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Lithium:
Battering Mania Rebecca J. Anderson, PhD While working as a prison warden’s administrative assistant in 1985, Risdon Slate began suffering from insomnia. Because the South Carolina prison had just performed a couple of executions in quick succession, Slate was diagnosed with “situational depression” by his family physician, who prescribed the antidepressant, amitriptyline (1, 2). In 1986, Slate took a job as a probation officer (1-3). After some stressful encounters with a parolee, he again experienced insomnia and began selfmedicating with alcohol (2).
The Pharmacologist • June 2022
While in Miami for federal probation officer training, Slate got into an argument with a man at the hotel bar. Slate thought he was in an episode of the 1980s TV drama, Miami Vice, and that the man was an actor (1-3). When police arrived, Slate insisted on speaking only to Sonny Crockett, the central character in Miami Vice (3). Within two weeks, Slate resigned his job for medical reasons, and his wife announced she was divorcing him (1). A South Carolina psychiatrist finally got to the source of Slate’s problems. His diagnosis was bipolar
