We will never know what was in
the mind of Andreas Lubitiz last week when he set the flight monitoring system of the
Airbus A320 he was flying, to descent mode. The plane was travelling at 435 mph
and some 8 minutes later it crashed into the mountains near
Seyne-les-Alpes in the French Alps killing all 150 people on board. Initially
there was much speculation about whether Lubitiz should have been flying as he
had a past history of depression. The World Health Organisation estimate that globally,
there are 350 million people living with depression (see here for more information). However, to date there is no evidence that the despair that often
comes with depression was the cause here.
Indeed, cases such as this, where
one person wishing to end their life does so by taking the lives of others (in this case,
complete strangers) at the same time is extremely rare. The evidence suggests
that most murder-suicides happen in domestic situations and most often involve
a man and his wife or partner. What led
Lubitiz to commit this inexplicable and devastating act almost defies explanation.
There are a multitude of possible factors that might be involved. A particular emotional state or a particular personality trait might provide the trigger for such extreme behaviour, but factors such a alcohol problems, drug misuse,
relationship issues thwarted ambitions could all play a part.
I literally cannot imagine what
the families of those who died in this tragedy must be going through. The loss
of life in any circumstance is difficult to deal with and understand. Elizabeth
Kübler-Ross, a Swiss psychiatrist was most famous for her work in describing
what she called the 5 stages of emotional grief survivors of an intimate’s
death experience: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. However, dealing with such a loss, and in the
inexplicable circumstances of the Airbus
320 crash must feel almost impossible.
Kübler-Ross most famous book On
Death and Dying (1969) was inspired by her work with people who had a life
shortening illness. Last week I was also inspired by the stories of Brian,
Gerry, and John, three people living with prostate cancer. 1 in 8 men in the UK
will receive this diagnosis. Cancer Research UK note that 10,837 men died from
prostate cancer in 2012. This compares to 11,716 women (and men) who died of
breast cancer, and the 5,981 men and women who committed suicide during the same period. What made these 3 men's stories inspiring
for me was the way they captured their thoughts and feelings in photographs to
tell of their experiences. Have a look here.
And it was Gorgeous Steve who
told of his experiences at the end of last week. Friday was his last day at the
School. My cool, calm and 100% bullet proof colleague, Steve was retiring. We gathered
together to celebrate his contribution to the School, the University, the
profession of social work and to the many people’s lives he had touched during his career. When the Social Workers
joined the School back in late 2010, it was Steve who led the way. He later
became Director and steered the social work directorate through some very
tricky times.
I have very much enjoyed working
with Steve, and all through time I have known him he has been his own man. Not
someone you could hurry, he worked at his own pace, but always delivered. He cared
for others, the profession of social work and was an excellent educationalist. I
will miss his smile, his 'you are not going to like this' introduction to his solution based approach to problems, his knowledge, generosity and above all
else his unconditional positive regard towards others. He helped me see the value
in recognising the strengths rather than weaknesses in others. I wish you well
Steve but I will miss your warmth and friendship - so maybe not goodbye but au revoir!
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