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Panettiere vs. Clancy and the Demons of Others

@jlat1412@jlat1412 (58)44d

This week's contest on Queercoin seems interesting to me because social anthropology has discussed the topic of violence against women extensively. However, I think the current approach is incomplete; it focuses heavily on violence perpetrated by men against women, but overlooks the opposite case, when women perpetrate violence against men or children.

The much-debated case of Lindsay Clancy, currently circulating on social media and which I find more relevant, has brought to the forefront another aspect of gender violence that feminists rarely have the courage to criticize. Mental illness does not completely deprive people of the ability to discern right from wrong or to make decisions. The only things that completely prevent a person from making decisions about their own life or the lives of their loved ones are age (babies cannot make decisions), neurodegenerative diseases (Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, etc.), coma, and death.

Now, returning to Clancy's case, she did receive treatment for her illness (it wasn't a case of neglect), but she deliberately refused to continue long-term treatment, knowing the potential consequences due to her training as a nurse. So, to say that the deaths of her three children in 2023 were solely due to a mental health issue was an act of irresponsibility with fatal consequences, which should be punished with the same severity as a man who committed the same type of crime.

Currently, there is a movement of women defending her on social media, claiming that postpartum depression and psychosis caused the entire crime, therefore she is not responsible and should be released. Ladies and gentlemen, that is not correct. Neither postpartum depression nor psychosis makes everyone who suffers from them a murderer.

In fact, the recently deceased actress and singer Hayden Panettiere, who struggled with depression and addiction, relinquished custody of her daughter to her ex-husband so that her inner demons wouldn't harm her child. Imagine this: beyond the sadness, the pain, the grief, Panettiere had enough love for her daughter to separate from her and give custody to someone more responsible. Lindsay Clancy could have made that same decision. If she couldn't or wouldn't deal with her inner demons, she could have divorced and given custody to her husband, instead of harming three innocent children.

And that's important: neither sadness nor madness prevents you from making the right decisions for the sake of your children and loved ones. Mental illness is not a free pass for your inner demons to harm others. And we mustn't forget that.

Note: The image was created with Gemini AI, and the Spanish-to-English translation of this post was done with Google Translate.

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Comments · 2

  • @queercoin(64)· 43d

    Mental illness does not completely deprive people of the ability to discern right from wrong or to make decisions.

    It depends entirely on the type of mental illness you have. There are some where you have hallucinations and you might be seeing a giant snake that wants to eat you, and you grab the first thing you find to hit it and defend yourself, only to find out it was a person. We have to be careful with generalizations.

    she did receive treatment for her illness (it wasn't a case of neglect), but she deliberately refused to continue long-term treatment, knowing the potential consequences due to her training as a nurse

    That's not entirely true. From what I've read, she was never diagnosed with postpartum psychosis; she was treated for insomnia. What is true is that she was constantly changing medications. Over the months she spent seeking help, she visited several professionals, some of whom suggested she might have bipolar disorder and only one said it could be a postpartum-related issue. She constantly sought help, especially because of thoughts she had about harming her children, something she discussed with her family.

    Neither postpartum depression nor psychosis makes everyone who suffers from them a murderer

    You are right, but up to 4% of people with postpartum psychosis end up harming themselves or other people. That's why it's so important to get the right treatment on time. Another thing, the episode can be triggered in an instant, you could be perfectly fine in the morning and by 12pm you are thinking that someone is trying to harm you and that you need to defend yourself. Or maybe you think that someone is trying to kidnap your baby, and to try to protect them you run away with them.

    Mental illness is not a free pass for your inner demons to harm others. And we mustn't forget that.

    That's totally right. She will face consequences for what she did. The difference is between going to jail and going to a psychiatric hospital; in both cases, she would be there for life.

    What's important in this case is the legal aspect of the verdict. If she's found guilty, those who already want to take away women's rights will use that to claim that women aren't capable, whether they allege that women are hormonal, unstable, or anything else. I think that's why she's receiving support, because it's not just her life that's at stake.

    Another thing that could come up from this is the fact that they may try to target people with mental problems; there have already been cases in which people declare them incompetent and they keep their assets.

    Oh, and keep in mind that postpartum psychosis is not recognized as a diagnosis in the DSM-5, so that means that even with the evidence and studies carried out, it still needs to be recognized as a mental disorder

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