Mental Illness: A Psychological Story Of Andrea Yates

The children could hear the terrifying screams from their siblings in the bathroom. One by one all five entered the bathroom where their mother waited for them, unfortunately not a single one would make it out alive. Within six months of this heinous crime Andrea Yates the mother of these five children was put on trial. The evidence presented by both sides in the courtroom, would have long lasting effects on everyone involved in the case, as well as the millions of Americans that were following the trial. Visual testimony in any trial, especially a murder trial can have many effects on the outcome of a trial. Both prosecutors, and defense attorneys have a huge burden to fulfill in order

Mental illness has been around since the days of recorded history. People such as Aristotle, Thomas Overbury, and Jean de la Bruyere have studied the personality disorders. However, through history, people with personality disorders have been shunned and feared because of who they are.

I feel a little bit of sympathy towards Andrea Yates, but not so much. The reason is because although Andrea did have mental problems which must have been hard to deal with while taking care of kids I do still believe she was still fully capable of understanding that her actions were wrong. Andrea lived a normal life and showed promise that she would lead a successful life. Andrea grew up with loving parents, she got good grades, and she was liked by everybody, and had a career going for her as a nurse. Even after she got married and had kids it could be seen throughout the home footage that her kids were very playful and loving there was nothing that could have made her insane in her home life. While in her personal life I do believe that there were some things making her stressed out such as her depression and deciding to follow the teachings of Michael Peter Woroniecki, but I feel that because she was given help for those problems especially her depression she should have been healthy enough to recognize whether her

The issues of mental illness have been around from the start of human existence. Mental illness is considered any psychiatric disorder that cause untypical behavior. Questioning happened more in the 1930’s when more problems came around and how to fix it began to arise. Mental illness included the diseases, the cures,

When comparing rational choice theory to the Andrea Yates story it is evident that rational theory was in fact present throughout the duration of Andrea completing her heinous crime. According to the document provided via Investopedia, the rational theory could be defined as “... an economic principle that states that individuals always make prudent and logical decisions.” Throughout the case and its entirety, Andrea depicted characteristics of being fully rational and aware of her decisions. Several factors played a key part in determining whether or not Andrea Yates was rational at the time of the crime, factors such as; Andrea exclaimed that “she knew through a “feeling” that Satan wanted her to kill her children,” She struggled back and forth in her mind for one to two months about whether to take the lives of her children or herself. According to the rational choice theory document,

After reviewing these, the psychological factors that I believe to have contributed to Andrea Yates’ murder of her children are, firstly biological, Andrea had a genetic predispositions, which means Andrea had an increased likelihood of developing

In the book Girl, Interrupted, by Susanna Kaysen, one of the biggest focal points is mental illness. Mental illness can be tough to talk about, simply because the phrase “mental illness” encompasses such a wide range of conditions and conjures up images of deranged people, but it is very important, especially in this book. There is a certain stigma that people who are put into mental hospitals because they have medical problems or are insane and a possible danger to society. While this is sometimes true, it is far more common for patients to need help for a disorder, but just don’t know where to go or what to do, and can end up putting themselves or someone else in danger.

A serial killer is defined as a “person who murders three or more people over a period of more than 30 days, with a “cooling off” period between each murder, which whose motivation for killing is largely based on psychological gratification.” (University, n.d) Many times serial murders go unsolved and other times it takes decades to unravel. According to the FBI there is no set profile of a serial killer, because they can come in all sizes, ages, shapes, colors and groups. (Welch, 2011) They tend to operate within their comfort zone, which is there area where they work, live or they have relative’s homes. (Roberts, 2011)

People’s actions as well as behaviors are all developed as they grow up. As they grow up children begin to develop the same behaviors or actions from their parents. Some adults and children develop psychological disorders. These are mainly caused by Biological influences: evolution, individual genes, brain structure and chemistry; Psychological influences: stress, trauma, learned helplessness, mood-related perceptions and memories; and Social Cultural influences: roles, and expectations (pg.508). As in Mommie Dearest, Joan (Faye Dunaway) has multiple disorders that later on are developed by her daughter Christina (Mara Hobel). These disorders not only shaped Joan’s (Faye Dunaway) life, but also her daughter Christina’s (Mara Hobel, Diana Scarwid)

During the Vietnam War the soldiers, whether or not they wanted to be there, many of them developed mental illnesses. The things they would experience would cause burdens on them for the rest of their lives. “Ted Lavender, who was scared, carried tranquilizers until he was shot in the head outside the village of Than Khe in mid-April.” (The Things They Carried) Lavender carried tranquilizers until he died, because he was scared. This is one the effects war had on people. Due to cultural aspects these soldiers were burdened by drugs, the environment and social pressure to perform well, ultimately effecting their state of mind.

The articles The Myth of Mental Illness and Road Rage: Recognizing a Psychological Disorder addressed the issue of mental illness in two completely different contexts. Both authors agreed that societal context plays a large role in classifying what is “mental illness”. In The Myth of Mental Illness, Thomas S. Szasz was critical and sceptical of the definition of mental illness. Mental illness was defined as a deviation in behaviour from psychological, ethical or legal norms. He then proceeded to ask the reader, “Who defines the norms and hence the deviation?” He claimed that it is the society that decides what is considered as the norm, implying the significance of society in the classification of mental illness. In Road Rage: Recognizing a

If ever there was a botched case it was this one with inconsistencies on the part of the State being overwhelming. I watched this trial intently and read everything available. The verdict in this case generated an epidemic of outrage throughout the world. I agree with the not-guilty verdict on the murder one and two charges; however, the evidence is not as incontrovertible as some have suggested. I also agree that there was some mischaracterization around the 31 days; yet, to trivialize this behavior as simply immature is inaccurate.

Joan Crawford is a true successful Hollywood actress that had her life completely figure out except she was unable to have children. She decided to adopt her daughter Christina and later her son Christopher to fill her life with happiness. Christina is a very healthy young lady, but is treated with little dignity and love by her mommie dearest. Her mother’s issues with men, alcohol, and show business got in the way of her being with her children. Joan became mentally ill and abusive to her children. To her everything needed to be perfect, but even perfect was not great enough for her. Joan’s disorders impacted Christina not only at a young age as well as an adult. Joan’s disorders impacted her own life by being too strict and getting everything

In the book The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, we see that the parents are ‘book smart’ and that they are surprisingly knowledgeable about certain complex subjects, for example, the father taught Jeannette binary code, a complex computer coding language. Despite their book smarts, I also stated they might have a mental illness which would explain the crazy acts. What I am wondering is if they have such good book smarts, why don’t they have steady jobs with good pay? I believe because of their different views on life and their possible mental illness that this could cause a lack of judgment and understanding of a situation. An example of this would be the father’s habit of packing up the family in the middle of the night and pulling the old

While Plath fictionalised the account of her time in the mental institution in The Bell Jar, Sussana Kaysen’s Girl, Interrupted, set in 1967, is a memoir of Kaysen’s experience in the mental institution. There is a sense of ambivalence in the mental institution that seems to be oppressive yet liberating for Kaysen. In the beginning Kaysen describes a “parallel universe” which is a metaphor for mental illness and how easily one can slip into this universe that separates the sane and the insane, which is very strange. She highlights how this universe has a different set of rules and there is a cruel irony of how a person is aware that they have left reality behind and are aware of what is happening. When Kaysen is sent to the doctor for her failed