[QUOTE=Brynda]
It sounds like severe agoraphobia to me. Most agoraphobics won’t leave the house; for her, her safety zone was even smaller. Poor woman.
[/QUOTE]
Yes and poor man. It’s tough to know what to do when someone you love is crazy.
[QUOTE=faithfool]
The second article lists the boyfriend at age 36 and says he’d been taking care of her for 16 years, meaning that there must’ve been some serious issues already (obviously).
[/QUOTE]
I don’t think it’s that clear, actually. The paragraph reads:
If the two statements are contiguous, then they sound to me like his response to accusations of neglect. “Hey, man, I didn’t neglect her! I love her, I took care of her - I been taking care of her for 16 years! Every *day *I tried to get her out of there!”
Or you could be right and “taking care of her” was meant literally, as in, she was incapable of taking care of herself for 16 years and he knew that and accepted responsibility for taking care of her more than a decade ago. In which case, then yes, he should be charged with neglect or something similar.
I just can’t decide from these articles yet. I’m sure the investigators are asking more to try to sort it all out.
The compassionate side of me wants to say Aw, those poor people. How awful.
The less reverent side wants to say My God! What was he feeding her?!?
tdn:
Prunes, bran muffins, castor oil to wash it down…
[QUOTE=Nava]
Hey, my toilets have gone for longer without being clogged. And no, I don’t scrub them weekly or anything, just “colored water” and the occasional dash of “WC Duck” (or whatever it’s called in English, I’ve only used the Spanish and French versions).
At the bottom of the first article it indicates she sort of grew up imprisoned in her own house. That doesn’t make the even less bizarre, but it’s an indication of someone who can feel safer not moving at all than doing anything.
[/QUOTE]
We call it Toilet Duck. It never occurred to me that it might be an international product.
[QUOTE=cmkeller]
Prunes, bran muffins, castor oil to wash it down…
[/QUOTE]
Either that or potato chips made with Olestra.
I find it dubious- living in the bathroom is one thing, physically not removing your ass from a seat for two years is downright impossible, epescially during sleep. And how did they get the two year figure anyway- did someone note the date she started? Did they celebrate the anniversary? How long would it take to fuse with a toilet anyway? Is there any data? I’m guessing the same effect could be achieved in a month.
I’m getting a bit dubious too. Some reports say she merely lived in the bathroom: she walked around, bathed, etc. Others say she was fused to the seat, which doesn’t happen in a few hours.
I still don’t understand how nobody noticed this woman had disappeared from the face of the earth. And no matter how she was living–not moving from the toilet or just living in the bathroom–they’re both mentally ill. They have to be. Unbalanced, to say the least.
He gave her a copy of War and Peace, she’s a slow reader.
Yall are missing the most important detail in this sordid tale: The lady has a boyfriend. How is he not the mentally disabled one?
[QUOTE=you with the face]
Yall are missing the most important detail in this sordid tale: The lady has a boyfriend. How is he not the mentally disabled one?
[/QUOTE]
Yes, of course. That makes perfect sense. We’ve all missed the fact she has a boyfriend and he’s the mentally ill one and she’s perfectly healthy. I know if I were living with a mentally ill guy I’d voluntarily choose to sit on a toilet until my ass fused to it. Just hook me up with a PS3 and keep bringing me food. I’ll play along.
The second article makes it sound like she’s spent 16 years in the bathroom: 14 moving around and 2 parked on the seat. I just have to wonder:
-
Obviously, she had to have been flushing. But still, that toilet hasn’t been cleaned in two years. It’s gotta be stinking and grotesque.
-
Boyfriend has been taking her every single meal and every single drink for somewhere between 2 and 16 years? He’s never had a break? He’s never been seriously ill? Never had a vacation? Holy cow!
-
What the heck did she do for two years?
I fell asleep on the toilet once. Well, OK, passed out, but about the same thing. Woke up, probably half-hour later. When I stood up it felt like athletic tape being pulled off of my butt. And one of my legs was asleep. That was just after a half-hour!
No, wait, that was my *friend * that passed out on the toi … oh, never mind.
This was an ingenious plot to save on toilet paper.
[QUOTE=Pithy Moniker]
This was an ingenious plot to save on toilet paper.
[/QUOTE]
And maxi-pads.
Ew.
[QUOTE=WhyNot]
And maxi-pads.
[/QUOTE]
Oh, that’s just…
…I hadn’t even thought about…
…let’s not even…
YUCK!
How did she not have even more serious medical problems?
Atrophied legs and skin grown around a toilet seat aren’t serious enough?
[QUOTE=cmkeller]
Atrophied legs and skin grown around a toilet seat aren’t serious enough?
[/QUOTE]
Of course they are. That’s why I used the word “more” and put asterisks on both sides of it to highlight it.
[QUOTE=ivylass]
The sheriff wants to charge the boyfriend.
[/QUOTE]
With “mistreatment of a dependent adult”…
The bolded part (mine) would appear to be the part he’d be charged under. He was her caretaker, though, and he was taking care of her. I don’t see anything in that law obligating him to seek mental health treatment on her behalf.