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Ok so i was reading the autopsy report link i got from another topic and i saw somewhere it said Karen had "Anorexia/Depression" and it also said she took "Ativan." I went to look up what Ativan was prescribed for and it told me anxiety,etc. and it also said "do not take if you are depressed or have thoughts of suicide" (among many other things). I know Karen didn't commit suicide or anything but does anybody else find that...umm...odd.

I've been prescribed ativan which should only be taken when you're having a panic attack. Basicallly it calmes your nerves. I imagine that Karen was going through a difficult time with her divorce (she had an appointment on 4 Feb 83 to sign divorce papers) and it's my opinion that she likely had the ativan because of the stress of the divorce. She really struggled with the fact that her marriage hadn't lasted.

This is just my humble opinion. There are no confirmed sources on why or how she acquired ativan. Not to my knowledge, anyhow.

I've taken Ativan the past. It is prescribed for stress and panic attacks and helps to more or less "take the edge off" things... In Karen's case, I think it may have been prescribed for her anorexia, to help her cope with stress and anxiety, which plays a part in the disease.

Ativan can also be prescribed as a short-term sleep aid (esp. in those days before Lunesta and Ambien). If I remember correctly, Karen had taken quaaludes as a sleep aid (the night she collapsed in Phil & Itchy's kitchen) in the past. Maybe her doc had prescribed the Ativan for her as a safer alternative?

I agree that the divorce was a stressful thing for her to deal with. I was also thinking that, even though she had been through months of therapy, coming back to L.A. and learning to put into practice her newly learned coping mechanisms with her family probably caused her anxiety as well. In the Coleman book Agnes had mentioned that once when they were out at lunch Karen came back from the restroom slurring her words, which I take to be a symptom of Ativan, so maybe she was finding her relationship with mom stressful to deal with. It had to be harder than when she was 3000 miles away.

From all the various clips, I've seen of Agnes and Harold, Harold always comes across as quiet and laid-back, whereas Agnes is more vocal and seems to have a more no-nonsense outlook on things...

I'd be willing to bet that she ran the Carpenter household with an iron hand...

There's a quote in the Coleman book by one of the A&M executives where he states something to that effect. Can anyone find it? I can't locate my copy of the book...

I also recall reading something else that someone said, that the public had no idea what a screwed up family the Carpenters really were...

If I had lived in that household, I'd have probably been taking anti-anxiety and anti-depression prescriptions, also...

Yep. They gave it to my Nanny while she was dying in hospice this past May. They gave her morphine for the pain and ativan for anxiety and to quieten her so she could sleep.

Sorry.


is ativan the same as lorazapam? *goes to google*

Thanks Greenie. She was so sick. Damn Parkinson's disease!


And yes they are the same drug; I think Ativan is the brand name and Lorazapam is generic.

Okay. Then i've had that, too, and used it for sleep. I think Karen probably just was on Go for so long maybe she had it to actuallly get some sleep.