A mother killed two of her children, aged 7 and 2 Tuesday late afternoon on rue du Jeu de Balle in Hantes-Wihéries (Erquelinnes). The third child, aged 9 and who was in critical condition, is still in an artificial coma, but his condition has stabilized, said Wednesday morning David Lavaux, bourgmestre of Erquelinnes (IC).
David Vandenbosch, psychologist at the Domaine’s stress management clinic, comments on the facts in the RTL INFO 13H.
What can make a parent commit such an act?
Generally, there are three main elements on which others can be grafted. It is an advanced depressive state with strong anxiety. We will also find an alteration in beliefs or judgments. In beliefs, we will also find people who may go through a temporary psychotic state and we will also find in these people an isolation or a withdrawal. And so these three factors are the three main factors. To these we can also add the lack of perspective or the decrease in perspectives and we can also add the decrease in psychosocial support, which can interact and increase the risks of this type of tragedy.
Can containment worsen already precarious situations?
There are indeed elements of distress and prior difficulties with a possible increase possible by confinement since confinement will have an impact on the parents’ anxiety or depression. It can have an impact. Social isolation or withdrawal will also be increased since by confinement, there are many possible social contacts. The supports (medical or social) that the family can have will be limited or less developed. These elements can increase the risks and we add to that a withdrawal and a family tension. Spending a lot of time with family with little possibility of having outside helpers.
A lot of people are in stress with regard to deconfinement, because there was a moment of withdrawal which was already problematic, but which can be increased too, because there is the possibility of starting again, but knowing that don’t know exactly where we’re headed, that there are still risks.
We hear here that this person did not necessarily want to send his children back to school, so there are risks associated with this. There is a blurred future, an absence of prospects. We don’t know exactly what’s going to happen. So we add to that the pressure which increases and which starts again just after deconfinement.
These are all factors that can create this breaking point. The breaking point is when the person makes the decision and takes action. These elements can explain something at this breaking point.
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