08/15/2026
PERSPECTIVE--Our office has had some rousing conversations about the many facets and layers of legal cases in the media right now. I appreciate the varied perspectives and believe some good can come from more open conversation however as a veteran mental health clinician who has been around prior to the saturation of culture by social media I would like to point out a couple things.
I appreciate the validation that many mothers, parents or caretakers may feel from being privy to the personal diary and private thoughts of a struggling momma. I understand there is identification with many of the thoughts, feelings, struggles and challenges. However, shared strife, shared pain and shared challenges do not equal shared experiences, consequences and outcomes. An overidentidication with the defendent in this popular case could lead to those struggling with natural and expected life challenges to make the leap to something like "oh my goodness, I'm just like her, I could kill my kids." That's not a place that we need every stressed out, frustrated, overworked, unappreciated, unsupported, sleep deprived even hormonal mother going as that is not an appropriate conclusion to draw from the parallels here. The woman on trial is not just your average typical stressed out, hormonal, sleep deprived mother.
Without yet spelling it out in these words, the prosecution is operating from the premise that she has one or more personality disorders, no empathy and no moral compass as that is what would be required for her to commit the heinous acts with "premeditated malicious intent" as they are trying to prove. The defense is operating from the premise which they have clearly spelled out of 1 or more severe untreated mental & physical health conditions in combination with mixed medication induced conditions.
In either case, regardless how the jury rules, at the end of the day, this is not the average typical mom, wife, neighbor, friend, coworker on any given day. Yes other moms can, do and will have similar experiences and identify with and overlap in some symptoms. The majority of moms are not at imminent risk of harm to themselves or others or 1 more missed night of sleep, bout of tears, feelings of anxiety, sadness and depression or bad thought away from killing their kids.
Mental health, peri-mental health and many wise and experienced clinicians/others are available to help you sort this out and assess levels of risk and danger and assist in proper treatment paths.
