TX - Five Yates children drowned, Houston, 20 June 2001 *Insanity*

[Details]

Amen sista!!! I'll be taking my meds for the rest of my life also. Alot of people just don't understand depression unless they've been through it. It's way different than just being sad. Thank God for Prozac (and Xanax, Elavil) it literally saved my life. And I also don't care what people think. It's what I have to do in order to live some semblance of a "normal" life whatever that may be.

I've got far, far more minor problems - but I wouldn't be happily married today without Prozac. I had a problem that prevented me from ever opening up and talking to anyone openly about my feelings - not a good way to ever have a relationship.

 

[ljwf22]

Aaagh! Rusty was just on Larry King Live and he said he & his new wife "may try for awhile" to have kids. "Maybe for a year or so." :sick:

 

[Earthbound Misfit I]

It was actually 3 year old Paul she killed first. Then Luke (2), John (5), Mary (6 months) & Noah (7). I think it was Paul who was the people pleaser?

It was very heart wrenching to hear that John, the people pleaser, that she never had a problem with was the first one she killed. Andrea was asked what she would say to each of them now and she said "I miss you". About Mary, she added something like "especially, since I didn't know her that well".

 

[jilly]

Aaagh! Rusty was just on Larry King Live and he said he & his new wife "may try for awhile" to have kids. "Maybe for a year or so." :sick:

Wonder why just for "awhile". Anyways yuck yuck yuck - my skin is crawling!

 

[jilly]

It was actually 3 year old Paul she killed first. Then Luke (2), John (5), Mary (6 months) & Noah (7). I think it was Paul who was the people pleaser?

Thanks RK! They definitely said the people pleaser - so I got his name wrong.

 

[michelle]

What is wrong with Rusty Yates? I mean seriously he does not sound like he has all his marbles...

 

[Texana]

People with high intellect (and I don't know if Rusty qualifies or not) are sometimes socially retarded. They don't see things that are quite obvious to the rest of us. My husband is sometimes guilty of this and I have to remind him of things that most people just automatically know.

I think that is part of the deal with Rusty, he's bright mentally--he graduated summa laude from Auburn--and he has a math sciences type degree, which means he probably isn't as socially sensitive--my husband is engineer minded and they typically don't always say things in the best way possible.
So I don't know whether it's completely fair to knock him for saying what somebody else might think privately (my children are gone, I can't bring them back, I'm still young enough to try again for a little happiness, whatever) but have the sense not to say publicly.

 

[Texana]

:clap: :clap: :clap:

Your post is so right on that it gave me chills as I was reading it!

When my illness worsened after the birth of my son, I tried to FORCE myself to get better- keep busy, play groups for the baby, "dates" with just hubby and I, etc... I tried everything I could think of and I didn't get better, I got WORSE! SO much worse that I had to be committed involuntarily to a hospital.

Mental illness is a progressive illness and if you do nothing, you WILL get worse!!

Thank you. My husband had mild depression and panic attacks 13 years ago. I would never, never have left him alone with our child, which is why I feel so frustrated with Rusty Yates. My husband continued to work and maintain a life, but emotionally, he was struggling. I didn't expect him for one minute to watch one child--let alone five.

We had therapy and a great internist who ran the right blood tests and knew the meds inside and out. The worst part of it actually was dealing with his family. His mother is still upset that the night he was hospitalized to have his heart checked (just to make sure it was panic attacks and not heart trouble) he asked his parents to leave because he felt tired (the depression) and wanted to sleep. His own parents! she says. His brother spoke of it as "that so-called condition."

I learned pretty quickly that positive words and praying would not do one bit of good when he had a panic attack. The chemical reactions he had told him he was dying. Period. We had to learn a combination of patterned reaction and medication that would work.

It is mostly a non-issue now with a low meds dose and implementing good mental habits of dealing with stress (exercise, talking about things, etc.) But if he get a fever from even a minor virus, which happens about once every two years, it triggers a panic attack. I suspect the elevated temperature affects overall body chemistry, but I don't know for sure. The last time he fell and hit his head on the nightstand. So it was just a reminder that the biochemistry is a funny and fragile thing.

I think Andrea Yates needs to be in a structured environment, and I actually think all people who have demonstrated violence while mentally ill should be confined just about permanently. While they are not violent without medication, all too often they do not have family members who understand the need for the medication AND have the ability to make sure it is taken. So once the proclivity for violence is there, they need to be in a structured environment to make sure society is protected.








:blushing:

 

[Jules]

What is wrong with Rusty Yates? I mean seriously he does not sound like he has all his marbles...

Michelle, his cheese done slid off his cracker. :dance:

 

[jilly]

Here's a link to Dr Weller's 60+ reasons as to why he doesn't think Andrea was insane at the times of the murders:

http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5210038

 

[jilly]

"Jurors relied on mental health professionals who actually treated Yates during her crises."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/casey/4078005.html

Jury foreman, Todd Frank: "We understand that she knew it was legally wrong, but in her delusional mind, in her severely mentally ill mind, we believe that she thought what she did was right."....."Two jurors asked for address of cemetary where children are buried," he said. "They want to pay their respects."

 

[LinasK]

When people are having problems it isn't always a case of wanting to take pills to feel better or not wanting to cope with everyday life. Mental illness, depression, etc is caused by chemical imbalances in the brain. It isn't something that you can wish away or just deal with. Most pills don't make a person numb...they help you feel normal and help bring joy back into your life.
It really doesn't have anything to do with really living life and dealing with life and all of its highs and lows.

I have been on an antidepressant for a number of years...since the murder of my daughter. I have tried to stop taking them and I really become suicidal. Not because I want to be suicidal but because the chemicals in my brain go whacky. I go back on them and I'm better. We just changed my antidepressant at my insistance and I feel like I used to. I feel like I have my life back and I'm the old me again. I feel excited about things, I visit my friends, I'm not isolating, it is a world of difference. My old antidepressant wasn't working for quite a while but I couldn't get my doctor to listen to me until I flat told him that if we didn't try something else I wouldn't be here much longer. It wasn't a threat....I meant it.

There is nothing wrong with taking meds if a person needs them. I need an antidepressant and I don't really care what anyone else thinks about it. I know what I need to feel normal and like my old self. My kids are thrilled to death to have their old mother back. I feel like I have lived life and also lived its highs and lows....I raised 4 kids by myself from ages 9,8,7,4 1/2...lived through the murder of my daughter...my baby...have raised grandchildren off and on and one since she was 4 1/2...I've fought the hardest battle in my life for 3 1/2 in court for custody of my granddaughter...I'm 63 yrs old and this granddaughter will be 18 yrs in January and then I'm going to do some living for myself. I think I've done my share of handling lifes highs and lows, upside downs and sideways. Me and my Paxil RC are going to enjoy whatever time I have left in this old world

Thank-you for your courageous post!:clap: :clap: :clap: The people who think Andrea Yates was taking Haldol for "Happy Pills" have no idea what they are talking about or have never known someone who is truely mentally ill. :razz: Haldol is a very powerful anti-psychotic medication, not prescribed lightly! It can cause some people to react catatonically. Andrea should have never been abruptly discontinued from this medication. Andrea had a well-documented history of post-partum psychosis and mental illness. She heard voices from Satan coming from TV cartoons and movies. She threatened to kill herself. This is no Susan Smith, who killed just because her man didn't want children and openly LIED about it!:behindbar Yes Andrea should have stopped having children and yes she should never have been alone even for a minute with them- Rusty, the doctor, the minister who fed into her religious Satanic delusions, and Rusty's mother all share in the blame of the tragedy. No one has denied Andrea committed the murders, but this is a woman who deserves mercy. If Andrea Yates wasn't considered insane at the time she committed the murders, IMO noone is insane!!! Thank goodness those posters weren't on Andrea's jury and the jury that was could clearly see the facts!:clap:

 

[michelle]

:laugh:

Michelle, his cheese done slid off his cracker. :dance:

I think it has!

 

[LinasK]

Parnham said others want to be involved in the Yates Family Memorial Fund, a nonprofit agency that prints pamphlets on postpartum depression in English, Spanish and Vietnamese, and provides hotline counseling for women in crisis.

This is a jury that understands that locking Yates away in prison would neither avenge her children nor provide a shred of deterrence to keep the next insane mother from killing her children.

If we want to do that, we need to treat these women, not punish them.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/casey/4078005.html

 

[jilly]

Defense attorney Wendell Odin: Andrea cannot be prosecuted for the two other children. "Because they presented evidence of all 5 drownings, they cannot try to prosecute her on the other two. Had they witheld that evidence they could. It's a fait accompli".

Odin not a "fan" of Rusty. He thinks Rusty "is part of the stew that contributed to Andrea ending up where she did. The doctors have discouraged contact (with Rusty)...Andrea still thinks the world of him."

http://www.courttv.com/chat/transcripts/2006/0726yates-odom.html

 

[BeeBee]

You know, I don't want to start anything here because not ALL men are jerks, but a great majority are. They don't notice if something is wrong with a woman. They're off in their own little world and don't stop to even look at their spouses long enough to notice if anythings wrong. A woman could be sitting clutching her chest, having a heart attack and a man will walk by and ask if there's anything to eat. But, God forbid if those same men are sick. A hangnail has them squalling.

So, if something bad happens in situations where men are this way, and they show it, they need to go to jail. Rusty new and didn't care. He had more important things to do I suppose. He didn't care that she lived in a bus with 5 kids all day long since they were home schooled (his idea too, I believe.) That she was picking all the hair out of her head. (I'm sure he never looked at her close enough to notice.) "But, Keep having those babys! Hell, I'm not home long enough for them to bother me anyway."

Sorry, but some men just burn my . :furious:

 

[jilly]

George Parnham "couldn't walk away",

"When George Parnham met Andrea Yates, the day after she drowned her children she uttered only five words: "Please don't leave me alone.""

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4078033.html

 

[jilly]

So, if something bad happens in situations where men are this way, and they show it, they need to go to jail. Rusty new and didn't care. He had more important things to do I suppose. He didn't care that she lived in a bus with 5 kids all day long since they were home schooled (his idea too, I believe.) That she was picking all the hair out of her head. (I'm sure he never looked at her close enough to notice.) "But, Keep having those babys! Hell, I'm not home long enough for them to bother me anyway."

Sorry, but some men just burn my . :furious:

So what do you think BeeBee - do you think this verdict makes it easier on Rusty? I mean, the whole nation including the pros & def blames him in one way or another (I do too, by the way).

I'm just wondering since there has now been a declaration saying that Andrea is Not Guilty/Insane if in his dorky mind, it completely exonerates him from any blame.

 

[BeeBee]

So what do you think BeeBee - do you think this verdict makes it easier on Rusty? I mean, the whole nation including the pros & def blames him in one way or another (I do too, by the way).

I'm just wondering since there has now been a declaration saying that Andrea is Not Guilty/Insane if in his dorky mind, it completely exonerates him from any blame.

Yeah, I think this verdict will make the jerk breathe a little easier. He'll think he can hold his head a little higher but I hope it's not high enough that the spit doesn't hit him (in the face) when some still spit on him. LOL.

 

[Texana]

Defense attorney Wendell Odin:

Odin not a "fan" of Rusty. He thinks Rusty "is part of the stew that contributed to Andrea ending up where she did. The doctors have discouraged contact (with Rusty)...Andrea still thinks the world of him."

http://www.courttv.com/chat/transcripts/2006/0726yates-odom.html

The doctors will probably get their wishes. Andrea has been sent to the North Texas facility. It's just past Wichita Falls and is basically a whole-day driving trip from the Houston/Clear Lake area, as opposed to the Rusk facility, which is about a three-hour trip. I doubt Rusty "Moving On with My New Family" Yates will be making that trip often.