Postpartum Psychosis: Why Did Andrea Yates Kill Her Five Children?
Author: Ronald J. Comer
Princeton University
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On the morning of June 20, 2001, Andrea Yates drowned her five small children in the bathtub. This powerful video examines this tragic case. It demonstrates her loving devotion to her children with moving home videos and photos, documents her past history of postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis, and looks at the failures of the medical and mental health fields and the decision made by Mrs. Yates and her husband to have a fifth child. As you watch, consider the important distinction between postpartum psychosis and postpartum depression (which is more common). Although Mrs. Yates suffered from each syndrome, it was postpartum psychosis that apparently triggered this tragedy.
1. Andrea Yates, whose famous case was shown in the video, is believed by clinicians to have been suffering from ________________, which affects about one out of every thousand new mothers.
2. In the video case, Andrea Yates' husband discusses why he and his wife decided to have another child despite her severe earlier bout with suicidal postpartum depression. He says that ____________.
3. According to the textbook, clinical cases of postpartum depression (which is distinct from postpartum psychosis) appear in between ____ and _______ percent of new mothers.
4. Andrea Yates' case highlighted the controversy over the legal definition of insanity. In 2006, she underwent a second trial, after the first verdict was set aside over a tainted witness. The verdict in her second trial was ____________.
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