Most of us are familiar with her story because it happened in more recent years. Both Mrs. Young and Mrs. Yates case were eerie similar to one another. They both drowned their five kids in the bathtub, both had been hospitalized for mental reasons, both admitted to the killings, and although Mrs. Yates served time she was eventually committed to a mental hospital. Mrs. Young's case did not specifically use the catchall phrase that is postpartum depression or mood disorder but we can see how that played a major factor in why she did what she did. Thanks to the similar case of Andrea Yates we can get a clear understanding of how it can affect a mother.
The American Psychological Association (2007) defines postpartum depression as a serious mental health problem that is characterized by a prolonged period of emotional disturbance, occurring at a time of major life change and increased responsibilities in the care of a newborn infant. Now we know Maggie Young was not a new mother but she had an eight-month-old baby and that alone can become overwhelming, on top of caring for her other four young children. It is not known how early on Mrs. Young had been feeling despondent but I can only guess that it was an ongoing issue. Due to the severity of what she did we must look into they types of postpartum syndromes and their effects and which type Mrs. Young might have been suffering from. .
There are three types of postpartum syndromes. Postpartum or better known as baby blues is the most common. It is the least severe of the syndromes and it occurs in fifty to eighty percent of all mothers (Mauthner, 1998). Baby blues can be experienced as mood swings, crying spells, sadness, or anxiety. It can last several days to several weeks. The psychological manifestations that occur in baby blues include emotional let down after giving birth, anxiety about increased responsibilities of motherhood, and the feeling of disappointment with the birth experience (Bennett & Indman, 2003).
