" There were many times Patty would overdose on pills – sometimes trying to commit suicide and other times just for attention. .
In Chapter Five of her book, Patty describes another example of her erratic behavior at her home one evening. "I was bursting with ideas and I kept interrupting whatever conversation was going on. I insisted that I had heard some messianic message. I couldn't sit still. I was expansive, elated, and grandiose." In the middle of the night, Patty was taken to her psychiatrist's home. The doctor wanted to hospitalize her but she and her husband at the time refused. Another manic episode occurred soon after Patty become aware of her pregnancy. She married a stranger only to have the marriage annulled thirteen days later. This is the last of the manic episodes of this degree that Patty remembers. Patty believes that pregnancy and motherhood helped to calm some of her moods. .
Eventually, Patty married John Astin and settled to a more domestic life. Patty and John had two sons, Sean and Mackenzie, and then took custody of John's three sons from his previous marriage. During this time, John was unable to work in Hollywood due to a writer's strike, so he, Patty, their five children, and Patty's mother went on the road, acting out dramas in small theaters across America. During this time, Patty suffered from deep depressions that made it impossible for her to get out of bed and care for herself or her family. Later, when John and Patty settled in California, Patty would place unnecessary pressure on herself and would often lash out on her children and her husband whenever she felt unappreciated. These episodes would often lead to uncontrolled fits of rage in which Patty would verbally and physically attack her family as well as damage personal possessions and kitchen ware.
While married to John, Patty started seeing Dr. Harold Arlen, who was also her husband's psychiatrist.