Lauren Anne Dickason in the High Court at Christchurch on 17 July 2023. Photo: Pool / NZME/ George Heard
Warning: this story contains distressing content.
A forensic psychiatrist has told the Christchurch High Court it is deeply concerning the mother who killed her three daughters was self-prescribing drugs for her depression and anxiety.
Lauren Dickason is on trial for the murder of her children, Liané, Maya and Karla, in Timaru in September, 2021.
She denies the charges - instead her defence is seeking a verdict of insanity and infanticide.
Leading forensic psychiatrist Dr Susan Hatters-Friedman told the court this week that in South Africa, because Dickason was a qualified doctor, she could order her own medication.
"Treating your own mental illness is problematic. Say a doctor has a urinary tract infection. It's a short-term problem that you know you need an antibiotic for and you're going to take it for a few days and then you're going to get better," she said.
"A urinary tract is not going to affect your mental processing but a depressive disorder where it affects your mind and your thinking to then be the one making your own judgements about when you need mental health medicine is of strong concern."
Dickason also came off medication in March 2021 without a plan from her psychiatrist, Hatters-Friedman said.
"If I have a patient and they're wanting to come off medication for whatever reason ... I follow up with them over time, see how they're doing and we also make a plan, like if these symptoms were to start happening again, then give me a call and get in sooner and you can restart [medication]," she said.
"There wasn't a plan with [Dickason's] doctor to stop her medications."
The court has previously heard how Dickason started a new wellness plan in March 2021 to become healthier and stronger.
But when her mental state worsened as the move to New Zealand drew closer, she went back to taking self-prescribed medication for her depression and anxiety in July 2021.
The notes from Dickason's first psychological assessment after the killings were also worrying, Hatters-Friedman told the court.
The assessment was done by an on-call psychiatrist in police cells on Saturday morning, following the girls' deaths on Thursday night.
"It was noted that she was very tired and exhausted looking. And the doctor also noted 'had a very little grasp of the reality of the situation, asking a few times where her husband was and how long she would be in hospital'," Hatters-Friedman said.
"'Initial impression on brief assessment: depression, severe with possible psychosis, query concurrent PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) trauma. However, will need further longitudinal assessment to verify or otherwise as in acute shock'," Hatters-Friedman read from the notes.
The trial continues on Monday, and is expected to run for at least another week.
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