PTSD As A Legal Defense

[Obsidienne]

I agree that it is a plausible defense. However, it is the slippery slope. It would be an extremely dangerous thing to permit as justification. If there was a perfect science of determining when a person might be disassociative it might not be so much. Mental illness defenses are intended to protect people who cannot, in all realities, form the intent to commit the crime. This is generally the case with cognitive disorders, not personality or anxiety disorders.

Also, from the aspect of personal responsibility, if you have violent, disassociative episodes where you could be a threat to another person (by another person I mean not a perpetrator who poses a legitimate threat to your person) it should be your responsibility to do make whatever short term plans are necessary to ensure that you and others are protected during a fugue state. I do not mean this statement to be a judgement on anyone, as I have taken myself in to the hospital personally when my disassociative episodes became a concern.

At this point I think it is better to work within the system that we have, then to develop another loophole for perpetrators to squirm out of.

 

[linasmom]

If we were to take on the attitude of only working within the system, then all those men who were convicted of crimes they didn't do and who were recently released when the courts finally had conclusive DNA evidence, would have never occurred and would still be sitting in prison. Working "within" to me, sounds like such a stagnant state of being.

Beyond that, I do believe in personal responsibility. I still have full-blown rages where something comes over me that I'm unable to control right now. I'm in therapy once a week and I take meds. I definitely do not think perpetrators need another "loop hole" to squirm out of, but to deny the facts of a disorder is also not a solution.

Best,
Rachel

 

[Auburngirl]

Drunkenness has been accepted as a defence, I don't see why PTSD could not be in situations where the person did not have the mens rea. And in my case PTSD does involve some cognitive disfunction. I doubt I'm alone on that.

To repeat though, PTSD and most mental illnesses are far more likely to put us at a greater risk of being harmed by others than the reverse.

 

[linasmom]

And in my case PTSD does involve some cognitive disfunction. I doubt I'm alone on that.

I doubt, too. Which is why CBT has been the most widely used therapeutic resource thus far for dealing with PTSD.

 

[Obsidienne]

I have studied 4 years of both law and psychology, in this case I will have to respectfully disagree.