Review on Dr. Phil’s interview with Sarah Hatfield
By Judy Ellen, 5th May 2012 | Follow this author
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This is a review of Dr. Phil's interview with Sarah Hatfield, the Mom who left her two children in a cold car for 13 hours and claims some type of amnesia.
- Sarah’s husband finds out about her pawning jewelry
- Dr. Phil talks to Sarah
- Someone in green??
- What about the side effect of Ambien?
- Sarah takes a polygraph.
- Sarah’s expression during the Interview with Dr. Phil
Sarah’s husband finds out about her pawning jewelry
Her husband became aware of this only after receiving a letter from a pawn shop saying that her loan was due. Sarah claims that she has no recollection of pawning any jewelry and in fact remembers nothing from the time she left the boys until she returned.
She allegedly pawned 2 necklaces and a ring on the 28th of January 2012. According to the neurologist Dr. Edward Maa, who is the chief of the epilepsy program at Denver Health he believes that she could have suffered from a seizure. He believes this because she has a family history of seizures and has recently been suffering from insomnia and migraines. In fact Dr. Edward Maa says that one in 10 people suffer a single seizure in their lives, which can be provoked from severe sleep deprivation to new medication.
Sarah’s husband was also very concerned that they still have not found the gun that was missing from their home.
Dr. Phil talks to Sarah
Sarah went to the hospital for an MRI which did not show any abnormalities. Dr. Phil wants her to undergo a deferential diagnostic procedure. Dr. Phil throws up the possibility that she could have suffered from some type of amnesiac state where she checked out to escape reality. Her behavior is also consistent with that of drug users only Sarah had no evidence of drugs in her body. Sarah denies remembering anything between the time that she left the boys at 9:30AM to the time she returned 13 hours later.
Dr. Phil also presents the possibility of Sarah contemplating suicide due to the fact that she pawned jewelry with so much sentimental value and the fact that their gun was missing. Dr. Phil then reminded Sarah of when she had attempted suicide in the past but Sarah insisted that suicide was the last thing on her mind because her boys mean everything to her. She went on to say that when she tried suicide it was the stupidest thing she ever did.
Someone in green??
Sarah’s boys report seeing someone in green who they don’t like before their Mom disappeared. Dr. Phil asks her is she remembers anyone in green. He asks her if it is a drug dealer or an affair and that if she owns up to this, he will help her with it. Sarah says that she does not remember seeing anyone in green.
What about the side effect of Ambien?
Dr. Michael Breus, sleep expert, says that it does not make sense based on her use of the pill because she was not using it every night. The reactions are usually on someone who takes the pill every night. She was only given 30 pills. Her husband did other things to try to find out what is wrong with her such as getting her drunk where she just got sick. He did hypnosis on her and Dr. Phil says that hypnosis is dangerous and that he should not do this because you can get someone into a hypnotic state and not be able to wake them from it. After her husband got her into a hypnotic state he did not get any answers from her about what she did from the time she left her boys to the time she returned.
Sarah takes a polygraph.
The relevant issue is whether she remembers leaving her boys in the car. The exam will determine whether she is telling the truth or hiding something. Jack Tramarko administered the lie detector test. His question was! Other than what you told me do you remember any other details from the time you left your boys in the car on Jan 28 2012 to the time you returned? She said she only remembers leaving the boys and walking down the street. She does not remember anything else. The results of the test were that her answer was “Conclusively deceptive.” She scored a minus 13 and should have scored plus 4. Dr. Phil says that you must tell me if there is something that you can tell me so that I can help you. He went on to state! “I don’t mean this egotistically but I am a formidable ally but I cannot help you if you don’t tell me!”
Sarah’s expression during the Interview with Dr. Phil
He observes that she has a “flat affect” which means no expression. Dr. Phil went on to say, “This could come from being depressed or from other types of attitudes. She is shutting down due to being under so much stress.” Dr. Phil also stated. “Sometimes you disassociate to the point where you lose time, but you are not telling me that, so, I pretty much have to disregard it. They can’t use the polygraph against you in court.” However, Sarah says that the polygraph bothers her very much. Dr. Phil concludes that he thinks she has some type of abnormality and it does not reflect upon her as a mother. He will continue to help her until he gets to the truth!
Comments
6th May 2012 (#)
Good to read your nice review. Thank you for sharing Judy.
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6th May 2012 (#)
Heartbreaking in so many ways Judy....
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6th May 2012 (#)
Thanks, Judy. Yes, it is heartbreaking indeed.
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14th Aug 2012 (#)
Does anyone know what ever happened with this case?
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6th May 2012 (#)
Thank you Judy, this is so sad my friend, one finds it hard not to judge her, still it's what we are supposed to do I believe.
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12th May 2012 (#)
Life is hard on many wherever we are. Sad yet thought provoking analysis. Many people need help, but our society has no time for them. I feel sometimes we share a collective guilt. Thanks Judy for a detailed anaysis - siva
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14th Aug 2012 (#)
During the interview she is talking about her suicide attempt - the zinger is she called it "the first time I tried to kill myself".... This implies more than the one attempt.
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15th Aug 2012 (#)
I had the exact same thought.
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16th Aug 2012 (#)
If there's one thing that I don't like about Dr. Phil it's the following: he postures as a serious, no-nonsense, "let's-get-to-the-bottom-of-this" type of guy, yet he wastes an entire program on alternative hypotheses for Sarah Hatfield's behavior. If Dr. Phil were a serious man, he wouldn't have allowed the "clutter" of alternate theories --that is to say, anything that didn't relate directly to the polygraph results-- to muck up the program. Dr. Phil needs to "man up" and stop being the darling of his advertisers: if you're a serious man, Dr. Phil, you'll do shows that don't waste our time with things you know to be sensationalist nonsense.
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31st Aug 2012 (#)
Re: "Dr. Phil wants her to undergo a deferential diagnostic procedure."
"Deferential" (from the word "deference") refers to a form of respect, not a type of medical or psychological testing.
Perhaps "differential" is the word the author was searching for, as in "differential diagnostic procedure."
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