The JonBenet Case and Cruel Stress

Many years ago, the attorney Roy Cohn (who would have his own share of stress) once said that he didn't care if an indictment stuck or not. The thing that mattered was that it made Page One in the newspapers. It's true; once the charge is made, whether based in concrete evidence or supposition, it lives as though it were nothing but the truth. Retractions are usually relegated to the back pages of newspapers.

Now, there is a new suspect in the Christmas day murder of JonBenet Ramsey, the kiddie beauty queen who was killed in her home a decade ago. Who was the prime suspect in the case originally? JonBenet's mother, Patsy, who recently died after a battle with cancer. How much did the stress contribute to her death?

I've said it before, and so do many others in the healthcare community, stress kills because it depletes the body's ability to fight disease. Cancer, if it is one or a series of viruses as is suspected, takes advantage of weakened immune systems and being accused of the horrendous murder of your child would certain attack your immune system. Think what Patsy Ramsey went through and of all the unsavory allegations not only of murder, but worse.

We can only imagine how stressful every day of Patsy Ramsey's life was before she died and how this affected her husband and young son -- all of whom would come under the cloud of suspicion in this case.

What are your thoughts?

Related Topics: Stress Management: The Effects of Stress, Stress in the Workplace, JonBenet Ramsey: Are There Lessons To Be Learned From Her Tragic Story?

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