Throughout history there have been uncountable amounts of violence, although many have gone unresolved and on others we may know little as to why they happened it is always important to figure out what caused these violent acts and how they affected everyone included, in order to try and prevent the same thing from happening again in the future. In order to figure out what causes someone, or a group of people, to commit an act of violence we need to research their background such as emotional/behavioral issues, political goals, fame chasing, or other factors which can cause someone to do something that a rather “normal” person wouldn’t do. Although there are hundreds of cases that have been explained as to what caused the crimes to be committed, the case of Andrea Yates is a prime example of how looking into the background of a person can explain or at least try to explain what caused them commit horrifying acts. Andrea Yates was a mother of five who confessed to drowning all five of her children in her bathtub. She did this methodically drowning one by one, Noah 7 years old, John 5 years old, Paul 3 years old, Luke 2 years and, and Finally Mary, who was only aged 6 months.
Andrea Yates was born on July 2,1964 in Houston, Texas. Growing up she was seen as an ideal student, Valedictorian of her class, captain of the swim team, and member of the National Honor society. Now most people would wonder and ask themseleves how someone like this would go on to be convicted on five counts of first degree murder. In her junior year of High School Andrea started showing early signs of depression as well as Bulimia, she kept most of these things to herself out of fear of judgement. After graduating from Milby High School in Houston Texas in 1982 she went on to study nursing at the university of Texas. After graduating from college she worked as a nurse at a cancer center for children. After living in an Apartment complex for several years she started to date one of her neighbors who was named Russel Yates, who she later went on to marry and would also be the father of her five children.
Andrea Yates suffered from depression starting at a very early stage in her life, which were her teen years. Depression forced her to isolate herself from those around her instead of allowing her to seek help for some of her other problems which included anger issues, hallucinations, and signs of being bipolar. The Daily Mirror reports that “depressed people are three times more likely to commit a violent crime.” The National Health Society from the United Kingdom presents facts that state that “ 3.7% of men and 0.5% of women were convicted of committing a violent crime after being identified as clinically depressed, compared to 1.2% of men and 0.2% of women in the general population.” Although this statistic does not show that depression will always lead to crime, it only tries to show a link between depression and criminal conviction.
