Free Republic

One was a middle-aged man who refused to get into the shower. The other was a teenager who was afraid to get out. The man, Leonard, a writer living outside Chicago, found himself completely unable to wash himself or brush his teeth. The teenager, Ross, growing up in a suburb of New York, had become so terrified of germs that he would regularly shower for seven hours. Each received a diagnosis of severe obsessive-compulsive disorder, or O.C.D., and for years neither felt comfortable enough to leave the house. But leave they eventually did, traveling in desperation to a hospital in...

If you want to score a meeting with Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), know this: His scheduler/office manager, Elizabeth Becton, is to be addressed by her full name — not Liz or any other variant. An executive assistant at McBee Strategic recently learned this the hard way. A few weeks ago, the assistant e-mailed Becton seeking a meeting with McDermott and a client, JPMorgan Chase. Days later, the assistant checked back in and unfortunately began the e-mail with “Hi Liz.” Becton curtly replied, “Who is Liz?” When the assistant wrote back with an apology, Becton turned up the heat. “I do...

81-year-old accused in killing By Erin Sullivan, Times Staff Writer Published Saturday, April 25, 2009 SHADY HILLS — The man was shirtless, belly to the sun, near a patch of purple wildflowers. He laid where he fell, splayed, just before 1 p.m. Saturday, between the road and his neighbor's chain-link fence. Seth Sigmon, 29, lived on the dead-end side of Connie Court in Shady Hills. Neighbors say he has a son and that his wife was getting out of the shower when he was slain. Authorities say his next-door neighbor, 81-year-old John Croft, shot Sigmon multiple times with a .22...

Saturday, April 25th 2009 NEIGHBOURS rescued a girl from disfigurement or death after a pitbull attacked her and was in the process of chewing on the infant's face. Three-year-old Nathalia Jones's rescuers found her being mauled by the dog near her home on Thursday. She was last night a patient at the San Fernando General Hospital. It took 30 stitches to close the wounds. Little Nathalia was playing with her cousins when the dog pounced on her. "The dog grabbed my child's head and was biting. And when people see this they began pulling away the dog. I still can't...

Condemned: Experts claim obsessive compulsive disorder is a life sentence Scrubbing my hands again and again until they almost bleed. Obsessively tapping objects hundreds of times before I can leave the house. Even kissing my purse over and over again. These are the weird and distressing rituals I have lived with since I became a slave to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder when I was a child. It is a psychological illness that has, on more than one occasion, brought me literally to my knees. With its threatening, fearful thoughts and laborious rituals, it has been the bane of my life. For...

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Authorities in the South Carolina county where Michael Phelps was photographed smoking from a marijuana pipe have been arresting people as they seek to make a case against the superstar swimmer, lawyers for two arrested people said Thursday. Attorneys Joseph McCulloch and Dick Harpootlian told The Associated Press they each represent a client charged with possession of marijuana who were questioned about the party Phelps attended near the University of South Carolina campus in November. The lawyers said the two clients were renters at the house where the party apparently took place. Harpootlian said his client was...

A spinster who obsessively hoarded clothes died in her home after a mountain of suitcases fell on her, burying her alive. Joan Cunnane, 77, owned 300 scarves as well as thousands of trinkets and valuables. They took up so much space in her bungalow that she had only a 2ft-wide path to get around them, and her car and garage were packed with other goods. After she was reported missing earlier this week, it took police searching her home two days to sift through her possessions. Miss Cunnane was eventually found buried under a 3ft pile of cases in a...

We've all seen a dog endlessly chase its tail and wonder to ourselves, why do they do that? Now researchers believe those strange animal behaviors may actually be a psychiatric disorder. Deborah Santti was worried about her 10-month-old German Shepherd named Lucas. "It was out of control," she said of his constant tail chasing. Finally she decided to bring him to Tufts University animal behaviorist, Dr. Nick Dodman. The diagnosis: obsessive compulsive disorder. "OCD in pets is a real phenomenon," he explained. It's the same condition that affects millions of Americans who deal with obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors like...

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — The U.S. marshals office in Grand Rapids says a woman who walked away from a Detroit-area prison in 1976 after being convicted on drug charges has been recaptured in California.Deputies say Susan Lefevre was living under the name of Marie Walsh in the San Diego suburb of Del Mar, Calif., when she was arrested Thursday at her home in an affluent neighborhood.Lefevre told them her husband and two children had no idea of her criminal conviction 32 years ago in Saginaw County or her escape from what now is the Robert Scott Correctional Facility in...

SPITZER'S LEGACY: A $3.6M PROBE TABBy BRENDAN SCOTT April 13, 2008 -- Eliot Spitzer's political and sexual shenanigans are costing taxpayers upwards of $3.6 million. **SNIP** This month, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo launched his second look at the Dirty Tricks saga: a far-reaching probe into whether Spitzer ordered the State Police to gather intelligence on Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno. It should double the estimated $150,000 the attorney general's office spent on the initial report that sparked the Spitzer's troubles last year. Meanwhile, the State Investigation Commission has launched an investigation of the investigations - those by the attorney general,...

ATLANTA - Air traveler angst was sure to continue Friday as American Airlines grounded hundreds more flights. The financial toll and loss of goodwill likely would grow as well, as the inspection-related mess spread further to other carriers and hurt an industry already bleeding cash thanks to high fuel costs. Lawmakers were asking questions and some fed-up air travelers headed for trains. Others gave the airlines a pass, saying the companies were doing the best they could. "If somebody's got a choice between being in a plane crash and being late, is there a choice?" Jane Bernard, a writer from...

Dealing with border-jumping duffers Enhanced security putting the future of unique Aroostook Valley Country Club at risk By Mark Rickard and Madeleine LeClerc Published Friday April 11th, 2008 Appeared on page A2 Will the only golf course that sits on both sides of the Canada-United States border fall victim to enhanced border security? The future of the Aroostook Valley Country Club – which has served both Americans and Canadians for 81 years – is in doubt if United States Customs border patrol officers enforce entry regulations at the club. For more than eight decades, Aroostook Valley has been a unique...

American airlines begged the feds Thursday to let it keep its fleet aloft, saying the fastenings that need to be checked pose no safety threat. The answer was no. The airline has grounded 2,500 flights since Tuesday, causing chaos for passengers nationwide, while it inspects latches and clamps on wiring covers as required by the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA yesterday ordered the 300 Boeing MD-80 jets to remain parked while mechanics made sure wire ties were exactly 1 inch apart and clamps faced the right way. More than 900 flights were scrapped yesterday, and the airport havoc is expected...

SAN DIEGO – Federal probation officials are recommending that Brent Wilkes, the Poway defense contractor who was convicted of bribing former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, should be sentenced to 60 years in prison, according to court records. Wilkes was scheduled to be sentenced next Monday, but that has been postponed until Feb. 19 at the request of his lawyer, Mark Geragos. In court papers, Geragos said he needed more time to analyze and challenge the report from the federal probation office, which he received Jan. 15 – later than required under court rules. Such a lengthy sentence recommendation, even in...

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A former teacher serving house arrest for having sex with a 14-year-old student was arrested on charges of violating her probation, state records show. According to a Department of Corrections report, Debra Lafave discussed her personal life and other subjects with a teenage waitress at a restaurant where both worked. One of the terms of her probation was that she was not allowed to have unsupervised contact with minors without permission. Lafave, 26, is serving three years of house arrest and seven years of probation after pleading guilty to having sex with the boy in a...

<p>Tampa, Florida - According to records with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, Debra Lafave was arrested today for violating her probation. The violation listed says she talked to a coworker who was 17 years old on various occasions.</p>

Boy, 12, charged with assault after throwing cocktail sausage in 'Just William' prank How the law made a meal out of a boy's childish prank By JAYA NARAIN - More by this author » Last updated at 21:50pm on 22nd August 2007 Food for thought: The boy of 12 contemplates all the stress caused by throwing a sausage A 12-year-old boy has been brought before the courts for throwing a cocktail sausage at a neighbour District Judge Tim Devas compared the incident to a story from boys' adventure book Just William. The case has been brought before Manchester City...

At Patton Middle School in McMinnville, Oregon, students created something called "slap butt day." On one such day in February 2007, according to The Oregonian (July 22, 2007): "Two boys tore down the hall of Patton Middle School after lunch, swatting the bottoms of girls as they ran -- what some kids later said was a common form of greeting. But bottom-slapping is against policy in McMinnville Public Schools. So a teacher's aide sent the gawky seventh-graders to the office, where the vice principal and a police officer stationed at the school soon interrogated them." A police officer interrogated them?...

TEL AVIV, Israel, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Internet addiction should be grouped with extreme addictive disorders such as gambling, sex addiction and kleptomania, an Israeli psychiatrist said. Dr. Pinhas Dannon of Tel Aviv University's Sackler Faculty of Medicine said 10 percent of Internet surfers are afflicted with "Internet addiction disorder," which can lead to anxiety and severe depression. Internet addiction is classified by mental health professionals as an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, a mild to severe mental health condition that results in an urge to engage in ritualistic thoughts and behavior. "Internet addiction is not manifesting itself as an ‘urge.’ It’s...

Christopher JonesThe suspect in Friday’s high-speed chase that gained national attention when two news helicopters collided above the scene shuffled into court Saturday morning with his head down and his left arm wrapped in heavy gauze from his wrist to his elbow. Christopher Jones, 23, suffered the injuries Friday afternoon during his arrest when police dogs took him down inside a west Phoenix residence. “I’m not a flight risk,” Jones told Commissioner Joan Sinclair during his initial court appearance at Madison Street Jail. “I will man up to what I did. I am responsible for it.” Jones told the...