Opinion ID: 2638651
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Vivian

Text: Vivian has suffered from a long history of mental illness. The condition from which she suffers is Bipolar Disorder, for which she is currently taking medication to control her symptoms. Her first acute attack was precipitated by taking LSD in 1988 when she was fifteen and resulted in her being hospitalized, first in the Fairbanks Memorial Hospital and then in the Alaska Psychiatric Institute. Subsequent hospitalizations for mental illness have coincided with the births of each of her four children. The first such hospitalization occurred at the Alaska Psychiatric Institute in October 1991, shortly after the birth of her son Scott. Vivian had ceased taking her medication for her mental illness in November 1990. Fearing that Vivian might not be able to care for her baby because of her psychological condition, the obstetrician both requested a psychiatric consultation and contacted DFYS. Vivian was sent to the Alaska Psychiatric Institute and later given lessons in child care. In 1992 Vivian was hospitalized in the psychiatric ward of Fairbanks Memorial Hospital while making accusations that Scott was being sexually molested. Approximately six months after the birth of Amy in June 1993, Vivian was again sent to the Alaska Psychiatric Institute and the psychiatric ward of Fairbanks Memorial Hospital. Upon the insistence of Keith, Vivian discontinued use of her prescribed psychotropic medications during her pregnancy, thus precipitating the recurrence of acute episodes related to her Bipolar Disorder. Vivian had another acute episode in 1994. As of September 1995, Vivian was again pregnant (with Michael) and off her medication at the insistence of Keith. Vivian left Keith in April 1996, took her three children to a local women's shelter, and filed a domestic violence restraining order against Keith. After becoming pregnant with Veronica by a now-deceased third party, Vivian reconciled with Keith. Vivian soon thereafter filed a second protective order against him when he ordered her and her sister out of his house. This second petition was filed in response to a domestic violence incident in which Keith allegedly grabbed Vivian and threatened to kill her after she kicked him in the nose during an argument. Despite leaving Keith, Vivian did not take her mental illness medications during her pregnancy. Soon after the birth of Veronica on October 6, 1997, Vivian asked her mother to take care of her children while she had a tubal ligation. In January 1998 Vivian was arrested for assaulting her niece, who at the time was babysitting the children. [2] At the time, all four children were living with Vivian, but only the three older children were present during the assault, Veronica having spent the night with her maternal grandmother. Upon her release from jail, Vivian went again to the Alaska Psychiatric Institute and then in April 1998 entered the Paul Williams House, an assisted living facility in Fairbanks for patients with mental illness. The Paul Williams House does not allow its patients to have children live with them. Vivian left the Paul Williams House in September 1999 and a month later moved in with Craig, whom she married the following month.