This horrific catastrophe has weighed heavily on my mind, plunging me into a wave of grieving over such an immense loss of life. The chilling revelation that this was seemingly a deliberate murder of 149 innocent human beings made it worse.
When I first heard that the chief pilot was locked out of the cockpit, I knew in my gut that this copilot must have premeditated the destruction of the aircraft, but how could someone sick enough to do such a diabolical thing go undetected and unreported?
His brand of extreme terrorism, not fueled by any current exterior religiosity, apparently was derived within, perpetrated by his own deranged, warped and cold-blooded callous disregard of the passengers and crew.
Apparently there were signs of his sickness here and there, but why weren’t they ever brought to the attention of his employer? Where was the responsibility of psychiatrists, therapists, family or friends to express concern to the proper authorities?
All that was initially surmised and later revealed was that he had suffered from depression and anxiety. Yes, major depression can lead to suicide, but the vast majority of suicides are a solitary act.
People, who kill themselves think that they are unworthy of living, not others. If this pilot was motivated just by severe depression, he could have easily crashed his car at high speed off the autobahn into a tree.
I felt from the start that there was something else going on with this young man, who I suspected was a lot sicker than previously thought, either personality wise or neuronal, than being depressed.
Suicidal people rarely take others with them, except in rare cases of revenge or delusional thinking. There have been past incidences of disgruntled employees killings their bosses and associates, and of course angry psychopaths killings others before taking their own lives.
From what his ex girlfriend said, he did have a problem with impulsive anger, but directed to who and why? Was his hatred inflamed by delusions of blame and persecution?
If his anger was directed towards particulars, then he probably could have been very selective in destroying any of them. No, I suspect that he was more angry at Germanwings or Lufthansa, and the potentiality of being grounded by his sickness he knew he could no longer keep hiding.
If the latest information ,that has trickled out from his ex girlfriend and police agents who have scoured his dwellings is true, then these revelations give much more graver implications in this man’s mental state and personality.
First there was the initial fact that he had been medically sidelined in 2009, for a “depressive episode” during his pilot training at the Lufthansa facilities in Germany , during which he underwent psychiatric treatment for 18 months. There was also an unconfirmed earlier report that he was declared unfit for the program in their United States training base. Why did the US base declare him unfit for the program and if a recurrence happened later, why did this not ring alarms?
Why did recent medical doctors who had been following him give him multiple declarations that at times he was unfit to fly, that were found torn into shreds in his apartment? Why did a medical facility admit he was treated there, but “not for depression”?
The interview with his ex girlfriend was even more revealing about his personality and symptoms. She was aware that he suffered from “depression and anxiety” and took medications. According to her, he would often start screaming at her for no reason and awaken her with delusional tirades of “we are falling”.
She, who is a flight attendant with the same company, said she ended up breaking up with him because of his erratic behavior and angry outbursts frightened her. Why did she never think to express her concerns with other attendants or superiors?
This ex girlfriend, also remembered him exclaiming that “one day I will do something to change the whole system and everyone will know and remember my name”.
That is a very extreme narcissistic remark demonstrating a pathological need for recognition, which certainly gives insight into his personality. If he additionally had a psychotic illness, it may have also precipitated delusions of grandeur that can be seen in these illnesses.
Therefore, I was not at all surprised to discover today (Sunday) that he had prescriptions not only of antidepressants but also for depot neuroleptics, which certainly casts a much more graver diagnosis that just depression or anxiety.
It was reported in Le Parisien and Le Monde that a prescription for Olanzapine depot injections was found, along with Agomelatine a newer antidepressant which helps regulate circadian rhythms. Olanzapine, marketed as Zyprexa, is a second generation antipsychotic.
Zyprexa, is known to cause weight gain, increase lipid and glycemic levels, so it is not given lightly without due cause.
Neuroleptics, or better known as anti psychotic medications, are generally reserved for patients suffering from psychosis producing illnesses, such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and or Bipolar I, during acute mania, and in some cases of severe PTSD.
Sometimes the newer neuroleptics are given as a part of maintenance regime in Bipolar I or Bipolar II. Most of these type of medications are given orally, whereas depot neuroleptic (injections) are reserved solely during acute psychosis or given to patients who are generally noncompliant in taking them orally.
In the states, neuroleptic injections are mainly reserved in treating non compliant schizophrenics. These injections are given every 2 to 4 weeks to prevent or curb psychotic symptoms of hallucinations or delusional thinking.
It is not unusual for young newly diagnosed schizophrenics, schizoaffective or Bipolar I patients to be in denial and be noncompliant with medications. It is certainly not unusual either for these type of patients to have severe depressive episodes also intermittently or be suicidal.
Just before publishing this , it was reported that he had been treated before for severe suicidal ideation on several occasions, even prior to attending flight school.
If his first documented “breakdown” occurred in 2009, then he would be around 20 to 21 years of age, which is typically the age which psychotic symptoms often begin. Patients diagnosed with psychotic producing illness can and often do attempt to hide their symptoms.
It is easier to do initially with acquaintances and employers, but much more difficult to do with family and close friends. Some can function in the workplace, but any stress can throw them into a tailspin.
If this pilot did indeed have one of the above illnesses, and was having additional visual problems, then he probably knew he wouldn’t be able to conceal forever either one. Certainly knowing his dreams of being a long haul pilot would be stashed, would be a source of deep sadness and possible suicidal thoughts, but however, it does not explain taking a whole plane load of innocent persons to death along with himself.
Although the majority of these patients are fairly docile with little intent to harm others, they can become dangerous if paranoid and or delusional. If someone is perceived by them as being a part of their persecutory paranoid delusions, then that person or persons can be at risk of harm.
Paranoid people are generally aloof, quiet, secretive and distrustful and may easily go undetected for a while. Patients do lie to cover up their symptoms, especially in cases such as the pilot.
Some psychiatric clinicians have poor interviewing skills, which can put these type of patients on the defensive, where they will lie. Others do not give the patient enough time to really be properly assessed.
Administering psychological tests without indepth clinical interviews is inadequate. I have never used such written assessments, much preferring to see the patient initially in person for a complete diagnostic interview, where you can pick up many things, that tests will not.
Whenever I or previous psychiatrist colleagues suspected someone had the beginning stages of a psychotic illness from clinical interviews, we would always ask to see the family or companions to validate our own clinical observations.
If this pilot’s doctors or therapists felt he was unfit to work several times due to severe depression with suicidal ideation, or any psychotic symptoms, then frankly they should have alerted authorities, especially in light of him flying commercial airplanes.
If indeed he was being treated with depot neuroleptics , or not showing up for them, or not being compliant with other medications and medical directives, nor with follow up appointments, then again this should have been reported. Patient confidentiality is certainly sacred, but not where there is a possibility of harming others.
Psychiatrists and therapists in the states for example are required by law to report any homicidal ideation with intent to the police, as well as sexual abuse perpetrators. The bottom line is to not only protect the patient from himself, but others as well, if his mental health would be a jeopardy to those around him or his functioning at work.
Hopefully, as the investigation continues there will be more questions answered, and as a result to this horrific tragedy, procedures and protocols will change to protect the flying public, much like after september 11.
We don’t let pilots who report to work with alcohol on their breath fly, nor let our drunk friends and family drive. We should not let pilots who have suicidal tendencies and psychotic illnesses fly either!
For those who want to know more about Bipolar Disorder, please read my post:https://www.cherrychapman.com/2012/08/20/bipolar-disorder/
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Thank you SO MUCH Cherry… This has helped me tremendously. As always, your post is clear, easy to understand (even for people like me who aren’t in the medical world!) and extremely helpful. I have shared it on Facebook hoping it can help others too.
Thank you so much Claire for your very kind comment and welcome to my blog! I really appreciate your feedback about my clarity and please let me know in the future if I have failed. Thank you also for sharing on Facebook! Hugs
Perhaps a slightly different perspective: With a world population of over seven BILLION people, there will always be people with mental problems and aberant behavior resulting in occasional disasterous events . . . . the irrational actions of this pilot, the radical fanatical Islamists, etc. I suspect that part of the problems in all of this is the social pressure for people to be “PC” – politically Correct, and to not “make waves”. Families, communities, and even societies teach or ingrain in their members to be protective of their members who have psychological or mental problems; they even enocourage family members to lie to conceal the problems and misdeaeds of family members. Even “whistle blowers’ run the risks of potential severe repercussions by telling the “truths”. There are people with aberant personalities in every walk of life . . . . Judges, doctors, attorneys, policement, politicians, etc. And most people tend to “look the other way” and say nothing until there is a massive disaster or scandel. Then there is always a public outcry, hysteria, and massive over reaction for random isolated events.
So the doctor(s), the girl friend, the family and friends of this troubled pilot all “kept quiet”; they all were PC; and they didn’t want to be responsible for contributing to the pilot’s professional demise. (What might the repercusions of that have been if he could be such an aggressively violent guy in his personal life?) It really becomes somewhat of a societial problem of people being conditioned to be PC, and to not “make waves” and to not be a “whistle blower”. That obviously extend’s to the pilot’s doctor(s), girl friend, family and friends in this instance. It is doubtful that any of these individuals could or would have anticipated the pilot intentionally crashing an airplane and killing everyone on the plane. That is just an rare aberant occurence. The threat of somethinglike this is quite different from terrorists attempting to take over an airplane with the intent of crashingthe planeand killing everyone. In hisinsanity, the pilot merely took advantage of an “opportunity” that arose to execute something that he aparently had been thinking about and planning; but statistically how many times hassomething like this occurred on a major airline? This incidence is somewhat of a rare, isolated occurrence.
Proably the best that can come out this horribly tragic event is to have laws or regulations that require all doctors to report patienct mental problems to the employers, and possibly law enforcement; family and friends aren’t likely to report such concerns. And even then professionals such pilots, policemen, etc. are not likely to reveal the full extent of their conditions, or even their occupations to the docotors if their professional lives might be jeopardized. It is an extremely difficult matter for everyone. Life is very risky, even riding on a commercial airplane. There are a constant stream of unforeseeable natural and manmade disasters. We are getting better at predicting earthquakes, volcano eruptions, tsunamis, etc.; but it is like looking for a needle in a hay stack to identify humans who “erupt with extreme psychological problems”. The doctor expressed his opinion that the pilot shouldn’t be working; but didn’t take any actions to express his concerns for the potential safety of the passengers . . . was that professional irresponsibily or gross misjudgement? That will probably never be resolved.
The intentional crashing of the commercial airliner was a terribly horrible and tragic event, an extremely rare event. But without the input from others such as family and friends, his doctor’s diagnosis and handling (or mishandling) of reporting the potential concerns were just never followed through on. His girl friend was probably intimidated by her concerns of possible repercussions if her reporting her concerns to his employers would have ended his career as a pilot . . . . and he might have taken his revenge on her that. She had already experienced his abusive and violent behavior in their past relationship.
Last night my wife and I watched the documentary expose about the Scientology which is more of a cult rather than a “religion”. It demonstrated how purportedly normal, seemingly intelligent people can be drawn into such “movements”/causes that, in the light of day can be so irrational, abusive, etc. . . . . I thought it is somewhat akin to a mixture of Nazism, Mormonism, (and perhaps a few other “religions” such as the radical, fanatical “Islamists”. Granted this may come across as something of “being a stretch”; but Ameicans have become so acutely sensitive to being PC – Politically Correct,that they are too intimidated to say anythiing about their concerns about others, such as a professional airline pilot. It took most of those in the exspose tenty years or longer to come to their senses and to get the gumption to make or to participate in that exspose, andthey had to overcome their fear of retribution from the Scientologists who purportedly use illegal tactics to suppress such disclosures. Circumstances, and the nature of most people is to justnot say anything. So if the professional doctors can’t handle reporting these potential threats to society, then little can be done to protect the public from the actions of isolated aberant individuals.
Just as the leadership of Scientology use intimidations to keep their followers in line, I think that the PC “movement” in our society suppress and discourage people from being responsibly reporting individuals who may be a threat to society. Everyone being subtly, and not so subtly, pressured into being “PC – Politically Correct” is merely a way to influence and to control the masses of the general population. More times than not, “whistle blowers” quite often experience severe consequences for “doing the right thing” in the best interests of the public. There are potential great liabilities for being a whistle blower, even to, and especially to an employer. Most people think that the employer should already have safe guards in place.
The intentional crashing of the airplane was a terribly horrible and tragic event. Such rare incidents are probably, most often, simply not foreseeable. We have some retiree neighbors who spent many years frequently traveling to Europe. And even before this crash, they had said that didn’t plan on flying to Europe any more because of their concerns about the terrorists. Life is full of risks; we can either try to prudently live life to the fullest or restict our lives out of fear of what could potentially occur. There are reportedly over 765,000 plane flights per year; so statistically what are the chances of a reoccurrence of an eventlike this, and when was the last time something like this occurred? It was a totally rare and unforeseeable event.
Thank you David for your very pertinent and detailed comment, that brought the reality of these extreme tragic happenings despite our current best efforts to prevent them, and that they are statistically rare. I appreciate also you pointing out that being politically correct(PC) may have certainly prevented others who had concerns about this pilot, and also out of fear of reprisals.
I do not know the confidentiality laws in Germany regarding clinicians reporting their concerns outside of the therapeutic encounter, if they feel either the patient is in danger or of harming others. Hopefully after this immense tragedy, laws will be indeed implemented to help in protecting airplane passengers in the future from mentally unstable pilots.
cheery it is so sad. I cannot come up with words about this .Just unbelievable what a Sick Mind can do!!
Cherry I was using a voice writer it did not spell your name correctly.
Isham, no problem about typos. I type lots of them each post, then have to clean them up. Even more reason to appreciate the immense talent of writers in the past who had to have impeccable spelling!