Astronaut suffered 'mental anguish'

Associated Press (excerpt) ^ | February 7, 2007 | RASHA MADKOUR and DAVID CRARY

[HAL9000]

Excerpt -

HOUSTON - Lisa Nowak chose a juggling act of dauntingly high difficulty: to be an astronaut and a mother of three. Her background — high school valedictorian, Naval Academy graduate, test pilot — seemed to equip her for the challenge. Yet as she and some of her acquaintances acknowledged, the stresses on her and her family were extraordinarily intense.

On Wednesday, transformed from space hero to criminal suspect, Nowak returned to Houston for a medical assessment, a day after she was charged in Florida with attempted murder and attempted kidnapping in what police depicted as a love triangle involving a fellow astronaut.

The woman viewed as a role model by the schoolchildren she often addressed was met on the tarmac by police and escorted into a waiting squad car after her release on bail. Her head was covered by a jacket. She faced a medical exam at Johnson Space Center.

NASA, at a loss to explain what went wrong, said it would revamp its psychological screening process in light of Nowak's arrest. The review will look at how astronauts are screened for psychological problems and whether Nowak's dealings with co-workers signaled complications.

~ snip ~

[HAL9000]

She needs to take a stress pill and think things over.

[Rb ver. 2.0]

"Lisa Nowak chose a juggling act of dauntingly high difficulty: to be an astronaut and a mother of three."

You can be good at one or the other, but not both.

[xcamel]

Pressure will get you - one way or another.

[DainBramage]

After traveling to space can she claim she wanted to murder because of Post dePartum Depression?

[oldbrowser]

Lisa Nowak chose a juggling act of dauntingly high difficulty: to be an astronaut and a mother of three.

Where is her husband in all of this?

[glennshepard]

Moral of the story: if you're a zoomie at the Air Force Academy, don't mess with USNA! j/k

[LdSentinal]

Looks like husband and wife separated weeks ago.

[Fitzcarraldo]

Where is her husband in all of this?

Richard Nowak also works at Johnson Space Center.

[wizecrakker]

So when is she checking into rehab?

[BigFinn]

Too many twinkies.

[Fitzcarraldo]

http://www.barrios.com/NewsItem1.cfm?News_ID=70

Richard Nowak, Sandy Johnson, Keith Tran, Macresia Alibaruho

[SteveMcKing]

NASA will put a positive spin on the incident, as a "learning experience" in human behavior.

In fact, if Dan Goldin were still in charge- Nowak would be commanding the very next shuttle flight.

[jwalsh07]

Whole bunch of conduct unbecoming an officer going around NASA.

[Mr_Moonlight]

This story is just so sad.

An Astronaut, who we always thought of as possessing the utmost of high caliber character (The Right Stuff), turns out to have human failings and jealousies just like everybody else. Sad only because it blows apart the myth

[Fitzcarraldo]

[JaguarXKE]

She needs to take a stress pill and think things over.

I'm no psychiatrist, but I do teach a class for families with loved ones suffering with brain disorders. If I was going to hazard an educated guess I'd say the poor woman suffered a Psychotic break, possibly as a prelude to or onset of Schizophrenia. Brain disorders can affect anyone and at any time of life. My aunt on my mother’s side was similarly her HS class valedictorian and graduated with honors from college. Two years later she suffered a breakdown and spent the rest of her life in and out of institutions. If that is what happened to this woman, while she needs to be accountable, she will also need help. Jag

[JaguarXKE]

turns out to have human failings and jealousies just like everybody else.

I suspect her transformation is almost certainly due to some brain disorder. My own son was a bright, healthy, happy young man until he suffered a sudden (and frightening) phychotic break and was later diagnosed as Bi-Polar (caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain).

[Rudder]

Having treated a few hundred of people with these signs, my guess is schizophrenia, paranoid type.

[Diogenesis]

The signs, ie. planning and lying, herald sociopathy.
I think schizophrenia would have been detected.

[SkyPilot]

"She was the epitome of managing a very hectic career, making sacrifices to accommodate her family," Clark said in a telephone interview. "All those stresses can conspire to be overwhelming. ... Clearly she suffered a lot of mental anguish.

You know, I really feel bad for her, but this analysis in print makes me want to scream:

"Join the club."

A lot of people have 'mental anguish' - they don't commit criminal acts or assault innocent people in what was clearly a calculated and cold manner.

I was an aeronautical engineer, Air Force pilot, father of three, etc, etc. On top of that, I was gone 200+ days a year sometimes. It was damn stressful. But that would never excuse terrible behavior.

The whole tone of this article sounds like an article from Cosmopolitan or a script for an Oprah episode.

There are a lot of American Heroes out there who never get the adulation this woman received. Single mothers who work two jobs (I know a few) are heroes. Police officers who put up with the worst of society and yet give every ounce of love to their children when they get home. And yes, our current service men and women who are at half the strength as during the Cold War, yet are 10 times as busy (that is a fact just acknowledged by the current Air Force Chief of Staff Gen Mosely).

I remember flying, coming home to another job at the base I had to do on top of that, men and women under my command who had a myriad of problems I myself had to help them deal with, study for more schooling or aircraft upgrades, and then nurse a sick child and help run a busy household by cleaning, cooking, doing laundry, and helping with schoolwork. Millions of Americans pour their heart and soul into their lives each day in a similar fashion.

How many of them go off and pepper spray an innocent woman?

I pity this Navy 0-6 astronaut, but I won't suffer pyschobabble excuses made for her.