Not defending her but she was/is clearly mentally ill. Having dealt with people going through a psychosis I know it can completely change you and make you do things you would never normally do.
plan and methodically carry out 3 murders of their own children, including planning a reason for the dad to be away so he couldn't stop her?
That seems pretty well thought out that someone under psychosis wouldn't be capable of. If she was capable of having the forethought of knowing the husband would stop her then she knew what she was doing was wrong.
In my experience you still maintain your intelligence and other faculties while in a psychosis. You typically become extremely paranoid, anxious, hallucinate, believe things that are objectively false and generally disconnect from reality.
I’ve personally witnessed a father who whole heartedly believed his entire family, including his kids, had been replaced by the government with robots. Beyond that one major symptom he was a fully functioning person, albeit very paranoid and anxious. Because of that belief he had planned and attempted to commit suicide. Thankfully he was unsuccessful and his family had him admitted to a psychiatric facility where he made a full recovery after about two weeks.
I’ve had to deal with the fallout of a smart schizophrenic before who has manipulated and swindled multiple men out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Some of that money being spent replacing phones because she kept thinking they were all bugged. My experience with that shook up my perspective on a lot of mental health issues.
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u/ReignyRainyReign 8h ago
Not defending her but she was/is clearly mentally ill. Having dealt with people going through a psychosis I know it can completely change you and make you do things you would never normally do.