I had a neighbor who was schizophrenic, a girl that I grew up with, and something that made a huge impact on me was the realization that these people literally cannot control their minds or their will. Their minds literally have a mind of it`s own and they are simply passengers.
I remember one episode in particular where I looked right into her eyes to try to make some sort of connection, get her to have some type of control, and I just could not do it. She would always fly away into some totally unrelated tangent which made me realize the difference between people who are normal and people who have schizophrenia, is schizophrenics do not have control of their minds like me or you do. They cannot tell the difference between what is imaginary and what isn`t.
For example say you were talking to somebody and somebody else came up to you and asked you "Why are you talking to yourself?" You would naturally assume that you are not talking to yourself, but talking to a person, but in reality you aren`t. I can`t even imagine the hell these people go through. It must be like being on 50 hits of LSD 24 hours a day. Then they have to deal with drugs that are forced on them which are so strong you wouldn`t believe it.
I remember one time taking one of her Haldol (when I was a lunatic party-er), which is an anti psychotic drug, and I swear for about 4 days I felt just like a zombie, like my mind had completely shut down. Just completely exhausted physically and mentally 24 hours a day, but not exhausted, just shut down. I couldn`t sleep or do anything. It just totally put my mind in this half catatonic state. I remember my brother talking to me and I just stared at him, it took forever for the nuerons in my brain to make the connections to form an answer and then speak. This is why schizophrenics keep falling off their medication, it is just horrible for them.
I don`t know if this Andrea Yates is schizophrenic, but if she is, she cannot be held responsible. The term Schizophrenia literally means "split mind"...What may seem completely illogical to you or me seems logical to them, they cannot tell the difference. The way your mind works while you are asleep and dreaming is how they think when they are awake.
I can understand the pain and suffering... and the sympathy. I have a relative diagnosed as schizophrenic.
But I also grew up in a town where the state hospital was located, the "outpatients" lived among us, and some of them were violent. :-0 There was one guy who attacked his mother violently and was released again to live in our vicinity.
The way I see it, once someone who is mentally ill has committed murder, that person should be locked up forever. That person should never be released. If that person is truly "sick" and unable to control his or her actions, then we're doing both that person and society some good with a lifetime sentence in a mental hospital.
Also, with so many people being diagnosed with "mental disorders" these days, one day everyone will be able to plead insanity.