It premiered on Netflix last Friday. Assunta caseseries telling the story of the murder of a little girl Assunta Basterra, which took place in 2013. The plot mainly revolves around the characters of the parents, who are both imprisoned as the perpetrators of the crime. The father, Alfonso Basterra, is currently still in prison and has not used any of the weekend leave granted since 2018. Rosario Porto, committed suicide in 2020 after several attempts. Even before going to prison, he had thoughts of suicide. In fact, Rosario Porto’s psychiatric profile was widely discussed after the murder.
Several psychiatrists testified at the trial, including one who saw her in La Robleda Health Center from Santiago de Compostela, 4 years from the crime to those who treated her in closer periods, both before and after the murder. Among them is the professional who prescribed lorazepam, benzodiazepine with whom Assunta was drugged before strangling her.
They all spoke about Rosario Porto’s psychiatric profile in the same way, although with slight changes over time. For example, the psychiatrist who treated her in 2009 did indicate that she had contemplated suicide. On the other hand, the person prescribed lorazepam reported depression, anxiety, and sadness, but not suicidal ideation.
Variable psychiatric profile of Rosario Porto
The psychiatrist who treated Asunta’s mother in 2009 used her code of ethics and did not provide details about her relationship with the girl. However, he admitted that Rosario performed excellently at that time. duality.
emotional ambivalence It refers to the phenomenon whereby two opposing feelings can be felt almost simultaneously or very continuously. For example, in the case of Rosario Porto, her psychiatrist talked about feeling love and hate in relation to surrounding people.
In fact, this psychological phenomenon is considered something completely natural or even useful on an evolutionary level. Experiencing opposing feelings toward a person or situation can cause us to pause to better evaluate the situation and not allow ourselves to get carried away by one feeling. For example, we may feel affection for someone we just met, but also a suspicion that will cause us to think carefully about things if they offer us a new business.
This is also very common in mothers who have just given birth. They feel great love for their children, but recent pain and stress can also cause a certain amount of resentment that helps them not act out of this absolute love, which can even be counterproductive. If we see everything in rosy tones, life seems too simple and we can make mistakes. If we are talking about a child, it is important to avoid them.
When is this a problem?
It is believed that all people experience emotional ambivalence at some point in their lives. It’s not bad at all. However, when it occurs over a long period of time, it may be associated with disorders such as depression, addiction, obsessive-compulsive disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder.
As can be seen from Rosario Porto’s psychiatric profile, she suffered from severe depression. In fact, at an appointment in 2009 when she was treated by this psychiatrist, she was diagnosed with a very acute condition: anxiety and melancholy, accompanied by suicidal thoughts that would require longer-term care. The problem is that she asked for voluntary discharge without being able to receive adequate care.
The benzodiazepines that Asunta was drugged with
In general, psychiatrists and acquaintances of Rosario Porto characterize her as a woman focused exclusively on work and her daughter. But also as a very human Emotionally unbalanced.
All this led to one of the last psychiatrists to treat her to prescribe her two antidepressants. First of all, escitalopram and in a month mirtazapine. Moreover, he acknowledges that, given that he suffered from serious insomniaprescribed him a dose of lorazepam to help him sleep.
This may have made life easier for her husband. Alfonso Basterra, could have bought the pills that Asunta was given to drink. However, this cannot in any way be blamed on a professional who was simply caring for a woman with a long psychiatric history but apparently did not pose a danger to other people.
Could he have suffered amnesia after killing Assunta?
An important part of Rosario Porto’s psychiatric profile is everything that could explain possible amnesia. At his trial, experts were asked whether the dose of antidepressants he was taking could have caused him to memory losses.
They answered yes, especially in light of recent events. In addition, an acute stressful situation can cause so-called dissociative or psychogenic amnesia. Therefore, it is entirely possible that he killed his daughter and then had no memory of it and therefore always denied that he did it. But the fact is that everything points to the fact that he did it. That’s why he spent 7 years in prison until he finally committed suicide.
Source: Hiper Textual
