Christina Schumacher: An Update

Christina Schumacher told Vermont legislators on Thursday night that she opposes involuntarily hospitalization.

Regular readers will know that last month I wrote about the plight of Vermont's Christina Schumacher.

Schumacher had been locked up for 5 weeks or so [against her will] at the secure psych ward at Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, VT.

Mental health assessors [armed with their crystal balls] had deemed Schumacher a danger to herself and others after she had recently learned that her son, Gunnar, 14, was strangled by his father, Ludwig "Sonny" Schumacher Jr., 49, who later took his own life by hanging. Christina had separated from "Sonny" in July last year.

Despite her protests, and the protests of close friends, Schumacher was held under duress and billed for the 5 week stay.

Here's the latest...

On Jan. 24 Vermont Superior Court Judge Kevin Griffin ruled that he could not find "by clear and convincing evidence" that Schumacher was in need of treatment when she was admitted Dec. 19.

Last week, during a two-hour joint session of the Legislature, Schumacher to lawmakers she had gone through hell the day she was admitted to Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington after learning about the killing of her teenage son by her estranged husband, who then killed himself. She added, "The bottom line is nobody should have to endure the death of their son and the death of their husband and then be put into the situation,"

USA Today takes up the story...

Schumacher said she was fortunate to have a lot of support from friends after the bodies were found Dec. 18, and she decided to keep her therapy appointment the following afternoon.

"I thought it would be a logical thing to do, to actually go to that therapy appointment," she said. "So I made a choice to go."

Schumacher said she was surprised to find that her therapist had been joined by the director of the counseling program, another doctor and two guards.

"They all made a decision before I even arrived that they were going to check me in. Check me into a mental health facility. A woman that just experienced the hell of her life," she said.

"That night I went through the fires of hell just dealing with what I dealt with," Schumacher said.

Schumacher said in an interview prior to the Senate hearing that she went public with her story in the Burlington Free Press while she was hospitalized to try to ensure nobody ever again has to endure what happened to her and also to be released so she could support her teenage daughter. Schumacher said her visit to the Legislature is a continuation of her fight.

The doctors told Schumacher they wanted her to take stronger drugs, she told lawmakers.

Once Lindsey Owen of Disability Rights explained to Schumacher her legal rights while she was hospitalized, she said she began to fight.

"I started standing up to the doctors," Schumacher said. "They did not know whether to kick me out or lock me up forever. So guess what? I fought for my rights, and I'm out of there."

"And no one should ever have to endure what I have gone through," she added. "It has been hell. I will not stop fighting this fight."

"The doctors told Schumacher they wanted her to take stronger drugs"

Since when has grief, or shock for that matter, been a mental illness?

This is yet another example of the white-coated jumped up little Hitler's wishing to play God...and failing miserably.

Thanks goodness Schumacher was able to show some fighting spirit. Who knows where she would be now if her natural instinct for survival had been suppressed by mental health services and the drugs they hand out like candy.

Heads should roll at Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, VT.

This is for Christina Schumacher. She stood up to be counted... I salute her.

Bob Fiddaman

Woman In Chains

Not quite chains but one could argue that  Christina Schumacher, (Pictured) was held under duress for five weeks at the secure psych ward at Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, VT.

So, is this just another case of a person who has found daily living unbearable, so unbearable that, overnight, they have developed a chemical imbalance in their brain thus rendering them mentally ill?

Well, if mourning the loss of a child is a mental illness then Schumacher deserved to be held. The thing is, and this is the crux of the argument, mourning is not a mental illness.

What this particular story shows us is how very easy it is to make money from the dead.

Schumacher's son, Gunnar, 14, was strangled by his father, Ludwig "Sonny" Schumacher Jr., 49, who later took his own life by hanging. Christina had separated from "Sonny" in July last year.

One day after learning her son was killed by her ex, Christina is admitted to a psychiatric unit because because mental health workers believed she posed a danger to herself and others.

It's called grief.

Schumacher has now been billed for her stay at the Fletcher Allen Health Care Centre.

So, let's just get this straight.

Your son is murdered.

You learn it was an ex-spouse who murdered him.

You then learn your ex-spouse killed themselves.

Ah, yes...most obvious reaction to this would be to become dangerous to yourself and/or others.

I'm not disputing that Schumacher felt suicidal, who wouldn't after hearing such devastating news? But who in their right minds would incarcerate a woman [because that's what it is] hours after she had learned her child had been murdered?

Mental Health Services had a couple of options here.

1. They could have, quite easily, "monitored" the situation.

As patients we are constantly told by antidepressant manufacturers that we may feel suicidal during the first few weeks of taking medication. We are told...or rather our doctor's are told, that the patient should be 'monitored' during this period. Why was Schumacher singled out for a 5 week stay at the 'Nutjob Hilton' then?

2. They could have listened to Schumacher and her friends who, according to reports, "disputed her need to be confined."

Her friends didn't have white coats and stethoscopes around their necks though...they did not have the skill to see Schumacher's chemical imbalance.

If indeed Christina Schumacher did pose a threat to herself and others then what changed over the five weeks she was held against her will? Did medication help her, is there some miracle pill that can, after five weeks, cure suicidal and homicidal thoughts?

I'm thinking there's money to be made here... I'm a bit late to jump on this particular bandwagon though as pharmaceutical companies and mental health services have been doing it for years.

I could, however, get some sort of loan and open up a motel or guest house. I'd pay the unemployed to scour the streets for anyone who looked remotely sad [Are you listening Cameron?].

My 'spotter' could then text me, "Woman, mid-fifties, looks sad, just saw her purchase a condolence card...obviously a danger to herself and others. I've attached a photo."

Great! A quick phone call to Mick "The Bruiser" Jones. "Hey Bruiser, get yourself down to the card shop on the High Street, attached is photo"

Mick "The Brusier" could then wait outside and nab the woman as she came out of the card shop.

I could then hold her for five weeks, bill her, and claim I was only acting in her best interests.

Isn't this, in essence, what Fletcher Allen Health Care have done with Schumacher?

Welcome to the world of mental health folks. A world where the actions of crazy people are actually committed by those employed in the system and not those dragged into it against their will.

Full story here.


Bob Fiddaman