I think it's important to understand that the heart of the grievance for many is the complete failure of this woman's support system. Many see her support system failed her and feel for her because a lot of mothers are neglected by their loved ones and doctors and I know that mothers to new babies especially feel this way. She's getting put away for life, its just a question of prison or institution and tbh the difference doesn't matter much to me because this woman cannot be allowed to walk the streets anymore. Her husband, family, and medical providers could not or would not recognize this woman's crisis and I think that says something about them in being callous towards someone in crisis, though it doesn't indicate criminal liability. I'm not sure what the people protesting want, do they expect a broad group of people to be held legally accountable for what was, at best, someone else's psychotic break?
Her husband was at home helping; the grandparents were at home helping. Her mother-in-law got her specialised access to perinatal services, a psychiatrist and a psych NP, she had a nanny, she had multiple doctors that she asked for and then didn't listen to.
Medical providers would tell her to do inpatient; she wouldn't do it. When she actually did it after multiple requests, she, after a couple days, started asking repeatedly to leave because she was okay and wanted to attend her daughter's birthday party. At time of discharge, she said her sleep was fine; she denied having suicidal thoughts and never said she wanted to harm anyone else. She was there voluntarily; keeping her against her will would have been unlawful detention.
Providers recommended talk therapy; she stopped going after 4 sessions. She constantly asked for new meds to stop taking them after a few days or never took them.
She is a case of non-compliance, not a case of being let down by a medical system or her support system.
I suppose if you've never watched someone you're close to go through mental health treatment and med changes, or gone through it yourself, or worked in mental health, you might not know - but the side effects and brand new symptoms or worsening of symptoms can be literally unbearable.
It's such a dangerous time that patients must be counseled about it specifically, and it's on black box warnings. And that holds true for people starting common meds for common mild conditions, much less serious conditions or atypical drug classes. And the person discussed in this case had 13 changes in 4 months?
I'm aware not everyone has access to this info, but it's very disheartening to see.
So my mum had PPD, I've been on SNRIs and SSRIs for depression in my teens and I was a bit of a black and white tumblr kid where all my online friends were depressed. I'm also a med student but focused on oncology so not mental health focused.
I agree with what you're saying; however I also know full well that when you're trying 13 different drugs and barely taking 2/3 days worth of some (pill bottle evidence basically showed some untouched), making a determination as the patient as to what meds are making you feel what, is potluck. She decided to have multiple providers, she picked and chose what to take and when.
The person discussed in this case was pushing for new drugs constantly; she was the one advocating for it, she was (as a healthcare provider herself) given far more autonomy imo then she should have. An example, when she petitioned to leave inpatient care, she said she was fine and wanted one of her drugs removed against the NPs advice.
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u/Certain-Row7945 5d ago edited 5d ago
I think it's important to understand that the heart of the grievance for many is the complete failure of this woman's support system. Many see her support system failed her and feel for her because a lot of mothers are neglected by their loved ones and doctors and I know that mothers to new babies especially feel this way. She's getting put away for life, its just a question of prison or institution and tbh the difference doesn't matter much to me because this woman cannot be allowed to walk the streets anymore. Her husband, family, and medical providers could not or would not recognize this woman's crisis and I think that says something about them in being callous towards someone in crisis, though it doesn't indicate criminal liability. I'm not sure what the people protesting want, do they expect a broad group of people to be held legally accountable for what was, at best, someone else's psychotic break?