I read about this incident that happened in San Francisco: a young mother threw her 3 kids into the waters of San Francisco Bay. They all died and she is being charged w/ murder. She had been diagnosed w/ schizophrenia and had been living at a Salvation Army shelter. Her family said that she had made previous comments about voices telling her to kill her chidren in various ways.
The people from the shelter said that they had just talked to the young mom about how she was doing and how her kids were doing the day before. And that they had no idea this would happen. I realize schizophrenia is a very complex disorder and it is difficult if not impossible to predict these kinds of tragedies. But I am wondering, whether society or these kinds of organizations are just lacking basic information about mental health and Axis I and II disorders. How can you trust a schizophrenic who hears voices and tells you about the intention of her voices about killing her children that things will be ok?? Apparently, she was on meds though. What is everyone's responsibility in this? At what point are children no longer safe in the care of their schizophrenic parent? Who is responsible to look after this? I am not saying schizophrenic or people w/ other disorders should not be parents, in fact, I think they should, but there needs to be some way to manage the situation and be aware of possible risks and get these people maximum help to ensure things like this will not happen.
The people from the shelter said that they had just talked to the young mom about how she was doing and how her kids were doing the day before. And that they had no idea this would happen. I realize schizophrenia is a very complex disorder and it is difficult if not impossible to predict these kinds of tragedies. But I am wondering, whether society or these kinds of organizations are just lacking basic information about mental health and Axis I and II disorders. How can you trust a schizophrenic who hears voices and tells you about the intention of her voices about killing her children that things will be ok?? Apparently, she was on meds though. What is everyone's responsibility in this? At what point are children no longer safe in the care of their schizophrenic parent? Who is responsible to look after this? I am not saying schizophrenic or people w/ other disorders should not be parents, in fact, I think they should, but there needs to be some way to manage the situation and be aware of possible risks and get these people maximum help to ensure things like this will not happen.