Post partum depression strikes again?

Published on November 23, 2004 By dharmagrl In Current Events

I read about this on MSNBC this morning: Link

A Texas woman cuts the arms off of her daughter. I simply cannot imagine it. I really don't want to imagine it.

The report says that the department of social services was involved with the family until recently, when they closed the case, saying that they didn't feel the woman was any threat or that the child was in any particular danger.

Apparently, they were wrong.

I've experienced post partum depression myself. It's not a pleasant thing, and it can make you feel not like yourself at all. But...I never felt like drowning my babies or amputating their little arms. I never felt like hurting my children at all, come to think of it.

There comes a point where we have to stop blaming these actions on PPD and start looking elsewhere for the answers.

Comments

Lengirl

on Nov 23, 2004

I agree...

I have to be honest and admit that I have no children so have no personal experience, but I have plently of friends and family who have had kids, one in particular suffered from post partum depression. She admits that during this time she felt completely like a different person, kind of like she was shadowing herself, but she never contimplated hurting her baby. She still knew the difference between right and wrong. Her solution was to talk walks around the block when she felt she couldn't handle the crying or the pressure.

Inflicting harm on a baby that has no way of defending itself is in my opinion unforgivable. I understand that there are aspects of human behaviour we will never understand, but not everything fits under the same label...

Lengirl

on Nov 23, 2004

oopps forgot to add... Thanks, great article

chiprj

on Nov 23, 2004

I saw this on CNN Headline News this morning at the gym and was so sickened that I nearly ran off the side of the tread mill. I thought the same thing. How can this be blamed on PPD? I mean, I realize that I'm a guy and we have no children, so I honestly have no experience with PPD, but still, is this really the answer?

Silver_and_Jade_Tears

on Nov 23, 2004

I heard about this, this morning. I woke up to it being mentioned, and I seriously felt sick to my stomach. I could just imagine what that baby girl was doing while that wicked woman was in the process of cutting off her arms. It's truly beyond disturbing. It isn't right that these women get off for mental conditions. I, too, have suffered from PPD, but as Dharma said, I never had any urge to hurt my daughter.

I heard about another woman a few years ago that supposedly suffered from PPD... she drowned all 5 of her children, all under the age of 10. I don't think these women should get off as easily as they do. They deserve to pay for each life they destroy!

Texas Wahine

on Nov 23, 2004

I read about this yesterday, and have been giving it quite a bit of thought (not just since this incident, but for quite some time now).

PPD is a very serious problem. While most women are able to survive it without doing something abhorrent like this woman did, not all women are able to. This woman should be held accountable for her actions, and I wouldn't dare suggest otherwise -- and likely when she comes to her senses, she will wish she were dead and refuse any mercy from the courts.

However, I think we ought to also look at this as yet another red flare telling us that PPD is real, dangerous, and can have devastating consequences. We need to turn some focus toward understanding and treating PPD so that someday stories like these are just a horrible memory.

This is very tragic.

As a side note, Andrea Yates did not get off easily. She was sentenced to life in prison, which IMO is far more torture (nothing to do but contemplate her actions) than the death penalty in her case.

JillUser

on Nov 23, 2004

TW, I agree. I think the thing with PPD is that some women must have mental problems to begin with that are just made totally unmanagable by the effects of hormones post partum. I experienced what I call "the baby blues" post partum with my first child. I am normally about the most stable person emotionally that most have met. I couldn't control my emotions when flooded with post partum hormones. I would cry over nothing but still had my mental faculties and new what was happening to me.

I can see how a person who is already chemically imbalanced could go totally haywire when adding the hormones. I don't feel this is an excuse for anyone ever harming their own child or anyone else for that matter. I personally believe that people like this woman and Yates show that they are not capable of dealing with motherhood chemically and should therefore be sterilized.

I can't understand either of the women. I have more problems with accepting that Yates was just a case of PPD. She systematically killed all five children. She deserves life in prison.

dharmagrl

on Nov 23, 2004

I understand that there are aspects of human behaviour we will never understand, but not everything fits under the same label...

That's right. We are so used to finding reasons for everything that we have difficulty accepting that some people just...well, they're just evil.

. How can this be blamed on PPD?

Having been there myself, I don't think that it can. There's another, rarer illness, similar to PPD..Post Partum Psychosis. It's similar to schizophrenia in that the women who suffer from it can have hallucinations and bouts of temporary insanity. I'm beginning to think that this is the card the defense will try and play, and they might have a foundation in doing so. She really might be suffering from PPS. I'm not in her head, and I'm not her physician, so I can't say.

It isn't right that these women get off for mental conditions

They don't 'get off'. If she's found to be competent to stand trial, and competent at the time of the crime, she'll do a lot of time. If she's found to be incompetent, she'll be detained in a secure psyschiatric unit....and those are awful places to be. Horrible places...I personally would rather do time in jail then in a criminal psych. unit.

However, I think we ought to also look at this as yet another red flare telling us that PPD is real, dangerous, and can have devastating consequences. We need to turn some focus toward understanding and treating PPD so that someday stories like these are just a horrible memory.

I'm with you on this one. Too many women suffer unnecessarily because physicians and their families write off their emotional and metal state as just 'baby blues'. PPD is more, much, much more than that.

experienced what I call "the baby blues" post partum with my first child. I am normally about the most stable person emotionally that most have met. I couldn't control my emotions when flooded with post partum hormones. I would cry over nothing but still had my mental faculties and new what was happening to me.

hehe...I remember feeling like that.

No, there isn't an excuse. Unless she was insane at the time...which might be the case. Like I said, if I was her public defender, that'd be my game plan...clain temporary insanity.

She systematically killed all five children.

Andrea Yates was a woman who had been overburdened and depressed for years before she killed her kids. They had been living in a bus, her husband had worked all the time....it was enough to make even the sanest person a little stressed and edgy. They had a traditional christian fundamentalist lifestyle - he earned the dough, she stayed home making babies and keeping house. She even home schooled. Add that stress to raging hormones...and you have yourself a scenario that's ripe for catastrophe.

alison watkins

on Nov 23, 2004

I heard about this on the news this morning...it was not a plesant thing to wake up to. I have never had a child, so I am obviously not familiar with PPD, although this lady had to obviously be touched in the head!

Locamama

on Nov 23, 2004

This was very close to home for me in Plano, TX. It is a horrible, horrible thing. The neighbors in her apartment complex couldn't believe it. They said she would take her kids the pool and was always very caring and loving with them. The reason CPS was called is because she was running down the street and left her children unattended. They just made sure that she was under psychiatric care and did not feel that she was a danger to her children. That poor baby though. It just breaks your heart. I just think they need to take PPD or Post Partum Psychosis very seriously and not leave these children alone with their mothers until they are completely stable. But that's hindsight speaking. There was another case in plano maybe a year ago that a mother drowned two of her children. She is in a mental hospital now.

dharmagrl

on Nov 23, 2004

I just think they need to take PPD or Post Partum Psychosis very seriously and not leave these children alone with their mothers until they are completely stable.

Me too.

From what I understand, the father called the daycare provider, who told him the child wasn't there. He then called 911, and the dispatcher called the house...and the mom then told them what she had done. That indicates to me that the father was concerned about the welfare of his kids....why else would he call 911? Why not just call home to see what was going on?

CPS...well, you can bet someone's going to be under the microscope over this, and rightly so.

Like you said, locamam, hindsight and all that....but really, more attention should be paid to PPD and PPS. Women have to go for 6 week post-partum checks (sooner if they had C-sections), healthcare providers should be asking questions and looking for symptoms at those visits. Women often won't volunteer information, you have to ask.

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