how many?
October 10, 2007
Over the weekend, Christie Padovani appears to have drowned her 7-month old daughter. I dare any parent to read the last paragraph of that story and not die a little bit yourself. Hell, I dare any person, parent or no.
By all accounts, Padovani was doing the best she could to monitor her own health and ask for what she needed. There are no good answers here and no one to blame. Still -- how many will it take?
So, she spends two months telling everyone she's depressed and a horrible mother and they still leave her alone with the baby that precipitated the PPD? Why wasn't she getting more help right away? Why does it ever have to get that far? Oh gee, my wife's got a history of serious mental illness, but let's just take a wait and see attitude although it's obvious the medications not working.
Posted by: Netter | October 10, 2007 at 04:11 PM
It sounds simple on the outside, and maybe it is, but I know that my husband did NOT want to have me involuntarily committed at any point-thankfully we had family that intervened to help though. Lately-I wonder if he'd have the strength to help.
This stuff scares me so much. I see my self so strongly in this woman. And Risperdal alone for bipolar?!?!?! It's an antipsychotic used to control mania in most cases-it won't help depression! WTF?
And sometimes, wait and see is all the establishment offers. It's such a shitty disease...
you're right Adrienne-there's no one person to blame, but how many does it take?
Posted by: thordora | October 10, 2007 at 06:52 PM
Thordora - I don't know how many it takes. It's such a volatile condition. And, yeah, wtf on the Risperdal - but I wonder if the reporter didn't know the right questions to ask. (And was willing to say - are you sure it was just Ripserdal? WTF?)
Netter - from the outside, it looks like her husband and family were doing their best but just didn't know how bad it was. Could they have done more - sure. Hindsight's always perfect, tho. It doesn't read like the whole Andrea Yates situation - where it was pretty clear that mom was off her rocker but that the family chose not to see it. Regardless, tho, I'm just at a loss. I don't have anything resembling an answer.
Posted by: Adrienne | October 10, 2007 at 09:04 PM
What's your take on the woman who lost it in the Phoenix airport on the way to rehab and died in the holding cell? Sounds like the husband is still pointing the finger at the cops. But if someone is flying across the country to go to rehab, that someone does not travel alone, for just this reason. It's looking like she had a few drinks at the airport bar during her layover. It's all very sad, but some basic professional medical advice would have gone a long way.
Posted by: matthew | October 11, 2007 at 04:17 AM
When I was researching for my dissertation, I came across stories that make this seem like totally normal behavior. The problem is, over and over and over and over again, we treat each of these deaths like it's an individual, rather than a societal, problem. That tactic has already gotten us nowhere, but people forget.
Posted by: Anna | October 11, 2007 at 10:21 AM
How very sad this is. Through this past year we've been dealing with one of Emily's Brownie leaders having drowned her newborn baby. Though one might argue that any murder of that sort results from a mental breakdown, the case we're dealing with is not long-term depression, etc and more of a cover-up. Apparently it wasn't her husband's baby. Still ... the woman always seemed somewhat brittle to me, and we weren't close. How many will it take before people talk about this and get help for themselves and those they love without fear of society's potential consequences?
Posted by: Heidi | October 11, 2007 at 10:54 AM
It is impossible to read and not wonder how this could have been prevented. The wording about the dad "helping out a bit more" irritated me, but he probably was doing the best he could.
Tragic.
Posted by: karrie | October 15, 2007 at 02:47 PM
Her husband CHOSE to leave her alone with the baby on the morning of the incident! She asked him to have her commited because she was having thoughts of harming the baby and he took their 4 year old son to a safe location while leaving Christie alone with the baby. When she asked him to have her commited his response was not "ok let me get the kids to a safe place and then we will figure it out" he said and I quote "YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO DEAL WITH IT! YOU CANNOT ALWAYS RUN AWAY FROM YOUR PROBLEMS". Tell me, is this a man who is thinking of his children, or his wife? No! He took his son and left his daughter with a person who plainly stated she was having thoughts of harming the baby. No one is bringing up his drug problem, numerous affairs, lack of job which hindered the well being of their family, lack of support and so forth. It is a crying shame that she is sitting in prison while he is free from any wrong doing. She cannot grasp what she has done however believes she needs to pay for it. Foremost why is he not held to the same standard, secondly why is he not being charged with neglect as well? Christie was not just suffering from PPD she had post partum psychosis which is common amongst women with Bipolar disorder suffering from PPD. It is the most common form of infacide in the world! We do not do enough to protect the women who suffer from this disease or the children unltimately lost because of it. Husbands need to be just as accountable when they know there is a problem and chose not to address it.
Posted by: friend of Chrisie's | April 23, 2008 at 05:12 PM