Did Colin Caffell Contribute To Sheila's Schizophrenia?

[guest29835]

Steve is keen for us to discuss whether Colin Caffell was a factor in Sheila's schizophrenia.  I don't see it as crucially important, but I did raise this question previously myself.  Note that I am not suggesting that Colin caused Sheila's schizophrenia, which is more of a medical question and outside our domain, as it would involve a specialist discussion about genetics and child-rearing.  What I am wondering is what were the background factors and influences during Sheila's late adolescence and early 20s, which is the critical period for schizophrenia.  I wonder if one of them may have been the marriage to and relationship with Colin.

Steve takes offence at this discussion, but rather than leave it, he keeps bringing the topic up as if he has some sort of weird fascination with it.  Therefore, I think we should have a thread to discuss the question and also for wider discussion about Colin Caffell.

Personally, I'm not especially interested in Colin Caffell.  Moreover, while I don't have anything against him particularly, at the same time I've never really taken to him.  He is what he is, and let's remember he is the bereaved father.  Nevertheless, Steve keeps mentioning him, so there must be something important to cover.

Steve will no doubt gives us his input, and this thread is being started because he seems very keen to discuss this as he keeps bringing it up obsessively.

Some things I have heard about Colin, which may or may not be true:

1. He slept with another woman on Sheila's 21st. birthday.  As a result, Sheila turned violent on him.
2. He punched Sheila at least once.
3. Sheila destroyed some of his artwork.
4. Colin pressured, or influenced, Sheila to pursue modelling.
5. The marriage broke down.  Colin blames Sheila for this.
6. During the journey to White House Farm prior to the tragedy, Sheila asked if Colin would take her back and he told her emphatically that there was no hope of resurrecting the marriage.
7. The recent ITV dramatisation included a scene in which Sheila pleads with Colin to ask her parents before he leaves to take her off the medication, and Colin says he will raise the matter on his return.

They were married and then divorced, and I do wonder to what extent the relationship was a factor in Sheila's problems.

Note:

(i). If Steve has an issue with this thread, he needs to report his concerns to the moderators.  I assume the moderators will be keen to hear Steve's explanation for why he keeps bringing the topic up if he doesn't want it discussed.  Why does Steve think he can discuss things but the rest of us can't?

(ii). The moderators may also wish to remind Steve that similar ground has been covered on this Forum before, though as far as I can tell, little or no discussion has taken place about whether Colin was a factor in Sheila's issues.

Thank you.

[lookout]

Colin certainly didn't help Sheila with her suffering, that's obvious enough. You don't go flaunting yourself with a new girlfriend under the nose of a sick and vulnerable ex-wife and the mother of his young twins.
Sheila had also thought there'd been a chance of a reconciliation just to add to her misery.

As marriage vows go, he must have omitted " in sickness " because he didn't give the marriage a chance.

[David1819]

I don’t know if the condition can exasperated. But I do think Shelia could have killed the twins in an act of what is know as spouse revenge filicide. Wanting to make Colin suffer for one reason or another by killing the children.

[lookout]

Of course that was part of it David. Revenge.

[guest29835]

I forgot to add a point to the list above, which I will now add:

It is said that during the journey to White House Farm prior to the tragedy, Sheila asked if Colin would take her back and he told her emphatically that there was no hope of resurrecting the marriage.

I will edit further if I think of more.

[guest29835]

I've also added reference to the scene in the ITV drama in which Sheila pleads with Colin to ask her parents to take her off the medication.  I don't know if that scene has any factual basis.  It's something I'll look into further at some point, unless somebody here already knows.

[Jane]

Colin certainly didn't help Sheila with her suffering, that's obvious enough. You don't go flaunting yourself with a new girlfriend under the nose of a sick and vulnerable ex-wife and the mother of his young twins.
Sheila had also thought there'd been a chance of a reconciliation just to add to her misery.

As marriage vows go, he must have omitted " in sickness " because he didn't give the marriage a chance.

They'd been divorced for 6 years, or at least apart.

[Caroline]

I forgot to add a point to the list above, which I will now add:

It is said that during the journey to White House Farm prior to the tragedy, Sheila asked if Colin would take her back and he told her emphatically that there was no hope of resurrecting the marriage.

I will edit further if I think of more.

http://jeremybamberforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,1560.msg47922.html#msg47922

[guest29835]

They'd been divorced for 6 years, or at least apart.

The age doesn't quite tie in to me with somebody manifesting schizophrenia.  Obviously I'm no expert, but normally the deterioration would happen much earlier, in her late adolescence and early 20s - roughly when she knew Mr Caffell.  That's the period of her life that interests me here. 

Either she didn't have schizophrenia and it was a misdiagnosis (which is no slight on Dr. Ferguson, as I understand that misdiagnoses are quite common), or it was a late diagnosis.

[Caroline]

The age doesn't quite tie in to me with somebody manifesting schizophrenia.  Obviously I'm no expert, but normally the deterioration would happen much earlier, in her late adolescence and early 20s - roughly when she knew Mr Caffell.  That's the period of her life that interests me here. 

Either she didn't have schizophrenia and it was a misdiagnosis (which is no slight on Dr. Ferguson, as I understand that misdiagnoses are quite common), or it was a late diagnosis.

http://schizophrenia.com/szfacts.htm#

Schizophrenia is a disease that typically begins in early adulthood; between the ages of 15 and 25. Men tend to get develop schizophrenia slightly earlier than women; whereas most males become ill between 16 and 25 years old, most females develop symptoms several years later, and the incidence in women is noticably higher in women after age 30. The average age of onset is 18 in men and 25 in women. Schizophrenia onset is quite rare for people under 10 years of age, or over 40 years of age. The diagram below demonstrates the general "age of onset" trends for schizophrenia in men and women, from a representative study on the topic.

[Jane]

The age doesn't quite tie in to me with somebody manifesting schizophrenia.  Obviously I'm no expert, but normally the deterioration would happen much earlier, in her late adolescence and early 20s - roughly when she knew Mr Caffell.  That's the period of her life that interests me here. 

Either she didn't have schizophrenia and it was a misdiagnosis (which is no slight on Dr. Ferguson, as I understand that misdiagnoses are quite common), or it was a late diagnosis.

It wasn't Colin who pushed her modeling career. She'd tried and failed several before her parents paid for the modeling course. The Japanese photoshoot was probably part of the package and meant to be a launching pad for a future career. I think the most Colin would have done was encourage her. She was unwell whilst she was in Japan and contacted Colin to make her an appointment with a psychiatrist. This can't be done, ie no one can see a consultant/specialist without previously seeing their GP. Perhaps she'd already seen a psychiatrist?

[Caroline]

I've also added reference to the scene in the ITV drama in which Sheila pleads with Colin to ask her parents to take her off the medication.  I don't know if that scene has any factual basis.  It's something I'll look into further at some point, unless somebody here already knows.

"While we were waiting for people to arrive, Bambs told me that she had spoken to her parents about not being happy with her treatment, but their attitude had still been that they knew best and that they had absolute faith in her existing psychiatrist. ‘That’s preposterous!’ I said, getting really angry about it, adding something to the effect of: ‘You’re the one being treated and if you can’t relate to your doctor – and don’t feel safe with him – then he’s no good for you. You really mustn’t let them keep pushing you around like this. It’s about time they stopped treating you like a child and giving you that ‘‘we know best’’ attitude; it doesn’t do you any good. [She was now twenty-eight years old.] You must try and stand up to them, because it’s almost as if they’ve broken your spirit!’ I then suggested that I would speak to her father when I next saw him. Hopefully I would get a chance when I dropped her and the boys off at the farm the following day. Little did I realise then – nor would I have accepted such an observation had it been pointed out to me – that I was also doing exactly what I had been accusing June and Nevill of. This was a lesson I was to have thrust upon me time and time again in the future, until I finally understood it; that we often get angriest or most upset at those injustices or hurts we ourselves are most guilty of inflicting. Or, transversely, that we ourselves have suffered."

Caffell, Colin. In Search of the Rainbow's End: Inside the White House Farm Murders (p. 52). Hodder & Stoughton. Kindle Edition.

[guest29835]

It could be that Sheila was not schizophrenic when she was married to Colin, but were there factors in the marriage and relationship that led to it?

In the link provided above, I found this post quite interesting:

http://jeremybamberforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,1560.msg48497.html#msg48497

[lookout]

She wasn't sick before she married.

[lookout]

Sheila had enjoyed life and she certainly enjoyed modelling prior to her marriage.