Post Partum Depression
Unlike "the baby blues" which affects 70% to 80% of new mothers and does not require prompt medical attention due to its mild nature. Major Post Partum Depression attacks 10% of new mothers and is entirely a beast of a different nature, one that must be reckoned with. The most recent Post Partum case that has rightfully caused a media frenzy is the Andrea Yates case. Yates was the mother of five young children. This past summer Yates held each of her children in a bath tub full of water until their death. Yates had PPD.
Post Partum depression causes a new mother to become depressed to a severe extent. PPD causes its patients to fall to an uncomfortable mental state. PPD patients feel discouraged, hostile,
…show more content…
She attempted suicide twice. She waged a losing struggle with depression that began after the birth of her first child, Noah, in 1994. Her doctors documented periods when she heard voices, had visions and became so unhinged mentally that they diagnosed her as psychotic.
But was she insane the morning of June 20 when she killed her children, one by one? Her lawyers say she is not guilty by reason of insanity. Prosecutors have charged her with murder and are seeking the death penalty.
. A jury will decide whether Yates is mentally competent to stand trial -- that is, whether she understands the proceedings against her and is able to assist the lawyers preparing her defense. If the jury finds her incompetent, the trial will be postponed until she recovers. If the jury concludes Yates is competent, she will go to trial. The odds are against her. An insanity defense is extraordinarily difficult to prove. It is rarely used in court and even more rarely succeeds. In this case, prosecutors contend Yates not only was sane when she drowned her children but also is competent to stand trial. She has been treated by two psychiatrists and prescribed medication during her 3 months in jail. People who know her say she has improved.
Insanity and competency are different legal terms that apply to different time frames -- the time a crime was committed vs. now. At the hearing, the defense lawyers plan to call at least two expert
The constant years of abuse drove her into believing that it was her life or his. If she were to have been tried guilty, it would have been an aimless sentence, for she did not understand the extent of her actions, due to staggering abuse that made her temporarily insane. When denying a defense pleading insanity, it disregards the justice the sentence is supposed to serve. In the article “The Insanity Defense and the Constitution,” written by Lincoln Caplan, he analyzes a court case where there was no insanity plea available. He concludes that when a serious mental disorder refrains a person's understanding that the given sentence was retribution for his or her crime, it shows no purpose of criminal justice. Along with serving a misunderstood sentence, it does not enhance public safety since “states can civilly commit anyone who is found not guilty of a crime by reason of insanity for an indefinite period, until they are no longer dangerous,”
Thesis: Postpartum depression is a mood disorder that can greatly effect new mothers. Knowing how to recognize their symptoms and treating it can greatly increase chances of a healthy, happy living.
The insanity defense has been quite a controversial subject. It has been used by some of the most baleful criminals in history. Its controversy derives from the belief that people who plead insanity are excused from the fault of their crimes. Surprisingly however, this defense is rarely used because of how hard it is to prove legal insanity. Less than one percent of criminals choose to plead insanity and of those who choose to plead insanity the success is quite low at 25 percent.( Rolf. p. 2) This defense has been around for centuries. It can be dated back to the 14th century. Kings were willing to pardon crimes to those who were deemed “mad”. By the 18th century the “ wild beast” test was developed by some English courts. However, the
jury ruled her not guilty, but I do not see how with all the evidence that they had. With the
Many people with schizophrenia never learn how to deal with their problems and in the case of Andrea Yates that was one of her problems. Early treatment and therapy could have prevented a tragedy like this one. Denial from her family also plays an important factor in this case. Andrea should have been institutionalized and forced to treatment, way long before she deteriorated in such manner. Her husband was in denial and probably her immediate family too. They are to blame as much as her for this tragedy. A big question will remain forever unanswered. Did Andrea Yates know she was doing something wrong when she drowned her children? Only God and her really know the answer. Personally I believe she knew she was doing something wrong. She just didn’t know how to deal with it. Having schizophrenia or a psychotic sickness does not exempt anyone from doing bad things. I guess living for the rest of your life knowing you killed all of your children is punishment enough. All we can learn from this case is that the main goal is help the person with schizophrenia learn to sort out the real from the unreal and hopefully with the advances in today’s science there will be better treatment in the future.
Well in this type of criminal trial the person must be evaluated and get a testimony from a forensic psychiatrists or forensic psychologist. They will have to decide if the person was in fact unable to comprehend the difference between right and wrong actions at the time the crime occurred (Giannetakis, P). There are also legal tests that determine the person’s insanity in able to granted them the insanity. Some of the tests that determine insanity include are the Irresistible Impulse test, the Model Penal Code test, the Durham Rule, and the M 'Naghten Rule. For the Model Penal Code test the person but be diagnosed with a relevant mental disorder and at the time of the incident was unable to either: comprehend and
Discuss the case as if you are part of the defense team in State v. Stu Dents and the defendant wants to plead insanity.
However, following a court-ordered psychological evaluation, Judge Robert Rinfret found her to be not guilty by reason of insanity. In so doing, Rinfret ordered a new evaluation as means to determine how to dispose of her criminal case.
On July 27, 2006, the New York Times published an article on the findings of the retrial of Andrea Yates and her not guilty due to insanity over the drowning deaths of her five children. (Woman Not Guilty, 2006). The court decided to commit her to a state mental hospital until medical experts decide she is not a threat to herself or anyone else. In 2002, an earlier jury rejected her claims she was psychotic and found her guilty. Yates alleged by murdering her children she actually saved them. (Woman Not Guilty, 2006). The appeals court overturned the decision because of “erroneous testimony from a prosecution witness.” (Woman Not Guilty, 2006). Yate’s lead lawyer, George Parnham, remarked that the verdict was a “watershed for mental
When dealing with a defendant with questionable competency you have to take the case and the circumstances into question. There are many people in the world with mental disabilities and some even
Postpartum depression, which is the most prevalent of all maternal depressive disorders, is said to be the hidden epidemic of the 21st century. (1) Despite its high prevalence rate of 10-15% and increased incidence, postpartum depression often goes undetected, and thus untreated. (2) Nearly 50% of postpartum depression cases are untreated. As a result, these cases are put at a high risk of being exposed to the severe and progressive nature of their depressive disorder. (3) In other words, the health conditions of untreated postpartum depression cases worsen and progress to one of their utmost stages, and they are: postpartum obsessive compulsive disorder, postpartum panic disorder, postpartum post traumatic stress, and postpartum psychosis.
Over the years the abuse of insanity plea, has troubled our American Justice System in our world today. The growth in this defense has increased so much that the expansion has asked the question; whether or not insanity plea is a worthy and justified defense to be used in the courts. The Insanity defense is when a criminal defendant can be found to have been legally insane when that defendant committed the crime they did at the time. In some cases, the criminal defendant pleads insane and gets a less severe punishment due to their ruling of having a mental impairment. In the court system, the trial procedure for pleading insane is straight forward with its steps and rulings whether or not the criminal is guilty or not.
Conclusion: If a person uses an insanity defense, it does not mean that he/she did not know right from wrong while committing the crime.
Mothers who have brought into this world a blessing have been preparing themselves for a big change in their life. They have been learning and educating themselves about how to be a good mother. Many mothers find it really hard to transition from being an independent woman without children to becoming a mother (Corrigan, Kwasky, & Groh, 2015). Adapting to motherhood can be a drastic change, and usually creates challenges that lead to feeling overwhelmed (Leger & Letourneau, 2015). When a newly mother begins experiencing stress or becomes emotional then there can be a possibility that they can encounter Postpartum Depression (Leger et al., 2015). Postpartum depression can be seen and experienced in many different ways, it all varies on every mother (Corrigan et al., 2015). Many different mental health issues can be seen including baby blues, postpartum depression, postpartum obsessive-compulsive disorder, and the most serious, postpartum psychosis (Tam & Leslie, 2001).
Postpartum depression (PPD) exists as a part of the spectrum of major depression, coded with a modifier for postpartum onset which is defined as an episode of depression, mania, or