The two doctors treating her in jail were on the Today show this am. They commented that Andrea was highly intelligent and high functioning admist the total breakdown of her psychosis making it very hard for those around her to totally comprehend the extent of her illness.
Any comment?

By Ginnyk on Tuesday, March 19, 2002 - 12:14 pm:

I have known a number of kids whose IQ's were very, very high who were also seriously emotionally/mentally disturbed - autistic, among other things. And, as the movie, A Beautiful Mind, shows, one can be a Nobel Prize winning mathematician and be schizophrenic and severely delusional.

By Joan on Tuesday, March 19, 2002 - 01:35 pm:

This made me think of Charles Manson, and Adolf Hitler. In my opinion these two individuals were/are very intelligent, but mad men just the same.

By Melanie on Tuesday, March 19, 2002 - 01:43 pm:

I think this is just a poor excuse for her husband. They knew the extent of her illness. She's been hospitalized for it and medicated for it. This does not change my opinion that her husband is also responsible for what happened. JMO.

By Ginnyk on Tuesday, March 19, 2002 - 07:36 pm:

As we know from this trial, one can be "mad" from the average person's point of view and still be sane. And states use different standards. Texas uses the "know the difference between right and wrong" standard. Other states use a standard which basically is that the person knew the difference between right and wrong but could not control what they were doing - in such a state, Andrea Yates would probably have been found not guilty by reason of insanity or, as in my state, guilty but insane. Then there is "uncontrollable impulse", which applies to people who lose control for some mental illness reason, or just flip out in rage or fear. All in all, it is very confusing and distressing.
Add to the mix that most states will not charge a drunk driver with Murder One (intentional killing of a specific person) or Murder Two - doing something which intentionally kills or risks the life of another, but usually manslaughter. Personally, I think if a person chooses to drink, get drunk (or drugged) and drive, that is a graver crime than one committed by of a person who does not choose to be mentally ill.

All in all, it is a mess. All of it - the mental health system, the justice system, and certainly the child welfare system. Sadly, mentally ill people, preventing criminal behavior and the social ills that so often lead to criminal behavior, and taking care of our nation's children do not seem to be high national priorities, no matter how much our leaders (in every party) prate of family values and all that goes with that.

That's my soapbox for tonight.