Cynthia Armistead Admits To Attempting Suicide

Cynthia Armistead's Admitted Suicide Attempt

Ms. Cynthia Armistead has admitted to a suicide attempt and put the following (in italics) on her website at http://www.technomom.com/harassed/replies.html...

"Or, as he'd said earlier, a "basket case." His reasoning here is that I've stated (several times, quite openly) that I was sexually abused as a child; that I've been treated for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); that I attempted suicide in 1988 (yes, almost ten years ago); that I've been married three times; and that I dropped out of college in order to get married."

This may explain her personality and behaviour. I don't know, I'm not a psychotherapist. The above was on her site on January 11, 1998 at 12 noon. It may be gone when you read this as she has changed her site quite frequently. I have a screen capture and a download of that page in case I need it later. I also had a friend save it also.

This is a copy of a post from Cynthia Armistead, to mindspring.watercooler on Friday, December 19, 1997. In this post she admits to having "tried very seriously to commit suicide."

Path: mindspring!news.mindspring.com!usenet
From: cyn@dont.want.spam (Cyn)
Newsgroups: mindspring.watercooler
Subject: Re: Dealing with suicide
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 1997 02:57:38 GMT
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On Thu, 18 Dec 1997 20:53:01 -0500, happy_4_me@hotmail.nospam.com
(Sgt. Pepper) wrote:

> It's a simple question. Does anyone have any experience in this
>field? A very close friend of mine has been going through, since the last
>2/3 months, a depressive and suicidal stage of her life. She has
>attempted several times to take her life, using various methods. She has
>been in the hospital for roughly seven weeks now. For insurance reasons
>she may soon be released from the hospital. Most insurances refuse to pay
>for treatment if the person has been in an institution for over two
>months. I'm very afraid of the idea that she be released from the
>hospital though, because even though she claims to be getting better, it
>is easy to see through the mask she shows us.
> The reason why I post this is because I went to visit her today, and
>though she claims to have improved, it is easily visible she has not. She
>is trembling, very cautious with her words and often fights back fits of
>rage followed by tears.
>
> Many thanks to those who answer.

Well, I can relate my experience as someone who has struggled with
depression and tried very seriously to commit suicide--if she's
determined to do it, she will eventually succeed. She needs some
reason to keep going--does she have children, a partner, anything
that's really important to her?

Also, what kind of treatment has she had, and do you have any idea as
to the root causes of the depression? One of the few reasons insurance
companies do approve inpatient treatment for psych patients is to get
them stabilized on some sort of psychopharmacology--lithium,
anti-depressants, whatever is appropriate in her case. That can take
some time, especially if she's got a body chemistry that reacts oddly
to drugs in general. Is she being treated by someone with whom she'd
already built up a certain level of trust?

I'll be happy to correspond with you privately in more detail, but
knowing the answers to the questions I've asked would help. Also, if
you can tell us what part of the country she's in, someone might well
know a good doctor if she doesn't already have one. In Atlanta Dr.
Fiameta Vargas is an excellent pschiatrist, and Dr. Beverly Castellano
is an excellent psychologist. I'd recommend them highly, separately or
as a team (one normally has talk therapy from the psychologist with
medical monitoring and drug therapy from the psychiatrist).

On the insurance side of things, "most insurance" doesn't matter. The
limits of her policy do matter. She needs to have someone, a family
member or friend, acting as her advocate with the insurer and the
hospital/doctor to see that she gets the care she needs and takes
advantage of all the benefits to which she is entitled by her
contract. If she's in a Charter facility, everything I know (from
personal and professional experience) says they'll keep her until her
benefits run out, then toss her out whether she's better or not. I
would never set foot in one of their hospitals, and I know quite a few
doctors who say the same. If she is in one, see that she's moved to a
less predatory institution now!

Cyn
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