When did Michelle Duggar go crazy?

[homeschoolmomma1]

I was having a discussion with my friend and I was wondering what you all thought. When do you think Michelle went a bit crazy?

 

1) After the birth control incident (miscarriage)

 

2) When she was doing laundry that one night and started crying because she was so overwhelmed with 5 children (I personally feel she had a nervous breakdown that night)

 

3) A combination of both

 

4) Something else

[CrazySister]

I think it started after her presumed miscarriage, but was cemented when she had her nervous breakdown.

[emmiedahl]

I have doubts that #1 happened. They did not bring it up in the earlier episodes. They say they prayed about it and God laid it on their heart and other nonsense. Also, Michelle forgot about Caleb during the Jubilee nonsense until she was reminded.

I think they wanted a larger family, had one, and as the family became bigger they began to get attention for it. Michelle is an attention whore, and she loves making the announcements on the Today show and having people ask for her opinion on politics and shit. She is the opposite of modest, and no long skirt is going to change that.

[lilwriter85]

I think the birth control incident was probably the first thing that made her dip her feet more into the QF lifestyle. She thought everything would be sunshine and then she became overwhelmed and had a breakdown that night. But because she wants to be a good QF wife and mommy she ignored the breakdown and continued the baby shop.

[Kitty]

I always got the impression she was never exceptionally bright to begin with, and quite gullible and willing to believe anything. I'm pretty sure she said that she found Jesus after watching a movie about the end of the world, and fearing that she was going to hell. So I contend that that was her start on a path of religiously-motivated crazy. I don't doubt that she thought the best way to deal with being a mother of 7 was to crack down on the crazy.

[Anxious Girl]

I was having a discussion with my friend and I was wondering what you all thought. When do you think Michelle went a bit crazy?

1) After the birth control incident (miscarriage)

2) When she was doing laundry that one night and started crying because she was so overwhelmed with 5 children (I personally feel she had a nervous breakdown that night)

3) A combination of both

4) Something else

#4. I just have this weird feeling that it started in high school before she marrie Jim-Bob. Don't know why, just do.

[Sola]

When she got married.

Seriously - I would say after the miscarriage when some dumbfuck told her that the pill was the cause.

[CanadianHippie]

#4. I just have this weird feeling that it started in high school before she marrie Jim-Bob. Don't know why, just do.

When she was 15 apparently her friend (and cousin) introduced her to Jesus and when she saw the movie mentioned above she started on the path to crazy town. The first miscarriage probably pushed her even farther. If her doctor did tell her that taking the pill actually caused the miscarriage I can see that causing her to delve even further into fundiedom. It pretty much blames her for the loss. The breakdown was possibly the birth of J'slavery. In her mind it was probably God's way of telling her to "delegate" her duties to her daughter to raise them to be godly women.

[PennySycamore]

#4. I just have this weird feeling that it started in high school before she marrie Jim-Bob. Don't know why, just do.

I agree with Anxious Girl. I don't know why either, but I think the beginnings of the crazy go way back.

[Athena]

I have doubts that #1 happened. They did not bring it up in the earlier episodes. They say they prayed about it and God laid it on their heart and other nonsense. Also, Michelle forgot about Caleb during the Jubilee nonsense until she was reminded.

I think they wanted a larger family, had one, and as the family became bigger they began to get attention for it. Michelle is an attention whore, and she loves making the announcements on the Today show and having people ask for her opinion on politics and shit. She is the opposite of modest, and no long skirt is going to change that.

Here, here! :clap:

[gustava]

Yes, she's an attention whore, but why? We might say the Kardashians are attention whores, but they know exactly what they're doing...and why: $$$$

Michelle needs therapy, but why?

[muffynbear]

Yes, she's an attention whore, but why? We might say the Kardashians are attention whores, but they know exactly what they're doing...and why: $$$$

Michelle needs therapy, but why?

Michelle is an attention whore because deep down she is still that bitchy cheerleader who needs constant validation. Jim Bob and the J'slaves wait on her hand and foot. She gets adulation from the public telling her how 1) godly she is 2) how wonderful she is 3) how "blessed" she is for having so many kids. I mean really, would you ever want that to stop if you were constantly praised for doing absolutely nothing?

I truly believe that deep down Michelle is a raging famewhore.

[Anxious Girl]

Michelle is an attention whore because deep down she is still that bitchy cheerleader who needs constant validation. Jim Bob and the J'slaves wait on her hand and foot. She gets adulation from the public telling her how 1) godly she is 2) how wonderful she is 3) how "blessed" she is for having so many kids. I mean really, would you ever want that to stop if you were constantly praised for doing absolutely nothing?

I truly believe that deep down Michelle is a raging famewhore.

This.

[gustava]

Michelle is an attention whore because deep down she is still that bitchy cheerleader who needs constant validation. Jim Bob and the J'slaves wait on her hand and foot. She gets adulation from the public telling her how 1) godly she is 2) how wonderful she is 3) how "blessed" she is for having so many kids. I mean really, would you ever want that to stop if you were constantly praised for doing absolutely nothing?

I truly believe that deep down Michelle is a raging famewhore.

A narcissist? Borderline personality disorder??? Reverse Munchausen's Syndrome?

[lilwriter85]

I always got the impression she was never exceptionally bright to begin with, and quite gullible and willing to believe anything. I'm pretty sure she said that she found Jesus after watching a movie about the end of the world, and fearing that she was going to hell. So I contend that that was her start on a path of religiously-motivated crazy. I don't doubt that she thought the best way to deal with being a mother of 7 was to crack down on the crazy.

Something about Michelle has always seemed off to me. I agree she doesn't seem too bright and I think Boob might have taken advantage of that a bit, mainly because of his good ole' Christian boy ego. Getting Michelle to become a God fearing Christian was something that fed his ego.

Michelle will never realize that she has taken too much advantage of her daughters, mother-in-law, and other people who have helped her out over the years. I thought it was ridiculous when Priscilla Keller, Amy, and Mary helped during the time Boob and the older kids were on a missionary trip. I could see one person helping out, but three was just ridiculous. She could have handled 7 kids by herself, she did in the past. Mullet also thinks deceiving viewers about Josh owning the car lot is an ok thing. Dumb Mullet doesn't realize people have found out about that massive lie because of Internet public record databases.

I think Michelle is a ditzy famewhore who gets pleasure out of people praising her. She will never realize that she has done nothing to deserve the praises she gets. If she used that fucking brain of hers, she wouldn't have protested a liquor license while Josie was in NICU. I think once TLC is out of the picture and fundie organizations stop inviting her to speak at events, she will have another breakdown. She will not be able to deal with people not constantly praising her.

[Kitty]

Something about Michelle has always seemed off to me. I agree she doesn't seem too bright and I think Boob might have taken advantage of that a bit, mainly because of his good ole' Christian boy ego. Getting Michelle to become a God fearing Christian was something that fed his ego.

Michelle will never realize that she has taken too much advantage of her daughters, mother-in-law, and other people who have helped her out over the years. I thought it was ridiculous when Priscilla Keller, Amy, and Mary helped during the time Boob and the older kids were on a missionary trip. I could see one person helping out, but three was just ridiculous. She could have handled 7 kids by herself, she did in the past. Mullet also thinks deceiving viewers about Josh owning the car lot is an ok thing. Dumb Mullet doesn't realize people have found out about that massive lie because of Internet public record databases.

I think Michelle is a ditzy famewhore who gets pleasure out of people praising her. She will never realize that she has done nothing to deserve the praises she gets. If she used that fucking brain of hers, she wouldn't have protested a liquor license while Josie was in NICU. I think once TLC is out of the picture and fundie organizations stop inviting her to speak at events, she will have another breakdown. She will not be able to deal with people not constantly praising her.

I also have the feeling that she's an attention whore, and getting baptized would have been the perfect "fix" for her. I mean, you're in front of a crowd, having someone talk about you and dunking you under water. you get plenty of attention that way. I bet she got into church because the churchgoers gave her the attention she wanted. Cheerleading also gave her that fix, and having a kid, then a miscarriage, then 18 more kids...

She's the type that'll do something not particularly crazy but will get people's attention, and from there go to crazytown, all for the attention. To her, it's like crack. Even if it's "negative" attention, she'll take it. If she didn't have a TV show, she'd have a blog and would do anything to attract new readers... like pimping out her own children. Let's face it, "19 Kids and Counting" is not about the kids at all, or Jim Bob. It's about Michelle. All the press around the Duggars is not about the kids, it's about Michelle and occasionally Jim Bob. And she likes it that way.

[bananacat]

Now that others point it out, I can kind of see Michelle as being somewhat dim and gullible in high school. I've always thought that Jim Bob had more to do with this mess than people are willing to admit. I think he took advantage of her naivete and she ate it all up because she really truly is a narcissist. But I kind of wonder if maybe she wasn't a virgin before they were married and that has become a point of deep shame for her that she is trying to make up for. She obviously didn't have a shotgun wedding because Josh wasn't born for 3-4 after the marriage, but they were two teenagers at the time and I could definitely see them getting up to something, and then Jim Bob using that guilt her into marrying him.

[geniebelle6901]

Just a theory, but I think it was her first miscarriage. Instead of getting counseling/therapy to deal with her grief she got drunk on the Gothard kool-aid. Who led them to Gothard/ATI I don't know. But I think that's where it all began.

[Tator Tot Tubby]

Now that others point it out, I can kind of see Michelle as being somewhat dim and gullible in high school. I've always thought that Jim Bob had more to do with this mess than people are willing to admit. I think he took advantage of her naivete and she ate it all up because she really truly is a narcissist. But I kind of wonder if maybe she wasn't a virgin before they were married and that has become a point of deep shame for her that she is trying to make up for. She obviously didn't have a shotgun wedding because Josh wasn't born for 3-4 after the marriage, but they were two teenagers at the time and I could definitely see them getting up to something, and then Jim Bob using that guilt her into marrying him.

That could be it..... I don't know. I think that JimBob genuinely loves Michelle and that he's just an idiot who will do whatever kind of crazy makes her happy. (at least in the beginning. By now, he loves the power he has as headship and probably is just as addicted to the lifestyle as she is) I think Michelle's always been a bit off and that she found a man who encouraged her insanity. I definitely think she's got Borderline but I'm sure there's other stuff too. I agree with everyone that she's addicted to attention. That's probably why she loves being pregnant and having infants. When you're pregnant, people will ooh and ahh over you. And when the baby is still little, she has something to show off. She also has a tiny person who will love her unconditionally and see her as being the source of everything. She loves anything that makes her seem special and will go to extreme lengths to get it.

[Glass Cowcatcher]

From a sort of personal experience, I vote for the miscarriage.

A long time ago I had a friend who was one of seven children. The family was totally, batshit, crazy, including her, though I was too young to realize it for a while.

The parents homeschooled (or at least, said they did) and were Christian, but not specifically QF or VF; they were not overly concerned about worldly influences and their domestic skills were just about the worst I've ever seen. The father was away at work most of the time and only nominally the "leader" of the household, the mother was, basically, neglectful (to the point where I sometimes wanted to call CPS but talked myself out of it.)

The mother eventually confided to me that, in college, she had had a child out of wedlock, given it up for adoption, and found Jesus during the same period. Shortly after she married and began having the 7 other children.

Looking back, the best way that I was able to make sense of such a hot mess of the situation was to conclude that the mother was so mentally screwed up over giving a baby up for adoption that the only way she could cope was to keep having children, and hope she would, somehow, have one that was just like the one that she gave up. (I suspect that the father of the eldest child, put up for adoption, may have been the same father as the other 7 kids, which added to the guilt) Naturally she never got that child back, and, I think as soon as she realized she had a different child, she basically ignored it.

If Michelle's miscarriage story is true, I think something similar could be at work with her, especially if she honestly did believe that she had somehow caused the pregnancy to fail. The QF ideology would look very appealing to her, because it would allow her more chances to recapture the lost baby.

Any way you slice it, people like that are pathological. I honestly think some people horde children the same way others horde animals--the thought process is the same.

[Luvchild]

When an angel appeared to her and told her she must reproduce forever and have all of her children's name begin with "J." Their last child shall be the savior child returned to earth, and they shall call him Jesus Jr. Amen

:lol:

[FloraDoraDolly]

It was the miscarriage that sent Michelle down the fundie road, but I think something was amiss before then. Michelle was a ditzy popular cheerleader who went to public school. Girls like that don't date or marry dorks like Jim Bob unless the guy has major $$$$. So I'm guessing that Michelle had a bad experience with some guy at some point and this made her turn to Jim Bob and religion.

[ADoyle90815]

It was the miscarriage that sent Michelle down the fundie road, but I think something was amiss before then. Michelle was a ditzy popular cheerleader who went to public school. Girls like that don't date or marry dorks like Jim Bob unless the guy has major $$$$. So I'm guessing that Michelle had a bad experience with some guy at some point and this made her turn to Jim Bob and religion.

I think Michelle had some bad experience in high school, so she was attracted to Jim Bob and religion, but it was the miscarriage early on that put her over the edge. I do think that when she hits menopause, she will probably have a major nervous breakdown if Jubilee didn't trigger one already. It's possibly why if Anna is pregnant, they haven't announced it yet.

[koolmom]

It was the miscarriage that sent Michelle down the fundie road, but I think something was amiss before then. Michelle was a ditzy popular cheerleader who went to public school. Girls like that don't date or marry dorks like Jim Bob unless the guy has major $$$$. So I'm guessing that Michelle had a bad experience with some guy at some point and this made her turn to Jim Bob and religion.

EX-cellent observation, Flora! I thought it was peculiar that someone like Michelle would give someone like Jim-Bob the time of day, never mind marry him, but it never occurred to me that Michelle would have issues that far back to be pre-disposed to be interested in a dork like Jim-Bob...

Maybe he was waiting in the wings for her when her previous relationship went downhill, then swooped in for the kill? Maybe that was the "baggage" he referred to in previous episodes? I have an older sister who has many similar traits as Michelle, was the family's "pretty" one, (I was the brainy one, but got zero credit for it) was also a drill team member, not too bright academically, never attended college nor read a book after high school, and even did the "adoring look" thing to HER husband, except he was a raging alcoholic who ruined his family's future, certainly hers. She always craved attention, yet my family claimed I was the attention-whore (totally false). Of course, never did anything for anyone else if there wasn't anything in it for her. With all those traits and many more, I wonder what Michelle's family life was really like? Did she get any real, honest, genuine attention, or did she do all those "popular girl" activities because her home life was sad and depressing?

[EmmieJ]

Michelle was pretty and popular in high school, and clearly her parents weren't rushing her to marriage. But I think there's a whole slew of things combined to make the crazy that is Michelle today. I really think she got scared she was going to hell after seeing that movie as a teen. Then she meets JimBob and he really is her soul mate -- in the sense that he worships the ground she walks on. His religiousity soothes her fears over going to hell; his adoration feeds her massive ego. As much as she can love another person, she loves JimBob. If JimBob were to suddenly stop catering to her though -- her love would almost certainly begin to dissolve in disappointment.

I think she always had a sort of weak brain, but the reality of having five little kids and a mountain of work every day is what pushed her to the breaking point. After that, it's all been about making sure she doesn't have another massive breakdown, so J'Slaves are put into action and there they remain, even as young adults, all existing to keep everything running smoothly so Michelle doesn't lose her tiny mind.