Dr. Fenton
speaker
189 appearances
1 recordings
1 series
first heard May 2025
last heard May 2025
Dr. Fenton’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
Trend
recordings per month · last 12 monthsNo recordings in the last 12 months.Older appearances are listed below; set an alert to hear about the next one.
Appearances
If it didn't, it had to go for a little longer. James would later laugh recalling this memory because, for whatever reason, every time the noodles would stick to the cabinets, paint would peel off with it. But even so, they continued this little tradition. James also said that his parents attended every single event that he and his sister had growing up.
Whether it was concerts or sporting events, they would always be there to support their children. Bob even coached James' soccer team. He would later say, quote, Jimmy was the happiest when he was playing soccer, end quote. So to him, even though he was working all the time and taking care of his ailing mother, it was important for him to be there for these special moments.
But things weren't always perfect between the siblings. In fact, it was reported that when James was eight years old, his parents brought him to see a therapist after he threw a toy at his baby sister. His parents said that he would often throw things when he got upset, so they wanted to make sure everything was okay with him. They also told the therapist that James was very Nintendo-oriented.
But again, these things aren't screaming future killer. Now throwing things when you're mad obviously isn't good, but kids that age don't know how to regulate their emotions. So tantrums are pretty common. So is being obsessed with your Nintendo. But still, his parents wanted James to work through these problems to ensure that he was getting the guidance he needed.
And I think this just goes to show how present Bob and Arlene were in their children's lives. they saw a problem and they wanted to help however james would later say that his family wasn't really one to talk about their problems or their feelings bob would later say of their family quote we were more scientific non-emotional end quote which is probably why they took james to the therapist
They knew that they weren't good at talking through these kind of things, so they turned to a professional. Now, his therapist would later note that James was, quote, quiet and non-communicative, end quote. But they also said he was polite, pleasant, and alert.
Now, they did give him a diagnosis of oppositional defiant disorder, but apparently this was pretty common back then to give out as this generic condition so that the therapy sessions were covered by insurance. No criteria had to be met for it to be used, and it was essentially a placeholder for any behavioral issues a parent was concerned about.
But other than that, James's therapist noted that there were no severe concerns about him. And according to James's parents, that first bit of therapy seemed to work. After just three sessions, Arlene told the therapist that James's behavior had really improved and that he was being much more present with his family.
James would later recall that sometime between 1998 and 2000, when he was about 11 to 13 years old, he started having these vague, reoccurring images of people being killed, and they would just pop in his head out of nowhere. He said that sometimes it would happen multiple times a week, Other times it wouldn't happen at all.
In James's own words, he knew the thoughts weren't normal, but he tried not to worry about them. Now what James was experiencing at the time is called intrusive thoughts, which are essentially unwanted thoughts or images that pop into your brain seemingly out of nowhere. Maybe you're driving and you randomly think about crashing your car.
You're in a crowded theater and you think about standing up and screaming in the middle of the performance. Now, it doesn't mean you're actually going to do these things or even that you want to. It's just a random thought that pops into your head. According to a 2014 study, 94% of Americans have at some point experienced an intrusive thought.
But some can be a lot darker, like thinking about killing someone. Some people even suffer from intrusive sexual thoughts. like engaging in sexual behavior with a child or an animal. These thoughts can elicit a sense of panic in some individuals, which can sometimes create a feedback loop, resulting in them having them more often.
And that frequently happens with people who suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder. And as you'll learn, James did have symptoms of OCD. But later on, when James Holmes was asked why he never told anyone about these intrusive thoughts, He simply responds, quote, they were private.
And making friends at that age can be hard. James's life was about to completely change. A new home, new neighborhood, a new school. He was worried. James would later say that he tried to voice his frustrations to his family, but they didn't listen. He said he felt ignored, like nothing he said mattered. And before they knew it, they were packing up and leaving their life behind.
According to close friends and family, as the moving trucks pulled away, his little sister Chris was screaming and sobbing. James had tears streaming down his face. He would later say that along the drive to San Diego, he was so upset about moving, he even grabbed a piece of cardboard from a box and began to saw at his wrist with it, but no one in the car knew what he was doing.
When his mother saw the injury later on, she shrugged it off, thinking it was a paper cut. James never told them that he tried to hurt himself. Later on, when asked why he didn't tell his parents, he responded, quote, just because I wanted to keep it private, end quote. And it seems like that's how his family operated. Negative feelings were kept private.
Now, this is not an attack on Arlene or Bob, because in reality, that's true for a lot of families. Feelings are kept inside. For some kids, it's a minor issue, but for others, it turns into a problem that follows them all of their life and evolves into something much, much bigger.
Now, even though kids this age go through these awkward periods, James's parents were a little concerned. Their daughter, Chris, was thriving. She was social and making friends, but James was clearly struggling. So like they did in the past, his parents decided to get him some professional help.
they ended up calling an agency called Psycare, and they were put into contact with a social worker named Mel Lipsy, and she would end up meeting with James and his parents 14 different times. Now, the notes she took from their sessions together have been lost, but James admitted that he never opened up about the intrusive thoughts he was having.
He would later talk about these sessions in his journal, writing, quote, "'Family therapy with Mel revealed nothing "'as to not appear weak amongst family.'" So clearly, he didn't want his family to know what was going on with him. Had James revealed any of his feelings at the time, his life may have gone in a different direction, but he didn't.
Showing 21–40 of 189 · page 2 of 10
← Previous
Next →