“Self-Induced Symptoms” and the Insanity Defense

The insanity defense is intended to negate the culpability of defendants who cannot fairly be held responsible for behavior that was due to their mental illness. Does the calculus change when the defendant may have self-induced an impaired mental state by failing to take prescribed medication? That question was considered by the Georgia courts in the case of a woman with bipolar disorder whose reckless driving led to the death of a 5-year-old child. One of the few states to have addressed this issue, Georgia looked to the terms of its insanity defense statutes to come up with an answer.