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In the middle of summer, a new mother works her shift at a local hospital, while a family friend is scheduled to pick up her five month old son. She received a call from that family friend, concerned because the child was not at daycare. Mother's first reaction was to panic, believing her child was abducted. Instead, he was found dead, strapped into his seat in the back of the car, right across the street from the hospital. She forgot him...

When this story hit the local news website, hundreds of people signed their comments, condemning this woman for her actions. And it is easy to do, knowing what kind of suffering the child went through, sitting in a sweltering car all day, helplessly suffocating to death. There is a perception that we have total control over our minds, and such an important part of the day could not be left unattended without it being done on purpose. This idealism is still believed, even when we know that there are such illnesses out there like schizophrenia, Bipolar, and Alzheimer's in which chemical imbalances or nero-necrosis affect our ability to determine what is real or not, or our ability to remember the most basic of functions. The idea that a mother could forget a child is unbearable, and those that do are ultimately condemned because it resulted in the death of a child.

One out of four women develop post partum depression within just a few months of the birth of their child. Of those women, one out of eight have the potential of developing a much more sever mental illness called psychosis. It is an uncommon illness, but becoming more frequent as our population grows.
Psychosis can be described as a break from reality. You can start to hear and see things, become paranoid, or emotionally detached. It affects each person differently and there are very few signs of onset before it happens. Its also perfectly curable, and with proper education of supporting friends and family, it can be caught before situations like this happen.
A parent who leaves their child in a car for a quick run to the grocery store or to their favorite hang out spot, knowingly they risk their children's lives should be punished. But a woman who dealing with a life threatening mental illness should not. In order to know the difference, we should not be so quick to judge, and evaluate each situation as unique.

Learn more about this author, Anita Elson.
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