Chapter 12 - Helen Was Evaluated, but Illness Did Not Erase Responsibility
Because of the severity and apparent irrationality of Helen’s statements, her attorney requested:
a psychiatric evaluation.
So did the court.
People in our extended family immediately began asking:
“Was she having a breakdown?”
Maybe.
But psychiatric evaluation is not a machine that converts terrible behavior into:
innocence.
Helen was assessed for:
psychosis,
cognitive impairment,
mood disorder,
grief-related symptoms,
capacity to understand proceedings.
There was no evidence of:
dementia.
No brain tumor.
No hallucinations telling her:
throw the baby.
She was depressed.
Deeply.
She had unresolved grief.
Rigid thinking.
Longstanding control issues.
The clinicians noted obsessive and distorted beliefs about:
family hierarchy
and:
replacement.
But she understood:
Lily was a living infant.
Understood:
fire could kill her.
Understood:
Margaret would stop her.
Understood:
police might come.
That mattered.
She was legally competent to participate in:
her defense.
I needed that.
Not because I wanted:
maximum punishment.
Because I could not tolerate our family turning the evaluation into:
Mom didn’t know what she was doing.
She did not understand herself well.
Different.
May you like
She knew what her actions could do.
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