Tags
bipolar disorder, Dr.Drew, exploitation, head injury, mental illness, photo shoot, psychiatric disorders, Tan mom
I almost spit my coffee out all over my laptop when I saw Tan Mom’s nude “photo shoot”. I am embarrassed to admit that I actually clicked through all 100 pics. It was like seeing a traffic accident on the road, I rubber-necked in complete disbelief. At first I thought they were some stolen pictures that maybe her husband took of her, but no. Not only were they not stolen, they were sent to the media by Tan Mom herself.
So here is my unsolicited opinion on Tan Mom: Tan Mom is psychiatrically ill and requires protection under a state mental health act. Here is my rationale…thank you Dr. Drew and all the entertainment sites online that has presented the salacious collateral information.
Tan mom was a victim of horrific physical abuse. She sustained a severe head injury many years ago. She has neurological damage as a result. The most obvious symptom is her movement disorder and prominent facial grimacing. IF she sustained frontal lobe damage, we are going to see impairments in mood, judgement and impulsivity.
In one of the interviews with Dr. Drew she showed many characteristics of a person with a bipolar mood disorder. Her mood was very labile, she was unable to stay on topic, and some of her responses were inappropriate. She was disinhibited, giddy and grandiose. Notwithstanding the brain injury, bipolar disorder also manifests itself in similarly. In hypomania, people often present with irritability, euphoria, grandiosity, poor judgement, impulsive behaviour, and one of the hallmarks is they do things that they would not normally do in big ways: such as spending huge amounts of money/running up credit, sexually wreckless behaviour, and act in general very irresponsible. They get themselves in trouble.
I think that this poor woman suffers from both.
I mean shit…she actually sent this photos to Vivid offering to shoot porn for a price. Let me state why I think this is an important piece of information. Tan mom spoke about feeling unfairly judged and ridiculed by the public on several occasions. First her appearance when she was compulsively tanning which in itself screams out body dysmorphic disorder; secondly when she was accused of bringing her child into the tan beds-I don’t actually believe she did-but it made a juicy story for a while; thirdly when being mocked when she was completely drunk out of her mind in public and falling down and fourthly when people accused her of being under the influence of drugs when she was interviewed. I have no idea if she is using drugs, and what I saw was either a movement disorder or the effects of antipsychotic medications called tardive dyskenisia.
In any event…we see a woman who in my opinion has indeed been judged harshly for putting herself in the public eye when she is in less than good form. The question is whether or not she is able to make these decisions without a mental impairment steering the ship. Her outrageous behavior has escalated to what appears to be an over inflated sense of self, wreckless disregard for the ripple effect that yet again this will have on her child, and the opinion of the general public which of course includes me.
I truly do believe that people have the right to do as they please within the confines of the law, and if they want to do it publicly and give us a laugh fine. However, I don’t think there is much humor in a person publically humiliating themself if they are in a state of severe mental illness. To me, that is NOT informed consent. It is not uncommon for people with mental disorders to not know they are sick, and this is why we have laws to protect them. I wonder where her supporters, friends and family are. I wonder why they are not getting this individual the help that she needs before things get worse. Surely, they don’t care about her, and I wonder if they are standing beside her with their hands out and benefiting from her 15 minute spotlight. It is shameful. If I came across this individual in my clinical setting I would have a mental health certificate slapped on her before she could say “Cheese”.
But that’s just me.
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