Postpartum Research Paper

There are a lot of courses of action that have to be taken when it comes to the plea. Regardless of all the processes that have to be done, it is better for a mentally ill defendant to seek this alibi. It is imperative for the accused to try to give a justification for their actions in order to avoid getting possible jail time. With the diagnosis of a mental health professional, they are able to provide verification of their mental illness. The insanity defense is the only defense that they are supplied with to defend their position in a case. According to the article, Insanity Defense: Proposals

2. Do you think that individuals accused of crimes should be able to use an insanity defense? Why or why not?

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

This paper mainly looks into a few selected studies about the diagonosis and treatment of this type of depression and the negative repercusions that it has for women and infants. Pearlstein et al. (2009) debates that women who have postpartum depression can lead to an increased risk of infanticide after the delivery of there child, with a mother that has postpartum pyschosis. This pyschosis can be triggered by previous mental health issues such as bipolar. In this study it can also be found that infancide may also occur due to neglect and abuse because the child is unwanted and therefore the mother may result to harm the child or themselves. This article provides detailed information on the servierity of postpartum depression and how pycosisic can be triggered by past mental health issues, which may assist in current case to gather information of this paticualar

Postpartum psychiatric disorders, particularly depression, has become the most underdiagnosed complication in the United States. It can lead to increased costs of medical care, inappropriate medical care, child abuse and neglect, discontinuation of breastfeeding, and family dysfunction and adversely affects early brain development (Earls, 2010). Over 400,000 infants are born to mothers that are depressed. One of 7 new mothers (14.5%) experience depressive episodes that impair maternal role function. An episode of major or minor depression that occurs during pregnancy or the first 12 months after birth is called perinatal or postpartum depression (Wisner, Chambers & Sit, 2006). Mothers with postpartum depression experience feelings of extreme sadness, anxiety, and exhaustion that may make it difficult for them to complete daily care activities for themselves or for others (Postpartum Depression). The six stages of postpartum are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance and PTSD. These stages may affect any women regardless of age, race, ethnicity, or economic status. However only a physician can diagnose a woman with postpartum depression. It does not occur because of something a mother does or does not do, it’s a combination of physical and emotional factors. After childbirth, the levels of hormones in a woman’s body quickly drop; which may lead to chemical changes in her brain (Postpartum Depression). Unbalanced hormones may trigger mood swings.

(4) As the small number of affected cases implies, postpartum psychosis is extremely rare and adverse. Also, it is marked by a group of psychotic symptoms such as intense emotional instability, severe confusion, unfathomable speech, unexplainable behaviors, and a combination of extreme hallucinations and delusions. In spite of postpartum psychosis severity, cases recover from it remarkably due to a number of effective treatments such antidepressants and mood stabilizers.

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,

Although the idea of the “insanity defense” is state mandated and not federally acknowledged, it has drastically shifted overall throughout the course of time. The primary debate has now shifted from the sole focus on “insanity defense” to the idea of the death penalty and how it should be addressed in cases of serious mental illness or disabilities. Each state has specific laws surrounding all aspects of mental illness and how that should relate to the severity of the charges. “Currently in the United States, forensic mental-health professionals (psychiatrists, social workers, and psychologists) conduct the determination of whether the defendant fits the Black’s Law Dictionary definition of insanity at the time of the crime” (Richie et al, 2014). On the other hand, forensic psychologists who administer these assessments associated with determining legal proceeding must also place emphasis on adhering to the Code of Ethics. This could mean the psychologist needs to place emphasis on several areas when determining the adequate outcome. Legally, they have policies, questions, and parameters that the psychologist must adhere to but there is also the possibility of professional biases and errors.

There are several problems surrounding insanity defense: the most prominent one that psychologists and experts who testify face is judging the individuals psychological state retrospectively (Costano & Costanzo, 2013). The insanity pleas and defenses rely on the mental state of an individual at the moment they were committing the crime, not prior or after the crime. Therefore psychologists who evaluate these defendants are tasked with making judgements of an individual that was not available to them at the moment of crime and sometimes for long period after the crime.

When it comes to judging cases in the legal system, things get tricky due to the imbalance between psychology and law. Psychology acknowledges that disorders have degrees; however, the law uses the method of sane or insane. Due to this, “not guilty by reason of insanity” is used and one the most famous cases we see this in is the case of Andrea Yates. In my essay, I will explain the basics related to her case and my personal opinion on this case.

The insanity defense has been established and turned into a challenging but in many ways an understandable and effective defense system in a criminal justice process. Within the legal system, there has to be two general requirements for criminal sanction against an individual Mens rea and actus reus. Therefore, guilty mind or guilty act must be present to present that an individual committed the crime. The insanity defense originates from the knowledge that certain medical illness with the individual’s capability to form the Mens Rea as required by law. Throughout the following essay we will be discussing a little in-depth about the different forms of Insanity defense.

Once a woman is assessed of having high risk of suffering from postpartum psychosis or she is already diagnosed it is extremely essential a close monitoring of her condition with the aid of a multidisciplinary team. This team should include a distinguished obstetrician ideally with perinatal expertise, an experienced midwife, a psychiatrist with perinatal experience, a nurse (ideally with psychiatric experience) and a General Pathologist. These experts will be able to cocoon the mother and address her symptoms, fears and phobias in and out of every aspect in order to make a full recovery.

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 mood disorders is defined as a spectrum of illness including postpartum blues, postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis. The postpartum blues are extremely common and no specific treatment is usually needed. Postpartum depression is less common and may significantly impact both the health of the mother and baby. Postpartum psychosis is extremely rare with clinical features including mania, psychotic thoughts, severe depression, and other thought disorders, and requires hospitalization. This paper will focus on reviewing and discussing postpartum depression.

It is very important that postpartum psychosis should be treated effectively and that each patient’s case should be monitored closely because it entails a grave situation which will have serious and adverse results in both the mother and the fetus. Untreated depression during the pregnancy involve a high risk for postpartum psychosis. The fetus may display severe and abnormal responses which may affect its heart activity. Additionally the patient may advance in having obstetric complications such as preterm delivery, potential miscarriage or even low birth weight combined with early gestational age.