CherryTree comments

@ Fadamor:

Someone who can only come up with murder as the way to solve a problem has mental issues. Normal human beings can come up with solutions to problems that don't involve violence.

I can see where you're coming from, but the idea that bad mental health is a necessity for crime and violence is a dangerous stigma. What mental issues would the boy have exactly? What mental illness do you blame for this situation? My point is that 'normal human beings' do come up with violent solutions. You don't need to be mentally ill to resort to violence.

"Neurotypical" is a term coined by the autism community to describe those who do not have autism. There's nothing in this article that indicates autism is a factor here.

And you're right, 'neurotypical' is largely used within the autism community, but more recently it is being applied to those who do not suffer from mental illnesses, which I was going for.

@ Novenachama: Why do you think the boy's mental health had anything to do with this? I'm not saying his behavior was 'sane', but a person does not have to be mentally ill to do something like this. Criminal behavior and bad mental health are not intrisically related and neurotypicals are capable of doing all sorts of terrible things.

Also, yes, childhood experiences and lifestyle, social relationships, family life and so forth play their parts in a person's mental health, but mental illness - like any illness - can strike anyone regardless of their upbringing or environment. It can definitely be a matter of chance.

Of course it's premature. Any diagnosis without knowing something of a person's history is inappropriate. That's why medical professionals insist on meeting their patients before making one.

Stop getting so worked up over technicalities. Of course people need to be properly diagnosed before they receive treatment. And you do realize that none of us ever said we were making a professional diagnosis? No one said this was depression for sure, just that it's very likely. And why is it more appropriate to call the woman selfish and crazy based on that same 8-line story?

You say you "don't find it at all strange" that a mother would murder her child, and you even gave me some cool reasons why it's better to subject the child to a violent and public death than to let it live. I disagree, but each to their own.

Doing this again? They are not MY reasons. They are possible conclusions a depressed person might come to in the moments before they kill themselves.

@ wipeout:

Since this incident, there have been a couple more stories about people killing themselves and their kid or kids. This was one of them - in this particular case involving someone who wasn't outwardly depressed, or seeking help, or known to have been diagnosed.

I don't know if you're posting this other article to defend the idea that a diagnosis of depression is wrong or premature in suicide cases, but either way - it doesn't really do much for your argument. I've read the article, and the fact that the husband thought his wife was happy and content says little about whether she was actually depressed or not. First of all because 25% of suicides show no outward signs of depression. Depression is a rather invisible, internal illness that is often stigmatized and those who are depressed may either not know they are, deny they are, or are afraid to show others the extenct of their mental problems because people will think they are crazy, or you know... selfish.

Secondly, happiness and depression are not mutually exclusive. Especially if you think of how vague a concept "happiness" is. What does that even mean? Robin Williams, for instance, was famous, had a wonderful family, and I have no doubt he was quite happy. But he was suffering severely at the same time. It's not impossible to be happy with where you are in life, but still feel terrible and not see the point of living at the same time.

@: wipeout

And you have applied an amateur diagnosis of depression to someone without having any knowledge of that person's history at all.

Guessing you are the amateur, considering that 90% of all suicides are caused by depression. Therefore, the possibility that this woman was depressed is 90% - a likely enough assumption. And the likelihood of you criticizing a dead woman who was ill and needed help and sympathy, rather than scorn, is 90%. Think about that.

As for the 'attempted murder', I don’t find it all that strange to imagine that the thought of leaving her child alone on that platform, or walking away from it at home - abandoning it - was even more unthinkable for her. Especially since the child will now probably end up in a loveless government facility until it's an adult, and is then thrown into a world where some people apparently don't know mental illness if it hits them in the face.

@ smithinjapan:

"You can't use logic with depression."

And that exactly what you are trying to do. On the contrary most people would agree that there is nothing logical about and no defense for murder.

Of course there is logic in depression, you misread what Heda_Madness was saying. Depression is an illness that can be understood and learned about, with logic, reason and compassion. There is logic in what causes it and logic in what cures it. All Heda said is that there is skewed logic in the mind of a depressed person; their minds are diseased and they need help, not people criticizing them and stigmatizing them further. As for attempting to murder her child, I would consider it more likely that she could not stand the idea of leaving it behind, considering that it will now most likely end up in a loveless government facility until it becomes an adult, and is then thrown into the same compassionless world that she lived in, one that still has much to learn about mental illness.

If a father did this we’d probably all be asking where the mother is and why she didn’t do something. In either situation we’d probably blame the mother and excuse the father. Where is the father in this picture?