Childhood And Murder Andrew Murr Analysis

Murderer or Mentally Ill? The article “Motherhood and Murder” by Andrew Murr illustrates Andrea Yates’ quintuple-homicide of her own children and the postpartum psychosis that hid behind it. There are numerous explanations for why she committed the acts she did, but the five that are considered the most influential are what’s in her psyche: the psychodynamic, cognitive, behavioral, biological, and socio-cultural aspects. All these together can paint a more thorough and complete picture of her reasoning in murdering her children, and offers an opening for discussion about a serious issue that plagues 10-20% of mothers, an opening that has been sealed shut for far too long. The psychodynamic influence over these murders can be argued as the …show more content…
This one is a bit of a mixture between psychodynamic and cognitive, as they share similar elements. As discussed previously, Yates’ behavior growing up was one of constant perfectionism in any and every aspect of her life. Once her childhood was over, however, she experienced a bad breakup that led to her “religious awakening” which of course ended in her delusions of Satan and her children consequently after going off of Haldol. Another event that greatly shaped and influenced her behavior was the death of her father. It was reported they had a special bond growing up, the she was his baby and she was named after him. Her mother had reported she went to their house every day for 7-8 years to care for her ailing father. This included bathing him, feeding him, and changing his clothes. His death acted as the catalyst for all these events that unfolded, and she ended up committing suicide the first time by overdosing on his …show more content…
To preface, and as mentioned earlier, Yates suffered from severe postpartum depression, and in her case postpartum psychosis which is the most severe and rarest of the kind. The most basic biological cause for postpartum depression is mainly chemical imbalances. The chemicals imbalance involved are “abnormalities in the delivery of certain key neurotransmitters.” These neurotransmitters include serotonin, the chemical involved in the feeling of well-being, acetylcholine and catecholamines, a group of neurotransmitters that are comprised of dopamine, norepinephrine, and adrenaline. With the balances of all these happiness-inducing neurotransmitters skewed significantly because of the birth of her children, it’s no surprise her psychiatrist strongly advised her not to have any more children after her