Articles on Mental Health

            Article 1: Oh My God, I Just Stabbed My Husband.

             This article paints a harrowing and alarming picture of a seriously dysfunctional family. It describes the relationship between Susan and Felix Polk and the various events that led to his alleged murder by his wife. What adds a greater depth to the complexity of the saga is that Felix Polk was a psychologist and first met Suzan as his 15 year old patent. Their therapeutic relationship developed into an intimate romance by the time that Suzan was17 and the couple was married when she was 24 years of age. To add a further level of complexity of analysis to the situation is the fact that Felix Polk was 25 years older than Susan. The marriage was rocky and unbalanced and ended when Susan stabbed her husband or death. .

             The article is written in a non sequential way so as to provide insight into the contrasting views and ambiguities that permeate this story. From the point of view of the wife, Felix Polk was a manipulative and domineering man. His abusive character was given as the reason for his wife's actions which she claims were in self-defense. According to the author this view of the husband is supported by the sons. Again more complexities arise as the one son, Eli, seems to be just as confused and unbalanced as his parents. This makes his testimony suspect. On the other hand there are others who suggest a view of the husband as stable, kind and generous, and the wife as unbalanced and "insane". .

             What emerges from the article is a description of an extremely dysfunctional family. Furthermore there is also the possibility of mental illness, which is suggested by the fact that the wife was in therapy when the couple first met. The fact that the son, Eli, is also troubled may be a result of the family environment or possibly may be generic and related to a mental disorder. Unfortunately the article does not provide enough depth information in this regard.

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