I realized too late that the news release about her being treated for schizophrenia wasn't yet posted in this forum. I think that report only came out today.

You're missing the point. This wasn't about the mother not wanting the baby... she was delusional! These people have NO insight (the post natal psychotics I worked with often had to be sectioned because they did not believe there was anything wrong with them, but to everyone else they were clearly totally mad!), they don't seek help because they don't know they are ill.

It makes no difference what Mindi Jean's experience of post natal depression was, because it comes in many different forms. She probably didn't have the psychotic form... this woman, it appears, did. It's different.

At least you told someone that you were having those kind of feelings toward your daughter. YOU GOT HELP. That says a lot right there

Actually I didnt tell anyone. I sat there and let her scream for almost an hour while my husband was in the garage, and he walked in and asked me wtf was wrong with me. Why wasnt I trying to get her to stop, and I looked at him and said "cause I dont want to" Thats when he knew something was wrong. He pushed and pushed and pushed until I told him she was the biggest mistake of my life.

YES - WHAT THAT SAYS IS THAT THE PERSON HAS ENOUGH INSIGHT TO REALISE THEY HAVE A PROBLEM AND TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. UNFORTUNATELY, THIS IS NOT THE CASE FOR EVERYONE - PEOPLE WITH PSYCHOSIS OFTEN DON'T HAVE THIS INSIGHT.

You are right, I don't know what I would do in that situation. I would hope that I would recognize that I'm having some sort of mental issue or that someone close to me would see it or just get that vibe that "somethings not right" with me before I did something drastic such as our topic.

Since your curious about the spiritual side of it....I personally would pray to God and ask for forgiveness, if I did every possible horrible thing on Earth imaginable I know in my heart, that having God turn away from me would be much much worse.

The first words out of my mouth might be "eye for an eye" but as a Christian I know that I would pray the baby passed quickly, and that the mother get help, and ultimately find forgiveness with God.

If you were psychotic you simply wouldn't recognise the problem. It's a symptom of the disease. And perhaps you'd be lucky enough to have someone close to you who could see what was going on, and protect your child. Perhaps this woman wasn't so lucky.

If you can't or wont forgive yourself first, why would God do it then?

In order to fully feel a clear conscious or a sense of peace, you have to get over it yourself, on your own will, on your own terms, outside the reach of another, before you can fully feel that forgiveness from another being, mortal or otherworldly.

Another side to the mental trauma is just this. Once people go through something as severe and shocking as that woman, they're left with hideous self-loathing that only they can deal with, not anybody else. That's quite possibly as bad, and heartbreaking, as the deed itself.

No offense to the OPer here but I like this version much better:
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"SAN ANTONIO - The scene was so gruesome investigators could barely speak: A 3 1/2-week-old boy lay dismembered in the bedroom of a single-story house, three of his tiny toes chewed off, his face torn away, his head severed and his brains ripped out.

"At this particular scene you could have heard a pin drop," San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said Monday. "No one was speaking. It was about as somber as it could have been."

Officers called to the home early Sunday found the boy's mother, Otty Sanchez, sitting on the couch with a self-inflicted wound to her chest and her throat partially slashed, screaming "I killed my baby! I killed my baby!" police said. She told officers the devil made her do it, police said.

Sanchez, 33, apparently ate the child's brain and some other body parts before stabbing herself, McManus said.

"It's too heinous for me to describe it any further," McManus told reporters.

Sanchez is charged with capital murder in the death of her son, Scott Wesley Buccholtz-Sanchez. She was being treated Monday at a hospital, and was being held on $1 million bail.

'In and out' of psychiatric ward
The slaying occurred a week after the child's father moved out, McManus said. Otty Sanchez's sister and her sister's two children, ages 5 and 7, were in the house, but none were harmed.

Police said Sanchez did not have an attorney, and they declined to identify family members.

No one answered the door Monday at Sanchez's home, where the blinds were shut. A hopscotch pattern and red hearts were drawn on the walk leading up to the house.

Sanchez's aunt, Gloria Sanchez, said her niece had been "in and out" of a psychiatric ward but did not say where she was treated or why. She said a hospital called several months ago to check up on her.

"Otty didn't mean to do that. She was not in her right mind," a sobbing Gloria Sanchez told The Associated Press on Monday by phone. She said her family was devastated.

Investigators are looking into Sanchez's mental health history to see if there was anything "significant," and whether postpartum difficulties could have factored into the attack, McManus said.

Postpartum depression — a pattern?
Postpartum depression and psychosis have been cited as contributing factors in several other cases in Texas in recent years in which mothers killed their children.

Andrea Yates drowned her five children in her Houston-area home 2001, saying she believed Satan was inside her and trying to save them from hell. Her attorneys said she had been suffering from severe postpartum psychosis, and a jury found Yates not guilty by reason of insanity in 2006.

In 2004, Dena Schlosser killed her 10-month-old in her Plano home by slicing off the baby's arms. She was found not guilty of reason by insanity, after testifying that she killed the baby because she wanted to give her to God.

Sanchez's neighbors expressed sorrow and horror Monday at the grisly killing.

Neighbor Luis Yanez, 23, said his kids went to school with one of the small children who lived at the house. He said he often saw a woman playing outside with the children but didn't know whether it was Otty.

"Why would you do that to your baby?" said Yanez, a tire technician. "It brings chills to you. They can't defend themselves."

Allen Taylor, another neighbor, said "once she gets back in her right mind, she's going to be devastated." "

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Far more detailed than the OP (no offense to the OPer).

non taken....its a public form. i just posed the one i found first. but thanks for your post too.

This story is just so sad and makes me feel ill, to be honest. What a terrible tragedy.

For those who are suggesting the whole "eye for an eye" thing...While this may not technically have been an "accident", I highly doubt this mother INTENDED to do such a thing to her child. Yes, she must pay for the crime, but "an eye for an eye" does not qualify here, as she did not intend to do it but rather did it because of a severe mental condition in which she truly felt powerless. Understanding such severe mental illness would be beneficial before making such a grand judgment against her.

And there is a drastic, distinct difference between postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis, which is what appears is the case here.

Post Partum Depression
Postpartum depression may appear to be the baby blues at first — but the signs and symptoms are more intense and longer lasting, eventually interfering with your ability to care for your baby and handle other daily tasks. Signs and symptoms of postpartum depression may include:

* Loss of appetite
* Insomnia
* Intense irritability and anger
* Overwhelming fatigue
* Loss of interest in sex
* Lack of joy in life
* Feelings of shame, guilt or inadequacy
* Severe mood swings
* Difficulty bonding with the baby
* Withdrawal from family and friends
* Thoughts of harming yourself or the baby

Postpartum Psychosis
Although the onset of symptoms can occur at anytime within the first three months after giving birth, women who have postpartum psychosis usually develop symptoms within the first two to three weeks after delivery. Postpartum psychosis symptoms usually appear quite suddenly; in 80% of cases, the psychosis occurs three to 14 days after a symptom-free period.

Signs of postpartum psychosis include:

* Hallucinations
* Delusions
* Illogical thoughts
* Insomnia
* Refusing to eat
* Extreme feelings of anxiety and agitation
* Periods of delirium or mania
* Suicidal or homicidal thoughts

Thank you for posting that. There's still too much ignorance surrounding post natal depression. It is not just the 'baby blues', as some people would believe.

y'know.. this is a very interesting story to follow.. because who do you blame? I agree (I think it was Puck/Estella/whatever you call yourself now ;-D) who said that Americans just want SOMEONE to blame.. and least of all themselves. Thats why lawsuits are through the roof in this country.. personal responsibility is null.

I would sincerely like to know how a woman could butcher her child so horribly and how a woman IN THE HOUSE did not know it was happening. And this is her sister in the house with her.. wouldn't you notice something amiss with a member of your family?

Not to mention, the husband watched her drive off with the child, in the vehicle, very unsafe. Why would he not follow her? Why not call the sister and say 'Hey.. my wife is driving over there and acting extremely erradic. . watch her, eh"

The family is just as much to blame, if not more - because these people were "sane" and refused to see the signs of a mentally ill woman who needed help and refused to give it to her.

And I agree with the point of her being in jail being moot because when she "wakes up" if ever.. shes going to realise this horrid thing that she did to her child. Isn't that enough punishment?

Not to mention, the husband watched her drive off with the child, in the vehicle, very unsafe. Why would he not follow her? Why not call the sister and say 'Hey.. my wife is driving over there and acting extremely erradic. . watch her, eh"

He called 911 to report the child not being restrained. It doesn't appear she was showing any signs of being "erratic". They had just gotten into a fight and she was angry. So he probably didn't think anything of it other than she was pissed at him, so he wouldn't have felt the need to contact her sister to let her know to watch her for something. Yeah, he should have mentioned to the police that she was being treated for schizophrenia, but if it was something he was only recently aware of it might have slipped his mind in the moment of anger between her and him.

The Associated Press

Five days later, on Saturday, Sanchez brought "Baby Scotty" for a visit but stormed out after he asked for a copy of the birth certificate and other documents, Buchholz said. Buchholz called 911 to report that Sanchez stormed out and drove away with the infant without properly restraining him in the car, and deputies investigated it as a disturbance.

The deputy took a report but could do little else, said Bexar County Sheriff Chief Deputy Dale Bennett.

"Americans just want SOMEONE to blame.. and least of all themselves." That is a very stereotypical opinion... :-/

But so very true for the most part.

I am not a big fan of stereo typing, let alone, judging someone or even someone else's country for the simple fact that I may have, at one point in my life or another, experienced something that I didn't agree with through or in dealing with or talking to, or watching someone else or a group of individuals speak or act in a way that I did not agree with. :-/ :-P

Well, I did say "for the most part". Generally speaking, America is a big selfish, "never to blame" slut. But that's of course just my opinion ;).

IT'S A STEREOTYPE THAT IS BASED ON A GENERAL TREND, YO. OF COURSE IT'S NOT TRUE OF EVERYONE. BUT OBSERVATIONS OF AMERICAN CULTURE IN GENERAL (MADE BY MANY PEOPLE, AND JUST ECHOED HERE BY MYSELF) SHOW THAT THIS DOES INDEED SEEM TO BE A POPULAR TREND. IT'S SPREADING TO THE UK, IN FACT, BUT IT HAS NOT YET GOT AS BAD HERE AS IT IS IN THE US. BUT AMERICANS ARE TOTALLY INFAMOUS AROUND THE WORLD FOR THEIR SUING CULTURE.

I DO BELIEVE THE LATEST EXAMPLE OF THIS IS THE GIRLY WHO IS SUING HER UNIVERSITY FOR THE FACT THAT SHE HASN'T GOT A JOB. YOU MAY NOT LIKE THE STEREOTYPICAL OPINION, BUT NEWS ARTICLES LIKE THIS LEAD TO JOURNALISTS AROUND THE WORLD WRITING ABOUT THE AMERICAN CULTURE OF BLAME. IT EPITOMISES IT, YO! IN OTHER COUNTRIES, THIS DOESN'T HAPPEN. AT LEAST NOT TO SUCH AN EXTREME - BUT AS I SAY, IT'S STARTING TO HAPPEN IN UK CULTURE.

AND IF I MAY DARE ADD TO THIS WITH ONLINE EXAMPLES, SUCH AS BLOOP AND OPENDIARY - DIARY SITES ARE FULL OF AMERICANS WHO ARE ANGRILY BLAMING THEIR PARENTS/SCHOOL/WHATEVER FOR EVERYTHING THAT GOES WRONG IN THEIR LIVES. NOT ALL AMERICANS DO THIS, YO - BUT THE MAJORITY OF DIARIES WHERE THIS IS A THEME ARE AMERICAN. ENTITLEMENT CULTURE, YO. PEOPLE SAY THAT THE UK FOSTERS THIS ATTITUDE BY WELFARE, BUT AMERICA IS PROOF THAT RIGHT OR LEFT WING DOESN'T MAKE THE SLIGHTEST DIFFERENCE.

I don't know how someone can just read the article and tag her as being "mentally ill". She could just be a cold-hearted bitch. I'm sure it's most probable that she is mentally ill, but she has to be evaluated and diagnosed by a PSYCHIATRIST before she can be declared legally insane, not just by assumptions by people on a diary site.

Also, just because she has SOME form of a mental illness still doesn't automatically excuse her from her actions, it will have to be determined what state of mind she was in while the attack occured, if she was off her medicine, if she knew she had a problem and didn't seek help, etc etc. Just because someone has a mental illness doesn't mean they are not responsible for their actions. They have the responsiblity to seek help and take their medicine so things like this don't happen to innocent babies.

true

She HAS been diagnosed by a psychiatrist. She has been diagnosed and treated for quite some time now with schizophrenia.

And people CAN tag someone as mentally ill by their actions. People's actions show their mental state. You can't be right in the head and do something so horrific. Even a cold hearted bitch wouldn't do something like this without having something seriously wrong with their brain. No person in their right mind, no matter how cold and heartless they are, could do something like this without having some sort of mental illness.

Well if she has already been diagnosed with schizophrenia, then what caused this? Was she not on her medicine? If she stopped taking her medicine knowing what could happen, she is responsible for her actions in my opinion.

You never know what another person is capable of, so you can not make the assumption NOBODY in their right mind could do that. People can and will surprise you.