Well… I have to say I am glad that a jury finally recognized the depths of Andrea Yates’ postpartum psychosis, and found her not guilty by reason of insanity. It’s understandable that many people who have never been afflicted with a psychiatric disorder, cannot fully comprehend what it is like to have one… Or how a person with a psychotic psychiatric disorder can believe in a delusion to a such an extreme extent that it becomes reality to them. But just because you cannot comprehend something does not make it untrue. Far from it.
Much of Andrea’s psychosis revolved around religious themes mainly because of Michael Woroniecki’s teachings. Andrea truly believed that Satan lived inside her… That the way she was raising them they weren’t righteous, and could never be saved. So, in the depths of her delusions in April 2001 she came to the conclusion that it would be better if she killed her children while they were still innocent, then they would be taken up to Heaven. If she did not do this they would be damned to be tormented by Satan in hell for all eternity. In her sick mind this psychotic delusion, bolstered by her fundamentalist Christian beliefs, took root, and flourished because of the inadequate medical treatment/medication she was receiving.
She had been specifically told by Woroniecki that because Rusty was no longer a follower of his she had to "do godly things behind her ungodly husband’s back", so she most likely felt that Rusty would stop her from "saving" their children’s immortal souls. For that very reason she never told Rusty her plans, and waited for the first chance she got to be alone with the children - June 20th, 2001 - to carry them out. Her understanding of right, and wrong, was obviously colored by her psychotic delusions, and no sane rationale can truly be attributed to what she did. In her mind what she was doing was not only necessary but right and godly, but according to her delusions, she knew that an "ungodly" world would erroneously perceive what she was doing as wrong, and would either try to stop her, or punish her, for trying to save her children from eternal damnation.
It amazes me that people still vehemently attack, and blame, Andrea & Rusty about all that has transpired. What about the doctors that were supposed to be treating Andrea? Why don’t I hear anyone ranting about them? They, in my opinion, are the ones who are the most to blame for the tragic deaths of these five innocent children. As I said in my previous post about this case, Rusty is not, in no way, shape, or form, a doctor, and Andrea could not help herself in the condition she was in. Dr. Saeed & Starbranch, along with other medical personnel, were the ones whose job it was to see that Andrea’s mental illness was being properly treated. By not doing the job they were supposed to do they guaranteed that someone was bound to get hurt. Though "hurt" is perhaps too mild of a word for what did happen.
It just disgusts me when I see Nancy Grace, or other media personalities, railing on air about Andrea & Rusty’s guilt, and then never say anything about the guilt of the doctors. Shame on them all! Why do they do this? Those doctors whose job it was to treat Andrea’s mental illness, and yet failed to effectively do it - a clear case of malpractice in my opinion - don’t even get a slap on the wrist. Sad. People need to stop blaming Andrea & Rusty for circumstances (her inadequate treatment/medication that lead to the deaths of their five children) for which they had absolutely no control over, and instead place that blame where it should be… Firmly with the people are to blame: namely Dr. Saeed & Starbranch.
July 31st, 2006
Posted by: Ash
Andrea Yates… *sigh* Even though I am a mother, and with motherhood comes a deeper empathy for the welfare of children in general, her sad case touches something inside me so very deeply. Beyond what I feel for other similar cases. I truly believe that her five beautiful children would still be alive today if she had received the medication, and treatment, that she so desperately needed. There is no doubt in my mind that she was totally insane at the time she killed her children.
Part of my feelings for her situation may stem from the fact that I too suffer from depression, though my depression comes nowhere near what hers is, and has thankfully never had any psychotic features. It’s almost like comparing apples, and oranges, but I can understand how she came to be under-medicated, and how her mental state deteriorated because of that. Having dealt with many doctors for 8 years now, I still haven’t found one that is willing to take the time to find the right medication, or combination of medications, that will make me feel like I used to feel before I was cursed with depression. Hopefully someday I will, but then my situation is not time critical, and as I always say, even though any of the medication (I’m now trying Cymbalta… No longer taking Wellbutrin and BuSpar.) I’ve been on over the years hasn’t totally alleviated my depression, it’s a hell of a lot better than being unmedicated. Unfortunately, Andrea didn’t have this luxury.
Andrea’s physician, Dr. Saeed, basically put a band-aid on the gunshot wound that was her postpartum depression, so that it ended up evolving into postpartum psychosis. She saw the doctor two days before she drowned her children, in an appointment in which he adjusted her inadequate medication, and told her to "think positive thoughts". Rusty pleaded with the doctor to put her on another medication (Haldol, I believe) that helped her immensely in the past, because she was just getting worse on the medication she was on, but was blown off. In my opinion, it was basically a case of a greedy doctor who was trying to fit as many appointments into his day, and not giving the patients he saw the proper level of attention they needed from him. I’ve run into my fair share of these types of doctors. You know, the ones that show up in the examination room late, rush through their assessment of their patient’s condition, then leave without taking the time to really listen to what is being said by the patient. Sort of like a medical "wham, bam, thank you ma’am". *sigh* I hope the money he got from all his extra appointments helps him sleep at night.
Her previous physician, Dr. Starbranch, also did not do the most she could do to protect Andrea, and her family. Her opinion was that having more children would "guarantee future psychotic depression" in Andrea, and states she advised Rusty about this fact; a claim he later denied. Why didn’t she contact CPS after she found out that they continued to have more children, and she was aware that Andrea was experiencing postpartum depression once again, to report her concern that she was a possible danger to her children, or meet with Rusty alone to voice her concerns about Andrea? Could it be that if Dr. Starbranch had done any of these things, especially when she knew that Andrea was going quickly down hill in the month before she killed the children, they’d still be alive today? Who really knows. The fact is that there were so many instances in which those children could have been saved from their horrible fate, but that the people involved in helping Andrea failed to take advantage of these chances, that they ultimately failed this entire family with their inaction.
My question for people who think the Yates should have stopped having children is: Why??? Why should they stop when her previous postpartum depression was successfully treated after the birth of her fourth child? Should a woman with any kind of psychiatric disorder not be allowed to have any children at all? Should "society" sterilize them against their will, just in case they may harm/kill their child(ren)? What people need to comprehend is that in this day, and age, there are a myriad of ways to treat/manage these psychiatric disorders, so that these sad cases in which we hear about mothers harming/killing their child(ren) do not have to happen in the first place. It’s no different than a mother that has diabetes, or other life altering medical condition, making sure that it’s under control, so it doesn’t put her child(ren) in danger… It’s that simple.
I summed up my theory about why women receive such poor treatment for our psychiatric disorders in my "The United States Of Depression" post. Here’s the parts of it I feel are most relevant to this current post:
| |
|
It’s unfortunate that women receive such poor medical treatment for mental illnesses, since we experience them about twice as often as men. I have no doubt that hormones are a major contributing factor to this, considering a woman’s body is exposed to a constant bombardment of hormonal fluctuations. My theory for this inferior treatment is that doctors (especially the male ones) chalk up any mental disorder women have to "female problems", throw a quick prescription at us, and leave it at that. Then when something like the Yates tragedy occurs they act all shocked, like there was never a possibility that something like that could have ever happened, and yet these tragic cases never make them rethink their treatment of their female patients with the same types of problems. Sad.
All too often people in this world try to sweep mental illnesses under the rug, and this should never be the way we deal with such a serious problem. Problems never go away when you ignore them. They only get worse and end up blowing up in your face. Remember: Mental disorders do not just affect the person suffering from it; it affects us all.
|
As for the general belief that Rusty is also responsible for what happened to his children I have to somewhat disagree with this assessment. Yes, he should have never left Andrea alone with the children, but I feel he was doing the best he could under the circumstances. Especially how he personally made sure she took the medication she needed to take every day. People also need to remember that he isn’t a doctor, by no stretch of the imagination, and should not be held responsible for the poor medical treatment she received. As I stated above, he tried to get Dr. Saeed to put Andrea on a medication he knew had helped her in the past, but was blown off. What more could he have done? Gone to another doctor? Sure he could have, but he was truly unaware of the danger Andrea posed to the children. He is as much a victim in this sad case, as anyone else. He lost his wife, and five children on that fateful day in June 2001. They were his whole world, and now they are utterly lost to him… Something he has to live with for the rest of his life. I mostly just feel sorry for him, and all he’s had to go through, but I feel the sorriest for those poor, innocent children.
The sad fact is that unless spouses are educated about depression they can’t fully understand what their husbands/wives are going through, and what the outcome is when it goes under/untreated. I know my husband didn’t fully understand my depression until I had a long tearful conversation about what I go through with it. Had one of Andrea’s doctors sat down with Rusty for a one on one talk, and spelled out in layman’s terms exactly what her depression was doing to her mental state, and the real possibility that she could try to harm the children, I would bet my bottom dollar that he would have never left her alone with those children. That’s a bet I’d probably win.
July 21st, 2006
Posted by: Ash
Kindness in words creates confidence, kindness in thinking creates profoundness, kindness in feeling creates love.
-Lao Tzu
Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver.
-Barbara De Angelis
My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.
-Dalai Lama
The majority of us lead quiet, unheralded lives as we pass through this world. There will most likely be no ticker-tape parades for us, no monuments created in our honor.
But that does not lessen our possible impact, for there are scores of people waiting for someone just like us to come along; people who will appreciate our compassion, our unique talents. Someone who will live a happier life merely because we took the time to share what we had to give.
Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have a potential to turn a life around. It’s overwhelming to consider the continuous opportunities there are to make our love felt..
-Leo Buscaglia
Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.
-Scott Adams
I expect to pass through this world but once; any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.
-Stephan Grellet
If there is any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not deter or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.
-William Penn
July 19th, 2006
Posted by: Ash
Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.
-Sir Cecil Beaton
Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward. Maybe they have to be crazy. How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels? We make tools for these kinds of people. While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.
-Steve Jobs
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.
-Henry David Thoreau
July 15th, 2006
Posted by: Ash
