Andrea Yates R.N.

LADYFLOWER · Jul 8, 2006

ps - what is "Beloved"?

I've seen movie. The one with Oprah Winfrey, right?

StNeotser, ASN, RN · Jul 9, 2006

I have read this entire thread and some of the attitudes expressed by some posters were shocking. .

I have just read through it too and thought the exact same thing. Thank you for your post. You wrote it far more eloquently than I could have.

DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN · Jul 9, 2006

this woman had a history of psychosis and was instructed to reconsider her desire to continue to have children in light of her considerable struggle with reality. yet, her husband, who made her the monster that she has become, allowed her to continue to give birth knowing that each subsequent pregnancy with the possibilty of post partum psychosis an ever present catalyst into the abyss of madness was allowed to walk away from his complicity in this entire matter.

you said it girlie. that's exactly how i feel....and yes he does bear responsibility in this matter but will never be held accountable....well not until he meets his maker.

lifesaverwv · Jul 9, 2006

I definitely don't condone what Andrea did. I can't imagine how she could drowned her children one by one. Also I don't think her husband is entirely innocent of the crime either. After Andrea had her 4th baby she tried to commit suicide twice. Her pyschiatrist advised Mr. Yates that his wife

should never get pregnant again because the next time the postpartum depression would probably be worse. Her husband new this info, yet, instead of him getting a vasectomy he gets her pregnant again. I don't think that he

was thinking about the welfare of his wife, he just wanted more children. I think he is as much too blame as his wife.

I pray that the children are in Heaven playing happily with God & the other little angels that are there. :balloons:

Kis4KittyRN · Jul 9, 2006

If she was so "sick" that she didn't realize what she was doing was wrong, then why did she call the police after she completed her actions?

LydiaNN · Jul 9, 2006

She didn't call the police before or during her actions, she called them after the children were dead. At most, that indicates that she knew what she had done was illegal after she did it. Insanity defenses require only that it be proven the person wasn't capable of knowing right from wrong when the crime was committed. And this case is much more complicated, because even if she did know that what she was doing was illegal as she did it, she thought she was saving these children. I am flabbergasted that we're still talking about ''if'' she was really sick. Uh, yeah, read the history. She was a very, very sick woman.

Fuzzy · Jul 9, 2006

If she was so "sick" that she didn't realize what she was doing was wrong, then why did she call the police after she completed her actions?

Could it be that she was asking for help? After all, I'll bet her demons didn't go away after she "saved" her childern. Her demons lied to her! This is such a sad, sad case. :uhoh3: Plus is does more to stigmatize mental illness than it does to make more help available to those of us that have to fight those demons. I have fought the demons and lived so far this week.

Fuzzy

steelydanfan · Jul 9, 2006

This poor women is as psychotic as one can be. Whether it was postpartum psychosis, or pregnancy elevating an pre-existing illness; we probably won't ever know. But my first thought upon reading about this incident was, "If she isn't crazy, no one is. You HAVE to be NUTS to do what she did".

I also believe that her husband has more to answer for than her; as he seemingly ignored and exacerbated all her symptoms.

He should be in jail, she should be in psychiatric care for as long as she needs.

CaseManager1947 · Jul 9, 2006

As can be seen by the variety of posts on this thread this a very emotionally charged and polarizing issue. My post earlier still indicates that the Depression comes first psychotic state as result of depression. Perhaps one thing that I am struggling with (along with the horrific nature of these acts) is that our sentencing guidelines really do not address this type of criminal. Yes, she is a criminal, she took 5 lives. But, as has been stated by others here, she is also mentally ill. Many, wiser than I, have suggested pleaing such a person as "guilty but mentally ill". She still should serve time in prison, and a lot of it. Can she get a fair trial of her peers? I doubt it. My lack of faith in that system arises out of the prosecutor in this case witholding vital information from the defense, so no I think our whole court and sentencing guidelines need to be rewritten to include such a plea. Will that come in time for this lady. Probably not. The fact that she is an RN to me really has no bearing on this. Lots of folks from lots of different fields do all kinds of criminal acts. I still say, pray the soul of ms. yates,

Thanks to all on this thread for their honest and heartfelt comments, whether I agree with you or not, the dialogue is essential ,

Morghan

joyflnoyz, LPN · Jul 9, 2006

I also believe that her husband has more to answer for than her; as he seemingly ignored and exacerbated all her symptoms.

He should be in jail, she should be in psychiatric care for as long as she needs.

Sigh.. no he did NOT ignore. He tried to get help, keep her on her meds.

There were times where he begged for her to be hospitalized. One place he got her in to put her in "addiction group therapy"

Sorry, I don't agree that he should go to jail. He did what he knew to do.

ANnot4me · Jul 9, 2006

"Beloved" is a book by Toni Morrison and it is the story of an escaped slave who is haunted by the memory of her child. The main character believes that she and her child are going to be captured. She kills her child rather than having her taken into slavery. It has been a while since I read the book, so that is a very rough synopsis. This woman knew it was wrong to kill her child, but she also knew firsthandedly what it meant to be a slave. She chose to kill her own child rather than let her be subjected to being beaten, raped, worked like a dog and other unspeakable tortures (things that she had experienced throughout her life).

My point is that a the world of a psychotic person is as real to them as ours is to us. Who knows what life was like for AY. Maybe she felt that killing her children was the right thing to do even though she knew it was illegal. Who knows what that poor woman believed was happening to her or those children. Maybe she made a decision based out of love for those children...

PeachPie · Jul 9, 2006

My point is that a the world of a psychotic person is as real to them as ours is to us. Who knows what life was like for AY. Maybe she felt that killing her children was the right thing to do even though she knew it was illegal. Who knows what that poor woman believed was happening to her or those children. Maybe she made a decision based out of love for those children...

This kind of reminds me of war accounts of mothers who would throw their children off cliffs and then jump to prevent their kids from being captured, raped, enslaved, etc...