Fears mount over missing Webroot founder

Fears are growing over the safety of the founder of anti-spyware firm Webroot following his disappearance late last month. Steven Thomas, 36, who has bipolar disorder, was last seen in the early evening of 30 June at the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani Hotel in Waikiki, Hawaii. Thomas and his wife, Candis, were planning to relocate …

[Anonymous Coward]

I am sure a world wide web call out won't add to the paranoia

Isn't Dog the bounty hunter in Hawaii, they could have hired the Dog to track him down.

And you never know with security they may be out to get him :)

My bet is he is the in nearest natural place, that is where all developers go when they lose it.

And not quite sure if the comment on a high balcony of 'not high enough, for what I need to do.' actually counts as a suicide message. He could be referring to the height required to contact the aliens, or to set up a wifi sniffer to find out if the military are getting close.

[Tim J]

Appropriate?

Is it really appropriate to enable comments on this story?

I hope Mr Thomas turns up OK.

[Anonymous Coward]

Poor chap

There's been a lot of focus recently on the 'funny' aspects of Bipolar Disorder, e.g. wild, impulsive behaviour, apparently silly delusions, etc. Unfortunately there hasn't been much talk of the dark side; BD sufferers have a significantly higher suicide rate than the general population, in fact up to 1 in 3 will kill themselves according to some studies here in the UK.

I also believe that the US doesn't have the same sort of powers to allow an unwell individual at risk to be 'sectioned' to a psychiatric hospital for treatent, which is unfortunate in this case.

AC because I'm a sufferer too and there's just too much stigma associated with mental illness

[John Macintyre]

hmm

"According to his wife, Thomas is suffering from a dangerous set of delusions"

So she left him alone to meet his mother, cause nothing like meeting your mother would spark off wild delusions...

[amanfromMars]

Aliens are friendly...... Honest to Global Operating Devices.

Just because someone thinks about things differently does not always suggest an illness. Indeed ..."According to his wife, Thomas is suffering from a dangerous set of delusions. "He thinks everyone on the island is out to get him," Candis Thomas said, the Star Bulletin reports. "He thinks the military is involved, he thinks that aliens are involved, and he's just been in a real delusion state of being fearful." ...could apply to many who post here, but knowing the right algorithm to slip into the information processing line, soon sends the fear packing, leaving the way free for Living the Way IT is meant to be.

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh they have the powers to detain and enforce 'treatment'

hence organisations like this:

http://www.mindfreedom.org/shield

If the guy wants to go walk about then he should be allowed to do so.

It wouldn't surprise me if after 30+ years of not being diagnosed with a disease that is supposedly genetic, that the previous run in with the psychiatric profession did not lead to the feelings of paranoia he may or may not be currently experiencing.

A refusal of treatment, does not mean psychiatric drugs were not forcibly injected into him, it just means he refused after the previous incident to take medication. Quite a lot of those drugs have been linked to akathisia, and tend to promote the same symptoms of the psychiatric diagnosis, especially when administered in large doses.

[Solomon Grundy]

Aliens and the Military

Maybe he's not wrong. Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you.

[Anonymous Coward]

amanfrommars

"Just because someone thinks about things differently does not always suggest an illness. Indeed ..."According to his wife, Thomas is suffering from a dangerous set of delusions. "He thinks everyone on the island is out to get him," Candis Thomas said, the Star Bulletin reports. "He thinks the military is involved, he thinks that aliens are involved, and he's just been in a real delusion state of being fearful." ...could apply to many who post here, but knowing the right algorithm to slip into the information processing line, soon sends the fear packing, leaving the way free for Living the Way IT is meant to be."

That was almost lucid

[Bucky]

Rising expectations

So, there's this 6'2" guy with a tattoo running around naked?

My, isn't it warm in here?

[Paris, because there's no beefcake icon--or were you thinking Ballmer was it?]

[Walter Brown]

Sadness

I feel for his family, this is a sad and troubling situation. i hope he is truly hiding and is found to be ok, he needs to be returned home safely, he deserves the opportunity to read the first ever, completely sane, grammatically correct and comprehensible statement to ever come out of amanfrommars, it was he who prompted the statement...

[kain preacher]

@ac

I also believe that the US doesn't have the same sort of powers to allow an unwell individual at risk to be 'sectioned' to a psychiatric hospital for treatent, which is unfortunate in this case.

Depends on the state.

[vincent himpe]

POINT IN CASE

Only paranoid people can write excellent spyware detectors !

[Jeffrey Nonken]

@Walter Brown

No, he's done it before. But it's rare.

And back to the article -- I hope the guy is OK.

[John]

Feeling for the guy.

Its really tough dealing with paranoia, and with any sort of brain disorder, in many ways, many sufferers know at some level what they are suffering,

however, looking at how much the guy is worth, its entirely likely there is people out to get him - however i'd say they were looking for him for his benefit, not for nasty purpose,

but putting out a net-wide notification - whilst it may help find him, won't help his paranoia, quite the opposite,

if this guy is suffering delusions of persecution by large groups of people, then having everyone "from teh intarw3b" chasing him down isn't going to help him.

black helicopter - cos they are out there

[Justin White]

Mental Health isn't always the problem

I had a close childhood friend that was diagnosed as bipolar, manically depressed, and schizophrenic. But after 10 years on every experimental drug his family could find, some doctor finally bothered to run this blood for additional tests and, as it turns out, the guy was only diabetic. He's now a normal part of society, no thanks to the quacks that never even noticed his widely-varying blood sugar levels.

Sometimes, they're not out to get you, but they are out to sell you something. Sure hope someone checks the poor guy's blood sugar if they find him hiding.

@ Vincent Hempe: You're right on the money. All security-related folks will eventually wind up running around Hawaii naked with the black helocopters just over the next hill...certainly the most paranoid, obsessive lot on the planet.

[Anonymous Coward]

As for forced treatment...

...should we be more scared of the black helicopters, or the white ones?

[silicony]

Webroot, bootnet, Its the same

No one is safe in this fuckin Cyperworld.

My kises from the Neptune's Orbit.

Or let be realistic .. It's from the edge of Andromeda's Galaxy.

[Michele John]

Just because you're paranoid

...doesn't mean they're not out to get ya!!

[Anonymous Coward]

...where is Kinky Friedman now?

He so needs the Kinksters investigative alter ego... Where is that near Texan Senator when he is needed?

Big thumbs up, 'cos this dude really knows his onions.

[Jon]

Erm ...

'"He thinks everyone on the island is out to get him," Candis Thomas said'

Well they will be now after this article

[Anonymous Coward]

I hope they find him

I had a work colleague diagnosed Schizophrenic. Used to work for a hush-hush project, doing the accounts of all things, the pressure of home and work got to him and he was pensioned off at age 28, he work part time where I was at the time. Lovely guy, one of the nicest people I have worked with, on his good days do anything to help anyone. However on the bad days completely different person, smoked like chimney, wouldn't even acknowledge you, just did his hours and left work with a face like thunder.

Sad story, but taught me a lesson to not take work too seriously, always make time for outside interests and proof to me that mental illness is not a laughing matter.

[Colin Reid]

Some decroum please

I'm disappointed to read some of these comments. I felt very sad after reading this story, I hope for his and his family's sake that he turns up safe.

[Sarah Bee]

Re: Some decroum please

Yes, it ain't funny.