Did Woman Kill Eight Children due to Cannabis-Induced Psychosis? | Raina Thaiday Case Analysis

oh this is Dr Grande today's question is can I analyze the case of Raina Thai day just a reminder I'm not diagnosing about in this video only speculating about what could be happening in a situation like this if you enjoy this video please like it subscribe to my channel and consider supporting me on patreon I'll put the link to patreon in the description for this video first I'll look at the background of this case move to the timeline of the incident then offer my analysis in 2014 37 year old Reina Thai day lived on 34 Murray Street in Cairns Queensland Australia when Reina was young she was adopted by a relative she would later say that her childhood was happy rain lived with seven of her children by various fathers four girls and three boys Reyna's niece also lived in the house so eight children altogether the children ranged in age from 2 to 14. Reyna did not have any criminal record or a history of mental health treatment she had been using cannabis since the ninth grade Reyna smoked up to 20 cones a day a cone is like a large joint her cannabis use was intense severe excessive and unrelenting Reina was experiencing financial problems she had conflicts with various people and she separated from the father of some of her younger children sometime around November of 2014 Reyna suddenly exhibited dramatic behavioral changes a few examples Rayna stopped using cannabis and removed all substances from her house she believed that there were evil spirits on her street and in her house she engaged in a cleansing ritual Reyna scrubbed the walls and the ceilings of her house she took many of her personal belongings some of which were valuable and piled them in the front yard Reyna started lecturing about God and believed that she was the anointed one she was a special Prophet who was the key to the apocalypse she was extremely important in God's plan Reyna believed that the government was persecuting her but told people she was not afraid of the government her mannerisms were described as very stressed and serious Reina visited various churches and attempted to confess her sins now moving to the timeline of the incident on December 18 2014 Reyna's eldest daughter her niece and her godchild went shopping they did not return to the house by 10 pm as Reina had commanded Reyna was upset because her daughter had disobeyed her and was worried about her safety she walked up and down Murray Street talking to herself Reyna wasn't making any sense and was saying things like I am the chosen one she warned Neighbors about their use of drugs and alcohol essentially she was preaching to them about the dangers of substances given her bizarre behavior the neighbors may have thought that she was making a convincing argument Reyna made a series of disturbing statements she said quote I have the power to kill people and to curse people you hurt my kids I hurt them first you stabbed my kids I stab them first if you kill them I'll kill them unquote at one point Reina called the police and told them to find her daughter and bring her home the operator said the police would not return her daughter to her Rayna responded by berating the operator Reyna went to sleep on a mattress that was outside she had dragged it there during the cleansing ritual reina's daughter did not return to the house until 1 30 a.m now on December 19 2014. within a few hours Reina became homicidal she killed a pet duck Reyna then killed all eight children in the house with a knife upset about her homicidal Behavior Reyna inflicted 35 stab wounds on her own body at 11 40 am an adult son of Reina named Luis waria arrived at rayna's house he found his mother slumped on the front porch bleeding Lewis notified the police when they arrived they discovered the eight children dead in their beds Reina was arrested and transported to a hospital she made a number of statements to the police Reyna admitted to being responsible for the homicides she claimed that Papa God came to her and gave her the key she told the police that she had to kill her children to save them but she also stated that she did not mean to do it Reina understood that people would hate her based on her behavior but she knew what she did was right she acknowledged that she caused the injuries on her body because of what she had done to the children Reyna was charged with eight counts of murder the case initially seemed fairly straightforward after all Reina had confessed to being the Killer on April 6 2017 a mental health court in Queensland determined that Rayna had an unsound mind therefore was not criminally responsible for killing her children all the charges against Reyna were dismissed the court said that a psychotic episode caused by undiagnosed schizophrenia led to the killings Reyna was not under the influence of substances while she committed the homicides Reina was committed to a mental health facility on the outskirts of Brisbane where she will remain until she is no longer a danger to society this could be anywhere from a few years to the rest of her life reportedly her recovery has been hindered by post-traumatic stress disorder the house where the killings took place was demolished and replaced with a park in memory of the eight victims now moving to my analysis here are my thoughts on a few areas that stood out to me in this case item number one several different mental health professionals evaluated Reina as part of the Court proceedings her initial diagnosis was brief psychotic disorder but over time it was changed to schizophrenia the clinicians believed that rhana's actions were connected to her delusional beliefs she had religious delusions including about the apocalypse that were not connected to any traditional set of belief systems they were exaggerated and distorted Reina thought that she could communicate with spirits and Was preparing for her important role in the Apocalypse not long before she carried out the homicides Reina claimed that she heard a sound from a dove Reina may have made this up she could have actually heard it or it could have been an auditory hallucination there is no way to know for certain she claimed that the sound was a message commanding her to kill her children in order to save them she was sparing her children from the terror of the end of the world even though Reina had no mental health treatment history she exhibited mental health symptoms as early as 2007 when she cut off her hair and threatened to kill one of her children with an ax in 2011 she had disturbing thoughts related to causing herself to drown item number two it is likely that Reina had symptoms of schizophrenia for some time these symptoms didn't come up just before the homicides typically people with schizophrenia experience a number of pro-dermal symptoms well in advance of their first psychotic episode Reina appeared to have several pro-general symptoms including a lack of insight decreased functioning paranoia trouble sleeping not coping well with stress irritability impulsivity and bizarre strange odd or unusual behavior she may also have had psychosis before the killings psychosis can express differently from episode to episode The Psychotic episode she experienced on December 18 and into December 19 was particularly dangerous because she was receiving command hallucinations item number three some mental health professionals believe that Reyna's cannabis use may have contributed to the development of schizophrenia this theory is supported by the research there have been many studies connecting cannabis use to the onset of schizophrenia and the worsening of symptoms in those who already have schizophrenia the more cannabis that somebody uses the greater the risk and of course Reyna used an excessive quantity of cannabis here are a few examples of symptoms associated with schizophrenia that can be induced by cannabis paranoid and grandiose delusions auditory and visual hallucinations suspiciousness perceptual alterations fragmented thinking ideas of reference pressured thought disorganized thinking flight of ideas emotional withdrawal blunted affect and a range of cognitive deficits individuals who are prone to having psychosis are at a greater risk 20 to 50 percent of individuals who use cannabis report transient psychotic symptoms including paranoia persecutory ideas and hallucinations it's important to note that in any given case cannabis is unlikely to cause a person to develop schizophrenia rather it is simply a risk factor the vast majority of people who use cannabis will not develop schizophrenia schizophrenia is not caused by one environmental exposure or one gene rather it is a complex disorder that has many causal factors it's likely that cannabis is a component that interacts with other known and unknown factors when taken together these factors lead to schizophrenia cannabis may be just one element that can increase the risk of developing schizophrenia however it is a completely avoidable risk in 2014 all forms of cannabis were illegal in Queensland Australia it would appear as though Rayna violated the law this brings me to item number four was Reina actually legally insane in Queensland Australia a person has a full legal defense to any criminal charge if at the time of the alleged offense they were suffering from a mental disease or impairment which prevented them from understanding or controlling their actions there doesn't seem to be any question that Reina had schizophrenia and was psychotic she did not understand her actions the problem here is the relationship between cannabis and schizophrenia some people have argued that Reina engaged in illegal activity namely cannabis use which may have led to her psychosis The psychosis in turn led to the homicides which means that Reina would have been responsible how can Reina be considered legally insane if her substance use may have contributed to her impairment one could argue that people should not be able to impair themselves and then claim that they have no responsibility for their actions in this particular case there is no way to know what contribution if any the Cannabis made to the psychosis Reyna was not using cannabis at the time of the homicides and it's unlikely she understood the connection between cannabis and schizophrenia she was unaware of the risks I think one could make an argument that she wasn't being an effective parent considering the high quantity of cannabis she used but her parenting skills were not the issue the court was trying to decide I also believe that Reina had a responsibility to seek mental health treatment when she started having symptoms again it's unlikely that her first symptom of schizophrenia was psychosis why didn't she seek treatment if she had this tragedy could have been avoided Reina technically met the criteria to use the insanity defense which absolves her from Criminal responsibility but this does not Grant Absolution as far as being morally responsible item number five if Rayna had committed these homicides in the United States which he had been able to mount a successful Insanity defense the criteria for the insanity defense varies from state to state in general a defendant can be found not guilty if the jury finds that the person met at least one of two criteria they had a mental condition which prevented them from understanding the difference between right and wrong or they had a mental condition which prevented them from forming specific intent needed to commit the crime this is also referred to as men's Rhea or a criminal state of mind I think that Rayna may have had a chance of demonstrating that she did not understand the difference between right and wrong although it's worth noting that the insanity defense fails the vast majority of the time regardless of the specific circumstances in the case it's very hard to prove either of the two criteria in a few States specifically Kansas Idaho Alaska Utah and Montana there is no recognition of the right from wrong defense only a failure to possess men's Rhea can be used as a defense here's an example to illustrate this distinction imagine two scenarios where a mentally ill defendant kills a human being in the first scenario the defendant believes the victim was an alien lizard humanoid and killed the victim for this reason so they didn't understand that the victim was actually human in the second scenario the defendant believed that an alien lizard humanoid commanded them to kill the victim but the defendant knew that the victim was a human so they knew they were killing a person but they felt as though they were compelled to kill that person by an alien lizard humanoid both scenarios involve the defendant failing to appreciate the true quality of their actions therefore the defendant would not know the difference between right and wrong or at least they could argue that only the first scenario would be eligible for a defense based on specific intent because in this scenario the defendant did not understand that the victim was a human being in the second scenario the defendant knew that they were killing a human being and intended to kill they had specific intent connecting this back to rayna's case she knew that she was killing her children therefore in states that don't recognize the right from wrong defense Reyna would have been unable to argue for legal Insanity she had specific intent I think this debate over legal Insanity illustrates how disconnected the law is from the reality of mental health disorders when lawyers and judges find themselves arguing about the motives of an alien lizard humanoid they should realize how far they've strayed from the science of Mental Health moving to the last item number six what does Justice look like in this case this is one of the most horrible cases in recent times I think the issue of insanity is interesting from a prevention point of view like it's important to understand what causes people to act in certain ways but as far as the outcome for Reina it is academic Reyna needs to remain in a lock facility for the rest of her life Society cannot risk her engaging in violence again unfortunately it's likely that she will be released someday now moving to my final thoughts one of the elements that strikes me is particularly worrisome in this case as far as how to prevent this type of tragedy is how Rayna displayed bizarre behavior for a month and did not receive any mental health assistance she did not try to help herself and it doesn't appear as though her neighbors tried to help her either maybe they did but no Services were available it's not clear what happened with the neighbors but Reyna's psychosis was clear when a person breaks from reality the danger should never be underestimated most people who have hallucinations and or delusions are not dangerous but in rare instances psychosis can have devastating effects those are my thoughts on the case of Reina Thai day please put any opinions and thoughts in the comment section they always generate an interesting dialogue as always I hope you found my analysis of this topic to be informative thanks for watching

Channel: Dr. Todd Grande

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Length: 17min 0sec (1020 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 19 2023