Justice and Mental Illness
- Two Truths at Once
- Aristotle on Government
- Conflict of Visions: A Book Review- Part III
- Conflict of Visions: A Book Review- Part II
- Conflict of Visions: A Book Review- Part I
Everyone has their own take here. I am a man. So, somehow, my take is irrelevant. But I’m also a therapist. So, maybe, just maybe, I’m allowed to speak. The beauty is, I’m going to anyway.
Sympathy
Before I get into anything else, I need to state areas where I totally agree with sympathizers of Lindsey Clancy. She has suffered greatly. She had severe postpartum psychosis. She asked for help and what she received was apparently lacking, according to her supporters. Should we bring attention to the problem of postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis? Absolutely. Do I feel bad for her in this way? Yes. I do.
It is quite plausible that Lindsey knew she was going to commit suicide and wanted to be with her kids in the afterlife. It is possible in her mind, she was doing the noble thing, the merciful thing, in not making her children go through life without her. She has now lost her children and her husband. Where I differ from the protesters is I also hope she’s lost her freedom. At least for now.
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Others to Show Sympathy For
If she should not go to prison for murder, then the following people need to be let out as well:
- Esteban Santiago – killed 5. Serving 5 consecutive life sentences, plus 120 years. Was diagnosed with Schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder.
- Travis Reinking – Killed 4. Serving 4 consecutive life sentences without parole. Was diagnosed with Schizophrenia.
- Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa – Killed 10. Jury reject insanity defense. Serving 10 life sentences. Was diagnosed with Schizophrenia.
- Ethan Crumbley – Killed 4. Serving life without parole. Was diagnosed with MDD with severe psychosis.
- Chad Doerman – Killed his 3 children saying, “God told me to”, similar to what Lindsey Clancy said while she was killing her children. Serving 3 consecutive life sentences, plus 16 years. Suffered from psychosis.
- Travis Decker – Killed his 3 children. BPD and PTSD. Travis Decker is dead, but he needs to be exonerated and mentioned as mentally ill, not that of a killer, apparently.
There’s one problem that stands out, none of them are women. So no one cares. They were all mentally ill. They all needed help they did not receive. But they were cursed with being male. There’s not a chance Lindsey’s supporters are hoping these men get the help they deserve.
Note: Of the total federal health research budget in the US, 20% goes to sex specific research. Of that 20%, 15% go to females and 5% to males. This is in spite of the fact that males are more likely to die on the job, will live approximately 6-8 years shorter lives than females, more likely to die of the big four (cancer, diabetes, heart disease, stroke), and 4 times more likely to die by suicide than a female. No one cares.
The Precedent
Some ask, “How could you sympathize with a murderer?” Easy, she wasn’t in her right mind. I agree that she needed help. I agree that she wasn’t herself and likely had no idea what she was doing. I agree she suffered and very likely did not receive adequate help. I genuinely feel bad for Lindsey. But not bad enough to let her live among the rest of the population. If you don’t put her in prison, you send a real message to all the Cluster-B gals out there soaking up the sun, basking in the child-free life, as if it is some moral high ground they landed on, that they, too, can just free themselves of the problems that children pose by killing them and claiming insanity. This falls into the conversation I’ve had about emotional empathy and its dangers (READ HERE).
Lindsey Clancy has something in common with Covid. They both showed us who we really are. We really get to see the spotlighting effect of unbridled emotional empathy, just like we got to see ourselves give permission to be tyrannized by the federal government over Covid.
The Real Tragedy
At the end of the day, I both a) understand that Lindsey may not have gotten the help she needed and b) believe she should spend the remaining years of her life away from the public. Two things can be true at once. This, to me, all comes down to the lives of the children who will never graduate high school, get a job, or have kids of their own, because of Lindsey Clancy.
Stay Classy GP!
Grainger