I'm sure you've seen this one -

[kyburg]

SAN FRANCISCO - The woman seen dropping her young sons into San Francisco Bay pleaded innocent Friday to three counts of murder.
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Lashuan Harris, described as mentally ill by family members, kept her head down and held her public defender's hand through most of the brief court hearing. She quietly answered "yes" when the San Francisco Superior Court judge asked if she was willing to waive her right to a speedy preliminary hearing.

Harris, 23, faces three counts of murder with special circumstances, making her eligible for the death penalty.

Her lawyer, Teresa Caffese, refused to address questions about Harris' mental state, saying only her client was under suicide watch. She's being held without bail.

"It's very, very difficult," Caffese said. "This can't be captured in words right now."

Authorities said Harris, a former nurse's assistant who was living in a homeless shelter, was seen putting her three boys in the bay Wednesday.

This is a mother who lost custody of her children once - because she was hospitalized for schitzophrenia. Her mother was granted custody - and less than six months ago, asked to have it back - because her daughter had stopped taking her medication.

Haldol.

I'm sorry. You need that to control any part of your mental state, you really don't need anything but a padded cell.

That's what they give the violently mentally ill to keep them killing anyone coming near them. Ask Rita Hayworth's daughter about caring for her mother in her last days with Alzeheimer's, and having to resort to Haldol to keep her calm.

I have every reason to believe that once she got those children over the edge, that mother was going to follow them. Killing her? Probably what she wanted in the first place. Boy, that's going to solve something!

Watch the caseworker get called in next - and blamed.

Truth of the matter? Somebody is that ill, they need following. For that kind of diagnosis, life-long. You want them to live, that is.

Comments

appologies

[http://users.livejournal.com/little_e_/]

i missed the word "that" in your sentance. i read it as 'you need to control your mental state...' and automatically thought of every person on anti-depresents, ritalin, etc. in the country.

This is what i get for cooking and reading at the same time. My appologies.

I am going to delete my previous statement, okay?

Re: appologies

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

Don't - I really have a distinct hatred of the portion of the medical profession that 1) medicates with SSRIs when they aren't indicated and 2) medication for everything and that's ALL.

And then never follow up. Here is a prime case of what happens when we don't follow the patient when a chronic illness is present. This isn't a Epstein-Barr case. This kind of chronic condition kills, and here is the proof.

You can't medicate everything out of existence. Oh, you can try - but the results aren't pretty.

Re: appologies

[http://users.livejournal.com/little_e_/]

Medication is a tool. THrowing a wrench at a car with engine trouble will not fix it. At best you'll get a dent in the hood. Medication can help deal with symptoms, but just because the symptoms are gone or lessened doesn't mean the underlying problem is gone. It's like wearing earplugs because your engine is making funny noises and then being confused when the engine falls out. "but it wasn't making noises anymore!"

Thing is, most everyone is odd in their own little way. There seems to be this trend of trying to medicate everyone down to some prescribed 'normal'... Don't take me wrong, there are definitely people who *need* medicine. (Mumsie dearest comes immediately to mind.) But not everyone. and certainly therapy ought to be just as important.

Unfortunately, therapy costs more than medicine. Mum actually lost her health insurance for about a year because she went to therapy too much. (hrm, who'd've guessed that someone taking care of their terminally ill husband would get depressed?) And yet, despite all of the therapy and whatnot, I've yet to see someone sit her down and say, 'so everyone you know except your husband is a bad person who's betrayed you or your friendship at some point, and this is a pattern going back across your entire life? Have you ever considered that maybe there's something seriously wrong with how you relate to other people?"

*puts soapbox back in closet* I've had enough experiences dealing with people dealing with mental health issues that I could go on for hours. Our approach to mental health in this country is *horrible*. Even when people are getting therapy, that therapy is often shitty.