been-institutionalized/255219/39 "2004-07-16T12:27:22Z")
I was thinking that it’s possible she did a home abortion (ya know…the back alley kind). Maybe she wanted to keep it under wraps, so in her addled mental state, decided to go it alone. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/courtney-love-has-been-institutionalized/255219/40 "2004-07-16T15:10:15Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > Who in God’s name would fuck her in the first place? I’d rather stick my dick in a barrel of toxic waste, it’d be cleaner. Plus, you might get superpowers! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/courtney-love-has-been-institutionalized/255219.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/courtney-love-has-been-institutionalized/255219.md?page=3)