A Wisconsin woman accused of stabbing her classmate to please horror character Slender Man more than a decade ago asked a judge again Friday to release her from a psychiatric hospital.

Morgan Geyser, who is now 22 years old, filed a petition with Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Bohren seeking her release from the Winnebago Mental Health Institute. The petition marks the third time in the last two years she has asked Bohren to let her out of the facility.

She withdrew her first petition two months after filing it in 2022. Bohren denied her second request this past April, saying she remains a risk to the public.

  • @[email protected]
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    538 hours ago

    Was the psychiatric hospital meant to rehabilitate her?

    If possible, otherwise keep her away from pointy items. Working in psychiatry years ago, I’ve met people for whom their psychiatric diagnosis was chronic, and whom you could dope all you wanted, but their psychosis never retreated. All you could do was keep them from hurting themselves or others.

    Sometimes we need a way to shield individuals from the general public, without it actually being a punishment. Lady in the story sounds like an example.

    • Flying Squid
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      2 hours ago

      Being put in a criminal psychiatric facility for life doesn’t sound like “without it actually being a punishment” to me.

      Especially not in the U.S.

      • @TrousersMcPants
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        4 minutes ago

        It depends, I worked in a similar place and the people there lived in relative comfort. Obviously it’s going to be a sad situation regardless, as even in the best of settings they no longer have freedom. but to some of the people in there they preferred it. Many of them had their own collections of books and even some video games and the like in their rooms and they could do things like working at the canteen to occupy their time otherwise. For someone with very severe mental issues, living somewhere that keeps you away from the world and makes sure you’re fed and relatively safe can be preferable.

    • @Dainterhawk999
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      6 hours ago

      Just a question… Are there any mental health issues which cannot be treated? As you have worked in psychiatry, any input will be highly appreciated.

      • @Valmond
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        175 hours ago

        Schizophrenia can be untreatable.

        Fachism sometimes too. \j

          • Flying Squid
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            21 hour ago

            Of course, Hitchcock was his own sort of petty fascist on a film set (and a rapist), so he was probably not the best person to deliver that message.

            I don’t disagree, I’m just saying…

      • @TrousersMcPants
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        14 minutes ago

        I worked (admittedly as a custodian, so not an expert at all) in close contact with people who had antipersonality disorder. These were people who had been convicted of sexual assault and had served a sentence then had been deemed unfit to return to society. I don’t believe any of them could get any amount of treatment that would have made them truly safe around others, even if they behaved well on their wards.

        Mental illness can almost never truly be cured, and some people can be simply too dangerous to be allowed complete freedom. It’s sad to think about, but I think until we have a better understanding of the mind and how to better treat people with issues like this, it’s better that certain people stay “locked up” as it were. So long as they are given humane treatment and accommodations, of course.

    • @TheEighthDoctor
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      128 hours ago

      I mean sure, but at 12 years old you cannot possibly be a lost cause I would think, there is still so much development going on.

      • @[email protected]
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        216 hours ago

        That is like saying a 12 year old should be able to be healed from being quadriplegic because they are still growing. Some medical conditions are for live (at our current medical knowledge) and it doesn’t matter if they are “physical” or “mental”.

          • @ThatWeirdGuy1001
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            83 hours ago

            Just because their brains are still developing doesn’t mean they aren’t developing wrong.

            If the foundation is fucked the whole thing is gonna be fucked no matter how much time you give it.

            Some people are unfortunately born with fucked foundations be they physical or mental.

      • WIZARD POPE💫
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        38 hours ago

        Well you could be. Some people are just born that way.