Insanity Defences: injustice in justice?

The insanity defence virtually uses mental disorder as an alibi for crime. It specifically claims that because the offender is incompetent of distinguishing between right and wrong doings, that ultimately, the crime he or she commits should be discounted. This spikes controversy in legal judicial systems.

The verdict compromises strict laws with empathetic acts. Cornell University further explains the how society views misconduct due to "irresistible impulse[s]", and that judgement is ultimately through faith. If the persecutor gets away without charge, the verdict will not satisfy the victims, as it sets free "innocent" serial killers and rapists, and forgive barbaric or inhumane misconduct. No wonder there is uproar in the community who feels more pity for the victims. Is it fair for the victim that a mentally impaired person walks away freely with what they have committed?

PROS in judging medically:

- Persecutors aren't imprisoned after committing crimes they've "unknowingly" done so that they would not hurt prison mates

- Persecutors receive penalty by being sent to asylums in extreme cases, or help from mental conditioning

- Degree of mental illness will be examined thoroughly, so that not all who use "not guilty by reason of insanity" as an excuse to commit a crime

CONS in judging medically and judging legally instead:

- Too much empathy from society may nurture more use of the excuse

- Insanity may be temporary

My Stance

In Canada (considering that different countries have different laws and regulations), I have more faith in legal systems when they judge medically. It may be against morals and beliefs, but it seems for the safety of others, imprisonment will potentially cause other prisoners harm if left in the presence of the mentally unstable persecutor. It is not about pitying those with mental illnesses, as medical history may be used as factual information to discern a case with. According to Psychiatric Times, "...only 15%-25% of those who plead insanity are actually not found guilty by reason of insanity." Meticulous cognitive examinations are performed to ensure that using insanity as an alibi to prove innocence is not connivingly used.

Are Melancholy and Despair Self-Induced?

Until this conversation I had with my friend a few months ago (refer to the brief dialogue below), I perceived a person's state of "being depressed" merely as feelings of incompetency from peer pressure, or from one's lack of self-esteem and self-efficacy, which are dependent variables defined by how the person had been raised. Ultimately, depression was not a big deal to me

because I was taught that in life,"what goes up must come down". I can not fathom how

meticulously conjured the condition of depression is, in the sense that it is often self-induced by negative thoughts networked in the brain for the long term effect. This means the more negative thoughts a person has, the longer he condition persists. My friend's answer left me in slight awe and contemplation.

My Friend says: I'm always depressed.

I respond: Really? You've always seemed fine. Why is it you are depressed?

My Friend answers: If I knew why, it wouldn't be called depression.

I searched online about this mental and emotional condition named depression. But first off, this mental illness can be treated according to Health Canada. Most online sources define depression as a condition caused either by external factors - such as financial difficulties, addictions, relationship problems, and so forth - or internal, genetically predisposed reasons.

I changed my search key-words to "Cure for Depression" and successively stumbled across the following unconvincing website regarding natural cures.

It appears to claim that all depressed people need is L-tyrosine as "a" natural cure.

The questions above are extremely general and may mislead individuals to a wrong diagnosis.
There is no simple step in recovering from depression as it takes every individual different amounts and kinds of efforts for the mental healing to occur.

In order to conquer depression, there is an essential need for a supportive social environment and just time. Even if a person is predisposed to feeling sorrow all the time, they can see the bright side of life if others given constructive feedback on his or her ways of doing things in their life style to slowly help him or her build confidence.

References
(Note: I did not use APA format as I have already hyperlinked the websites in the post.)

http://www.cure-your-depression.com/naturalcurefordepression.html

http://depression.readabout.net/Self-Induced-in-How-to-Manage-and-Conquer-Depression.html

http://www.healthtree.com/articles/depression/treatment/major/

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv/diseases-maladies/depression-eng.php

http://www.cmha.ca/bins/index.asp

http://www.dbsalliance.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Signs_symptoms