Postpartum Psychosis: What Made Otty Sanchez Kill her Son?

In Toronto, Canada Aug. 2000 physician/psychotherapist Dr. Killinger-Johnson jumped in front of the subway train with her baby.

Just to add:

Stories like this are tragic and frightening.

V. interesting. Thanks for posting Amy. I am endlessly fascinated by such cases.

The real tragedy in addition to the death of the baby is that the mother was exhibiting some signs like confusion and agitation, and no one thought to do anything about it.  Similarly, in the Andrea Yates case  people knew she was mentally unstable but did nothing.  The question should be not how a mother could do this, but rather why didnt anyone observe the behaviors and take action.  The mother did this because she is mentally ill. 

To some, mental illness is taboo subject or they do not want to admit unstability because of the stigma attached.  Culturally, we need to support a mother who says something is wrong, not stigmatize.  Providing a safe environment for admissions of illness might prevent the tragedies like this. 

 Post Partum includes bits and pieces of unresolved issues that happened to the person in their childhood.  There are missing pieces here.  It is not just about the time after birth which of course does accelerate the emotional world due to the hormones.

Just as a fetus is affected before birth so is the child a carrier of unresolved emotional issues that can constellate when all defenses are dropped.

If or when people drop all their defenses and remove their personas....the being there CAN BE A MONSTER.

I would like to know about her childhood...her parents etc.

Tragedies will always be...we have them all around us all the time all over the world. 

Do I understand you correctly that you believe post partum depression and psychosis appear when a mother "drop[s] all their defenses and remove [s] their personas"?  It is understood that some women might be predisposed for this type of illness especially if she has been depressed in the past, but I have not read anywhere that it is a condition that manifests itself by a mother purposefully. 

I do believe there is evil in the world, and a LOT of it right here on the internet, considering the anonimity and unaccountability.   But I do not consider any type of illness in and of itself to be inherently evil.  Not too long ago, it was a common belief that mental illness meant someone was imbued with evil spirits, and killing them was the only alternative.  The Salem Witch Trials will attest to that kind of fear mongering, and its tragic effects.  And let's not forget The Inquisition where so-called heretics were killed to protect the true religion.   

THE REAL MONSTER IS FEAR AND IGNORANCE.

Just because tragedies, as you say, will always be, doesnt mean that we put our collective heads in the sand and hope for the best.   

No, you may not understand me correctly.  My belief does not in any way relate to theSalem Witch Trials!  My suggestion is based solely from depth psychology.  I apologize but I  do not have the time to go into a lengthy explanation presently .

If you would like to study some work by Dr. Arthur Janov, Carl Jung, Alexander Lowen, Joseph Chilton Pearce,  & Alice Miller  you can familiarize yourself with what can be carried in the body and subconscious mind of adults. 

Any adult will behave differently when they lose all their different "comforts".  Add onto that a major shift in hormones with the birth of a child and voila.... add to that repressed pain or forgotten emotional abuse. and did I mention LOVE?

..I Just Do Not Know!  It is only my theory.

I never implied that tragedies should not be understood or that we should not keep evolving and working on our society.  There are many problems we just cannot solve...many illnesses despite all the research, we cannot cure.  We have mysteries that "man" just cannot answer.

I had a friend who killed himself and tried to kill his gardner.  He was abused as a child.  His parents did not love each other and were too old to have a child.  It is possible he was harmed in his prenatal development.  He grew up hearing angry voices.   He heard voices in his head which made him do stupid things.  Is this mental illness physical, organic or from  lack of love and emotional abuse?

 I do believe most evil comes from childhood abuse

QH

Mental Health "professionals" are the ones primarily at fault here.  They are incredibly cavalier when it comes to these issues, unbelievably so when it comes to the safety of a child.  They always are quick with a diagnosis after the murder/suicide, but say the patient is fine when you try to prevent these tragedies from occuring.

I know, becasue I tried to prevent an Otty Sanchez/Andrea Yates situation from happening becasue I did see the warning signs, and I've had a legal battle on my hands ever since.  Only becasue my son's mother hasn't harmed him....yet.

I can't begin to convey to you the amount of incompetence I've witnessed by mental health "experts", in the face of mounds of evidence that there is a real and serious danger to the child.

Oh my God, this is so true! I had postpartum psychosis in 2001 exactly same symptoms as those ladies who killed those poor babies. I completely lost touch with reality  but even I was hearing those evil voices telling me to harm my self and the baby. I was strong ! I would never follow those thoughts. I IGNORE them! It is hard to explain but it wasn't me. It wasn't my thoughts! It was just SO SO scary. I overcome these evil forces with LOTS of prayer and meditation begging my Lord to help me out!

Medecines won't help at all. It didn't help me not even a bit.  Thank you God for saving my life, I had another child 5 years ago and I am the happiest mother. No more depression since then. 

Please seek help! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't harm yourself or your baby! You are not a monster but a lovely mother and your baby is a miracle and gift from God!

I am trying to help other with the disorder. drop me a note if you feel you are depressed!