Opinion ID: 4549439
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Drommond’s Bipolar Disorder

Text: ¶25 Dr. Gummow testified that, when Drommond murdered Reed, he suffered from bipolar disorder NOS, childhood onset. This was important, she said, ―because the bipolar disorder has a lot to do with Mr. Drommond‘s criminal behavior and understanding what happened, and also understanding what might happen in the future with regard to him.‖ ¶26 Dr. Gummow explained how people with bipolar disorder might generally behave. She explained that people experiencing a manic episode are ―extremely active,‖ ―talk too fast,‖ ―move too fast,‖ and are ―not rational.‖ She also said that those experiencing manic episodes are likely to ―get involved in legal trouble‖ because, for example, ―they‘re out and about and they irritate people, they get in fights‖—all that, because they ―don‘t know that they‘re high.‖ A person experiencing a manic episode ―may think that they‘ve lost control of themselves,‖ said Dr. Gummow, ―but often they‘re not aware of the fact that their behavior is going off the chart.‖ Dr. Gummow testified that bipolar disorder is ―incurable‖—that ―it can be controlled, minimized, and people can be comfortable, but it‘s always there.‖ ¶27 Besides opining that Drommond had bipolar disorder NOS, Dr. Gummow also discussed the diagnoses of the four court-appointed psychologists who had determined that Drommond was competent. Each psychologist—none of whom were called as witnesses at trial—had diagnosed Drommond differently: bipolar disorder one (Dr. Oster); narcissistic personality disorder (Dr. Malouf); personality disorder not otherwise specified, with prominent narcissistic and borderline features (Dr. Cohn); and major depression and severe cluster B personality disorder (Dr. Golding).4 Dr. Gummow conceded that Dr. Cohn‘s and Dr. Golding‘s diagnoses were supported by some __________________________________________________________ 4 The parties do not point to clear definitions of these personality disorders in their briefs and so we do not define them here. 7 STATE v. DROMMOND Opinion of the Court evidence and that they would be harder to treat than bipolar disorder and that they couldn‘t be treated with medication.5