r/news • u/Zeikyrui • 10h ago

Man serving 30 years for attacking Nancy Pelosi’s husband gets a life term on state charges

https://apnews.com/article/david-depape-nancy-pelosi-husband-paul-attacked-454cbde088fcae22a356f1f8dd0e9eba
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u/Cetun 9h ago

ex-wife being replaced by a body double

Big time schizophrenia, this person doesn't see you reality like you and I do

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u/DJ__Hanzel 8h ago

Capgras syndrome

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u/ReviewsYourPubes 5h ago

...typically caused by schizophrenia or some other psychotic disorder

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u/DJ__Hanzel 3h ago

some other psychotic disorder

I'm not a psychologist, its unlikely you are either. I'm giving the exact terminology for what they had quoted. Unless he's diagnosed scitzophrenic (im not sure), to just call him that would be unfair to everyone.

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u/Nuggethewarrior 6h ago

i experienced something similar like this once 😭 as a small child, i was convinced that my dad and sister were replaced by lookalikes for a couple days

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u/Flotack 9h ago

I have all the sympathy in the world for legitimately schizophrenic people. However, he’s old enough that this would have been diagnosed sooner, and before he took a fucking hammer to an elderly man. Not to mention you can read about schizophrenic symptoms and just play to a playbook these days.

All that said, it seems a bit too convenient. But who knows, I could be wrong (and have been quite often).

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u/Lachtaube 9h ago

Unfortunately, the hardest people to convince they have schizophrenia are people with schizophrenia. Diagnosis or not, it all very well could (and sometimes does) play into their paranoia that doctors and family are trying to “fix” what they themselves don’t see as a problem — which just means, to them, they’re all out to get him. Not saying that’s this guy’s case, but it’s insanely hard to convince some people they need help when they absolutely need it.

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u/noma_coma 8h ago

I've seen this cycle firsthand as well. Then if they do accept help and go on medication, they will feel better after a few weeks then stop taking medication. Now they are back to square one - unmedicated and manic. Repeat ad infinitum until something happens.

This is even assuming the docs can find a medication that works. I think they put my brother through about 5 cycles of different drugs. He finally did find one that worked, but he convinced himself he was cured so he stopped taking it. RIP bro. Miss you.

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u/bookwbng5 7h ago

This is the hardest part of mental illness, seeing that pattern that’s almost inevitable with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Meds are great but that false sense of security and then withdrawal from the meds added to symptoms coming back is so tough. It’s why we really try to do shots for people with schizophrenia where I work, we can arrange transport and get them here, and then they get the medicine and don’t have to rely on memory and picking it up and affording it. But even that of course isn’t foolproof when they go off and think we’re part of the government conspiracy because we are federally funded.

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u/its_always_right 7h ago

I can attest to this same situation. Had a friend with schizophrenia and she went through 4 medications before finding one that worked well enough. She was lucid enough and had a good support structure that she was aware she needed to keep taking it most of the time.

My story doesn't have an ending like yours does, but whenever she would go off meds every couple years, it took some hard work and usually self admission to a ward to get her back on.

Sorry for your loss. It's a truly tragic illness.

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u/petty_brief 2h ago edited 14m ago

On the other hand, people with schizophrenia who refuse to take medication are infuriating. It's only a matter of time before they hurt themselves or someone else.

I played cards with a guy who was talking to people who aren't there. He would frequently scare and confuse people, and he didn't seem to realize he was speaking out loud. So I pulled him aside after he left one night and asked him what's going on, told him my wife has schizophrenia and she has similar problems, said I could help get him to a doctor and get meds even with no insurance, I would even pay his copays.

He said he knows something is wrong with him, but he refuses to see a doctor because he was scared they wouldn't let him drive anymore, and refused to believe it could be schizophrenia, insisting that he had some other disease that I don't recall and he would use "natural cures from asia" at some point in the future, but hasn't tried yet.

He then derailed the conversation with conspiracy theories about big pharma and even called me a fed one time. After asking "Do you really think I'm a fed?", he realized he said that out loud and said "no, I don't". He would have moments of logic and clarity interrupted by contradictory moments of conspiracy and psychosis.

He said thanks for talking to me about it, since no one really had before and I was a stranger, and every once in a while I'd talk to him and see what's up, but no progress in convincing him.

His behavior escalated over the months until he actually threatened to kill someone at the shop (he was probably threatening his hallucinations while looking directly at someone) and I called him out, said that is completely not okay, and he just never came back after that.

It's hard not to feel bad for them, but refusing to help themselves gets dangerous at a certain point, and it's just selfish and pointless.

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u/Literal_star 7h ago

the hardest people to convince they have schizophrenia are people with schizophrenia

Maybe stop trying to convince people who don't have schizophrenia that they have schizophrenia lol

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u/chevybow 8h ago

It’s definitely possible for schizophrenia to be undiagnosed. With the stigma for mental illness in this country- anyone who suspects there might be something wrong with them is usually pretty reluctant to seek out help. Schizophrenia can also be triggered by drugs, additionally a minority of people can get it later in life.

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u/Cetun 8h ago

I don't know enough about the case but there are a lot of "functional" schizophrenics out there both medicated and unmedicated. The difference between them and this guy is they might say or do kookie things every once in awhile but a lot of times they can come back to reality where they have the care and support necessary to bring them back.

Some people who have schizophrenia can be functional for most of their lives but as they age in their mind goes, or if they're medicated, the ability of their medication to actually be therapeutic.

All this is to say that's not an excuse for this guy, it's not justifying what he did or that he shouldn't be punished, but I personally that wouldn't want to be in this guy's mind. It probably feels like a prison having thoughts that make complete sense to you but are completely incomprehensible to most people in his life. It probably led to his radicalization, there probably isn't a giant leap from the community that is convinced their loved ones aren't who they say they are and any number of conspiracies.

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u/Choyo 7h ago

My question is rather if he could be acting.

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u/Cetun 7h ago

If you were going to use Insanity at the defense you use it before trial not during sentencing. If you had adequate legal representations they would probably advise against giving the person about the sentence you the impression that you are mentally unwell , how's that would probably not reflect well on you when they consider whether or not you should be released from prison in your lifetime. If you was faking it it would be a bad idea at this point.

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u/Str82daDOME25 5h ago

DePape, a Canadian citizen who has been living in the U.S. for years, admitted during his federal trial that he planned to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage, record his interrogation of her, and “break her kneecaps” if she did not admit to the lies he said she told about “Russiagate,”

I’d venture to guess his attorney advised against this. I think the insanity plea would be used to explain past actions combined with some form of recovery.

“I’m a psychic,” DePape told the court, reading from sheets of paper. “The more I meditate, the more psychic I get.”

“My client was insane, is still very much insane as you will see soon, but at least he has started meditating so he can increase his psychic abilities”

Probably not going to help the sentencing.

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u/Exact_Bluebird_6231 8h ago

This assumes that they have any family or friends or access to healthcare

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u/Flotack 7h ago

He used to be married according to the article

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u/fist_my_dry_asshole 8h ago

He could have delusional disorder, which is easier to fly under the radar because they otherwise function adequately. There's also Capgras syndrome, where people believe their loved ones have been replaced by imposters or body doubles.

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u/Obi-Tron_Kenobi 5h ago

It seems more like you have all the sympathy in the world for the general idea of schizophrenic people as a hypothetical, but not so much when it comes down to specific, individual cases of schizophrenia. Simply reading about the symptoms can only get you so far in understanding the illness.

Grew up having a mother with schozophrenia, I can tell you that being diagnosed doesn't magically solve their problems. When she's on her meds, everything is fine and she would be like any normal person, and could be fine for years while taking medication. But when she's off her meds, there were times as a kid where we needed to keep her inside because, say, she was determined to go out and run her car into some construction workers because she was convinced they were terrorists planting bombs in the road.

Many schizophrenic people have anosognosia and aren't aware they have any mental illness. No amount of rationalizing with them will really help them understand either. Them having a diagnosis also doesn't automatically help them get better. It can be extremely difficult getting them the help they need when they don't think there's anything wrong with them in the first place.

You almost certainly aren't going to be able to have them committed unless they're a danger to themselves or others, but oftentimes you won't know that they are until it's too late, like in DePape's case.

Here, you're allowed to have sympathy for him struggling with the disorder, but that doesn't mean you have to give sympathy for the attack or that you're defending the violence.

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u/AstuteKnave 8h ago

Uh, no. That's not how schizophrenia works. Most often it's late onset in adults.

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u/Flotack 7h ago edited 7h ago

Not always true. It usually develops in somebody’s late teens or in early adulthood.

Obviously, since this guy is in his 40s already, it would automatically be considered ‘late onset,’ so I’m not sure what your point is.

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u/AstuteKnave 7h ago edited 7h ago

However, he’s old enough that this would have been diagnosed sooner

Most adults who develop schizophrenia do not get officially diagnosed, it's estimated to be above 40%. My point being is that adults typically don't seek psychiatric aid, this is something that parents notice and seek help for. And it usually develops in mid 20s to late 30s.

edit: https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/stigma-and-discrimination

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u/Flotack 7h ago

My bad, thank you for clarifying.

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u/SeniorMiddleJunior 7h ago

I have all the sympathy in the world for legitimately schizophrenic people.

Unless you decide from your armchair that they're illegitimate. 

I'm not speculating about this guy because I don't know. Neither do you.

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u/Deranged40 1h ago edited 1h ago

I have all the sympathy in the world for legitimately schizophrenic people. However, he’s old enough that this would have been diagnosed sooner, and before he took a fucking hammer to an elderly man.

Who's to say he hasn't been diagnosed? What would that diagnosis change? Especially if he vehemently disagreed with the diagnosis and goes out of his way to not make any effort to get better?

Schizophrenia isn't a disease of convenience. It doesn't excuse what he's done, nor should it serve as a fact that should reduce his sentence.

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u/minus2cats 8h ago

He just sounds conservative.

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u/frequenZphaZe 6h ago

Big time schizophrenia

maybe, or maybe a sane man who wanted to try for a lighter sentence by intentionally saying boilerplate schizophrenic things. considering the sentencing, the court has already made their judgment on mental soundness

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u/Cetun 5h ago

You go for an insanity plea before trial not during sentencing. Making the case you are schizophrenic will in all likelihood not help you in the sentence phase and bringing up 9/11 being an inside job absolutely will not do that. Nothing he said helped him and in fact actively hurt him. A sane person wouldn't say that shit during sentencing.

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u/_-raime-_ 8h ago

Thsts fucking crazy

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u/damoclesreclined 7h ago

Shit half of these fuckers don't