04:45 PM EDT on Wednesday, May 12, 2004

By MARIA KOTULA / 6NEWS

Many people are asking how a mother could kill her own children. A psychologist said there are three possible disorders that may have led a mother to do the unthinkable.

In the summer of 1995, Susan Smith wept tears over the drowning death of her two boys. She now serves a life sentence for her sons' murders.

Psychology professor Cole Burton said there are three psychological disorders that can drive people to commit unthinkable crimes.

One is called anti-social personality disorder.

“These people are characterized as not having sympathy or empathy for other people, typically those who manipulate and plan like a Ted Bundy,” Burton explained. “There's a different category of people that will hurt others or kill someone because they are profoundly depressed…someone would think my child would be better off if I kill them then if I allow them to live.”

Two years ago in Texas Andrea Yates was found guilty of drowning her five children in a bathtub. Her husband says she was mentally ill.

Burton said one prevalent form of mental illness in cases like these is a syndrome called Munchausen’s by proxy, where parents hurt their own children as a way to get sympathy and nurturing.

“They might pinch the child, or in extreme cases poison the child,” he said.

Burton said there are signs family members can look for: Becoming isolated or depressed, especially after a core relationship is severed. Also if they submerge themselves into the Internet.

Burton says people can intervene by telling the person they are worried about them. If they talk about harming themselves or others, police or a mental hospital should be contacted immediately.