Quote:
Originally Posted by BirdDancer
I didn't see Andrea Yates's case or the video to establish any opinion at all, though I likely wouldn't have had enough evidence to even make a firm opinion from that alone. However, I think psychosis is a complex thing. I do believe that there have been cases of high crimes (and even murders) where the perpetrator should be considered innocent because of insanity.
Obviously, no one can really know for sure what goes on in another person's mind. That's a real barrier to true understanding of cause. Often, a very psychotic person isn't aware either, or has been taken over by the sickness of psychosis. I believe that in such states, certain types of reasoning or "moral compass" may be lost. It's a tragedy if/when others are hurt as a result, but in such extreme cases, I see the afflicted as hurt and dominated by the illness, too. Yes, in certain cases the afflicted can also be a victim. No one usually asks for such afflictions.
I once posted a blog article called "Hating is not fair". I knew it would be a controversial one. I did, indeed, get some strong negative reactions. One was specifically from a person who seemed to feel that anything could be forgiven EXCEPT if it included a child.
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Given my own experience with psychosis I agree with this. I had absolutely no control over many of my actions. I had no critical thought and my moral compass was not working at all. I blacked out for large portions of my episode.
I do not know this case and it is very triggering for me. I feel individuals must be held accountable for their actions even if mental illness is involved. I was held accountable and I held myself accountable. The method to which that accountability is achieved is what I believe we do not have a good system for as each of these cases are incredibly unique and dependent on factors that are impossible to see with the eye or measure accurately. There is no way to truly know if a patient was completely psychotic or if they had a sense of awareness. We cannot read her thoughts and/or emotions at the time.
I feel I would have answered much differently a year ago. As I told my therapist, you cannot truly understand what it is like to have zero control over your actions unless it happens to you. For me, the best way I can describe it is that it was like I was awake but my brain was dreaming. I simply reacted to various things without thought. I was seeing things that weren't real and made zero sense, but I responded like one does in a dream. We're attempting to make sense of the nonsensical. I am not sure that is entirely possoble to do. It is a miracle I did not hurt or traumatize my family any worse than I did. I am now doing all that I can to avoid any of this happening again. A year ago I had no idea something like this was even possible to experience. The troubling part for anyone in my life is that they can only take me at my word and my actions now that I am aware. There is no guarantee. There is no way to truly know. Only I can know. I do not envy the judge in this case.