What can go through the mind of someone who deliberately crashes a plane full of passengers?

This news has shocked Europe and we all wonder whether it could have been prevented. It is precisely this idea that will make the grief much more difficult for the family members who have lost a loved one on this flight. This feeling that it could have been prevented and that it was not a simple accident makes the anger that is experienced even greater.

The mental health of those who hold others' lives in their hands

Surely, from now on, measures will be taken to prevent us from going through something like this again in the future. This teaches us, in a very harsh way, that we must watch over mental health, especially of the people who hold the lives of others in their hands. We cannot forget that eight people take their own lives every day in Spain see information.

But,

Can a person with depression be the perpetrator of a suicide with these characteristics?

Why it does not fit a collective suicide

It is clear that this would not be a collective suicide in which a group of people decide to take their own lives together, whether for religious reasons such as cults, or for other reasons, but doing it together, as has been happening recently in Japan where groups of young people arrange meetings through forums to take their own lives.

There is another type of suicide, which is more similar to what we have experienced, that happens when the person who suffers from this mental disorder kills others to spare them the suffering of living in this world. The usual thing is for them to be close family members of the patient, such as their children or partner. Therefore, this suicide-homicide would not fit any of these patterns.

A possible severe depression with psychotic features

What we know, from the media, is that the co-pilot had already suffered from depression previously. For this reason and because of the characteristics of the suicide, it is likely that we are facing severe depression with psychotic features. It is a less common mood disorder than major depression and it usually appears in the depressive phases of Bipolar Disorder type I, although not always. It is a mental disorder that presents, in addition to the typical symptoms of major depression, psychotic symptoms, normally delusional ideas. Delusional ideas are beliefs or ideas that have no basis but that the person firmly believes. It is likely that this type of suicide responds more to a delusional idea than simply to the idea of ending one's own suffering. Perhaps they sought to die leaving a mark, in response to a delusional idea of grandeur. These ideas make the person believe that they are special, truly important and powerful and that they can do great things. But these are now speculations; what is clear is that it does not fit the suicide pattern characteristic of conventional depression.

The grief of family members and the professionals' perspective

Those of us who work every day in mental health can come to understand how the mind of someone who suffers from a mental illness works, what mechanisms can lead a person to carry out acts of these characteristics, and above all to think about what can be done to prevent them. We also know that people who have lost a loved one, in these circumstances, face a complicated grieving process and that it may take them an average of two years to overcome it, when the duration of a normal grieving process is six months. That is why we are shocked along with the rest of the world, and that is why I could not help but dedicate a few lines to this news that has deeply saddened me. My deepest condolences to all the family members and friends who suffer this unjust loss. I hope that the help of professionals makes this arduous path more bearable.