I'm sure you've all heard about the awful Germanwings airplane crash by now, and if not you definitely need to get out more. You also must have read a tonne of articles about stigma surrounding mental health, so I'm hoping to take a slightly different approach in this post. What Lubitz did was beyond words; devastating for the families of passengers aboard the flight. But as soon as the word "depression" came to light the media pounced at the opportunity to blow it up on a big screen.
I can't help but feel that the media have been quick to judge on this situation. Dare the media report that there is continuous speculation over Andreas Lubitz' history of mental health, and the lack of conclusive findings. What if there is more to it? Nowadays "depression" is used by the media as a buzz word. Article after article has proven how its use results in immediate assumption of the mental illness being the underpinnings of devastating happenings. And I despise it.
Alastair Campbell (Huffington Post) made a fantastic point in which I couldn't agree more - imagine that Lubitz had actually discovered that he had cancer, too late to treat? I doubt that the media would be painting such an awful photo of the illness. So why do it with depression? We wouldn't be blaming the 150 deaths on cancer.
For those who are saying he should not have been flying a plane if he was a depressive - I agree ON THE BASIS that he had been signed off work due to depression. However, there seems to be a lack of knowledge on how common depression is: 1 in 5 people experience depression at some point in their lives. These people are teachers, supermarket assistants, lifeguards at your local pool, bakers, dog walkers, taxi drivers. What I find fascinating is how depression is assumed to be characterized by suicidal thoughts/attempts. This is not the case, and you are ignorant if you think it is. You wouldn't reject taken your best friend up on the offer of a free lift into town center, on the basis that they had suffered from depression. You wouldn't believe that they would drive off of a bridge at any point in that journey.
So if it were that being a pilot isn't a job for a person with depression - what job is, where and how do you draw the line? What jobs are depressives suited for? Nothing? Almost every job involves contact with other people, and a lot involve the responsibility of others. If depressives aren't suited for jobs they will only be judged to be benefit scroungers. "There's nothing wrong with you, suck it up."
I think the real problem lies with the already existing stigma. When you are signed off work by the doctor for having a virus, people are quick enough to jump at the chance to have a few sick days to recover. But the stigma surrounding mental health has lead to a fear in confiding in your employer that you have depression and are unable to work. If it were a severe depressive episode, I believe the responsibility of reporting such illness should be given to the patient himself. There should be a system in place where the employers are foretold of any medical condition in which the individual must be signed off from work. The nature of the illness doesn't have to be disclosed by the doctor, only that the employer knows they are truly unfit for work. This should especially be the case in employment that involves high responsibility in regard to others' lives.
Lastly, another point to consider is this. Lubitz' was obviously profoundly depressed and evidently in dire need of help. If his girlfriend knew he had been preoccupied with the idea of a plane crash, and suffering a depressive episode - why on earth did she inform somebody?
To conclude, I'm not saying his act was excusable, I am saying that the media should not jump the gun and imminently blame depression. Especially without the establishment of conclusive evidence.
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Thanks for taking the time to read my post! I hope you've considered it as food for thought. And hopefully I've not offended anybody with my own personal views.
As always feel free to share, comment with your own views, and stay tuned for more next week :)
Alice
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