A 2016 email written by Elizabeth “Lizzie” Harding Weinstein—who died in July after years of accusing her husband of pedophilia—shows that she once recognized her bipolar disorder and the damage it caused her family.
In July 2025, she was found dead in a Danbury, Connecticut, hotel room. She was 53. The cause remains unknown.
For years, her story was one of baffling contradiction: a devoted mother who made monstrous accusations; a rational nurse who waged war against a conspiracy. The legal filings portrayed her as volatile; her online posts screamed of a victimized whistleblower.
A missing piece surfaced in an unlikely place—a 2020 Facebook video she posted herself.

During an argument with her husband at a Sheraton hotel, Lizzie filmed his phone. As she scrolled, her camera captured an old email she had written to her doctors in 2016—an email about her bipolar diagnosis, her anger, and her decision to stop taking Lamictal.
The most telling part of her email, in her own words, was this:
“I need to confront the issue of having a bipolar disorder once and for all so as not to destroy the life and family that I have. My episodes of depression or even just decreased functioning are difficult for me but the anger and irritability associated with the hypomania is what scars and traumatizes my children and Brian.”
Inside the Letter
Harding’s email is dated October 6, 2016 and is addressed to Dr Michels and Dr. Dyke.
Dr. Michels requested I put the following letter into writing what I had discussed.
In April I discontinued my medication for lamictal as I was still not convinced that I had a bipolar disorder. While I agreed that I lived my life in a hypomanic state, I disagreed that I had a life long history of depression that coincided with a decreased ability to function, and therefore I defined myself as a hypomanic person who had a bipolar episode due to severe life events and a medication. I truly believed that my problems or recent history of depression (2013) or depressive episodes were the result of outside life forces (termination of pregnancy, kids suffering from school change, marital stress, outside social interactions) and that I could help prevent these in the future not with medication, but with a greater self awareness and proper practice of exercise, diet, sleep and a positive mental attitude.
I told myself I would go off the medication in a responsible way: I would inform Brian, I would exercise every day, I would monitor my behavior and check myself for any signs of extreme interactions, I would be responsible and regularly check in with someone. I didn’t do these things, not out of lack of want, but because of location and time and not making it a priority to find someone I could work with during the summer. These are not acceptable reasons and I am still accountable for not being responsible for my health. I did constantly think I was fairly assessing my interactions myself, but this clearly is not the case as my level of anger was palpable and directed towards Brian and the kids, specifically Max, in a way that is not healthy or acceptable and extremely traumatizing to them. When left to my own devices I was not responsible in managing my health or assessing my level of appropriateness.
If I were to question my diagnosis again, the point I should return to is that while one could still make a case for the stress level associated with my current feelings (I am currently extremely stressed over our living situation and the building of our new home), one can not explain away the level of anger I felt this summer, or in other summers, especially my intense interactions with Max. I must recognize that there is a pattern of intense interactions in the summer and a depression, or even just feelings of sadness in the Fall. I can not deny that my anger, irritability, the quick change in my attitude, and the dissipation of my anger seems out of proportion to real life events. I need to confront the issue of having a bipolar disorder once and for all so as not to destroy the life and family that I have. My episodes of depression or even just decreased functioning are difficult for me but the anger and irritability associated with the hypomania is what scars and traumatizes my children and Brian. I acknowledged this previously, but I choose to justify my anger during the episode.
I need a proper combination of medication, exercise, diet, a positive mental attitude and sleep to be responsible for preventing any bipolar episodes from occurring. I need and want to be responsible for my mental health.
The Turn
The woman who once feared her own anger would soon turn that same intensity outward. In her new reality, she was a whistleblower. She texted her husband: “We have all acknowledged that you have been indoctrinated into the practice of pedophilia.” On Facebook, she declared: “SHAME FALLS SQUARELY ON PEDOPHILE BRIAN STRYKER WEINSTEIN,” accusing him and a wide circle of enablers. She vowed, “I WILL NOT STOP SPEAKING THE TRUTH.”
The Unraveling
Days after her initial accusation, Brian Weinstein, a senior litigation partner, filed a 150-page emergency custody petition, arguing she was suffering from an “untreated mental disorder.” On June 5, 2020, in an ex parte hearing from which she was excluded, a judge issued a Temporary Restraining Order. Police removed her from the home, and the court handed full custody of her three teenagers to Brian, without giving her a chance to plead her case.
Lizzie took her story to Facebook, accusing Weinstein of “sexual abuse, domestic violence, and coercive control.” She named not only him but his parents, judges, and therapists, alleging a vast conspiracy of “grooming” and “mind control.” Her posts were relentless—and threatened to destroy her husband’s career.

Lizzie Harding appears in a video to accuse her husband.
She gathered a group of followers—mostly women who felt wronged by family courts and saw her as a truth-teller.
In January 2021, she went to the Briarcliff Manor Clerk’s Office, filming herself as she filed a complaint against a judge. After she was permitted to submit her paperwork, the police chief shut the door on her, knocked her phone from her hand, physically restrained her against the wall, and placed her under arrest. She was jailed, strip-searched, and held under suicide watch.
In March 2021, she was involuntarily admitted to St. Vincent’s Hospital for psychiatric evaluation. She refused medication, forcing a hearing where a judge ordered compliance as a release condition, leading to forcible medication for the illness she now denied.
In August 2021, a judge appointed attorney Kenneth L. Bunting as her guardian. He immediately terminated all of her pending lawsuits, took control of her finances, and barred her from filing any new legal actions. The guardian permitted Brian to divorce her by default, granting him control of all of the marital assets and full custody.
Lizzie was now homeless. The woman who had vowed “I WILL NOT STOP SPEAKING THE TRUTH” had been legally silenced.
The Aftermath
For five years, her existence was a rootless, relentless campaign against the conspiracy she believed had stolen her children—a fight that ended alone in a Danbury hotel room.
The private email she wrote in 2016 tells the true, more tragic story: that of a patient who knew the enemy was her own illness, but ultimately lost the fight against it.

