...health issue, which ultimately got the best of the mother. Some of these conditions the mothers face are bipolar disorder, depression and hallucinations. Again, these murders are called acutely psychotic filicide. Some of these mothers may believe that they are saving their infant from a worse fate (Marks, Kumar.) Furthermore, many mothers will often face postpartum mental disorders after giving birth. The fluctuation in hormones just before and after giving birth can cause this postpartum disorder in women and is frequently known as the, “baby blues.” The baby blues are very common after childbirth and occur in eighty-percent of women, ranging from mood swings to depression, as their hormones are beginning to stabilize (Mental Health America.) The symptoms of the baby blues should only last a few weeks, when the symptoms exceed a few weeks is when the problem may be more severe. It is found that in ten to twenty percent of mothers, postpartum depression (PPD) will occur and is much more intense than the baby blues (Mental Health America.) PPD is one of the factors that can lead to neonaticide and infanticide. In the case of my friend, her boyfriend had attempted to plead insanity, but was not granted and received life in...
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...Postpartum Psychosis Motherhood the Sad, the Mad, and the Insane Laurie Hackney Women, Crime, and Criminal Justice Dr. Connolly March 21, 2011 Postpartum Psychosis Motherhood the Sad, the Mad, and the Insane On the heartbreaking morning of June 20, 2001, Andrea Pia Yates was arrested and charged for the filicide of her children. One by one, this seemingly devoted mother of five drowned all of her children in the bathtub of their family home. Singularly, she put her three youngest children to death, taking their bodies from the tub fully clothed and wet, then placed them upon their bed, and covered them up. She proceeding doing the same with her youngest child, but while she was drowning Mary, her oldest son Noah walked in and asked what she was doing before he turned and ran away. She gave chase, caught up with him in the hall, then dragged him back to the bathroom and proceeded to terminate him with Mary dead in tub. Andrea then took Mary and placed her in the arms of the three youngest children leaving Noah behind dead and alone in the bath. Factors Relating to the Incident Being raised a Roman Catholic; Yates converted her religious beliefs to that of her husband’s prior to marriage. In this religion, people are expected to have as many children as nature will allow. Even while Andrea was awaiting trial, it was reported that her husband felt so sure of his wife’s acquittal that he was already speaking about having more children. This notion left the attorneys...
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