The Medea Complex Read Online Free PDF Page B

stress and anxiety
during her own pregnancy. Clear precipitating factor. Unknown whether mother
might have suffered from puerperal mania – the possibility remains: in which
case the patient had a strong disposition towards insanity.
    “Right. Mr Stanbury, did your wife display any of those
signs I just mentioned during or after the pregnancy? Did she act strangely in
any way, or was it only after having the child she became unstable?”
    “Nothing seemed amiss until after our son was born,” he
says.
    “My Lord?”
    “I barely saw her during her confinement, Doctor, though I
hear she kept well enough.”
    “How was your relationship with your wife, Mr Stanbury?”
Puerperal mania has more social aspects than other forms of insanity, and I
have to consider the kinship of Lady Stanbury not only to her child, but to her
home and her husband.
    “It was fine,” he says, crossing his arms. Despite his
statement to the contrary, his body language betrays his words. I make a mental
note to return to this at a later date, when I am alone with him.
    Possible relationship difficulties – to
follow up on this.
    “How was the birth? Did she cope well?”
    “She suffered badly,” Mr Stanbury says. “The doctor
eventually gave her Chloroform.”
    Recent research established that anaesthetics can bring on
an attack of insanity. My pen is now moving continuously across the cream page.
    “And was there a copious amount of blood? Did she
haemorrhage?”
    Lord Damsbridge winces. Mr Stanbury says that he wouldn't know:
he wasn't present in the room for the birth, and it wasn't something he thought
to ask.
    Insanity appears to have developed
following parturition; no marked insanity before expulsion of the baby.
Pronounced emotional state may have been brought on by the pains of labour, and
compounded by the intake of Chloroform. Unknown amount of blood loss, but
possibly she could have become anaemic. 
     
     “How was she towards you after the birth, Mr Stanbury?”
    “She was normal, at least initially she seemed to be, but as
time went by she became restless. She wandered the house at night unable to
sleep, checking on John constantly. Occasionally she would wake him just to
check he was still breathing...” He opens his mouth to say more, but stops
mid-sentence.
    “Yes?” I prompt him.
    He fidgets.
    “Well, that’s the thing, Doctor. She was very protective
towards John. I don’t understand. How she can change from being so over-bearing
and affectionate, to...” He stops and clears his throat. “To being the person
to cause him harm? She worried about dirt, for heaven’s sake!” Tears well up in
his eyes, threatening to fall, and underneath the angry exterior I see a man
filled with grief, and love. He discreetly removes a handkerchief from his top
pocket, and continues onwards, dabbing at his eyes. “How can she, a mother,
hurt her own baby? Why?”
    “Quite,” Lord Damsbridge adds. “That's the part we don't
understand. People go insane all the time, but they don't go around killing
others, least of all their own flesh and blood.”
    This is the hard part for me to explain, and I make the
decision to keep it simple.
    “Puerperal mania is almost always directed at the child. It
is the nature of the beast, unfortunately. It is a special type of insanity.
The woman in question invariably believes that for one reason or another, the
child is better dead, but the mother, in these cases, is not accountable for
her actions.”
    “I think she damned well should be held responsible.” Mr
Stanbury says.
    “What, Stanbury...would you prefer your wife to be dead
too?” Lord Damsbridge says, his face turning a deep shade of red. “Is that how
you plan on punishing her?”
    “Of course not! How dare you suggest such a thing, I
simply-”
    I sense this is a disagreement they've had before, and try
to halt the situation before it develops into a domestic dispute.
    “Gentlemen?” I start to rise slowly from my chair.