Stigmatised

With all this in the media about the co-pilot committing suicide flying the Germanwings plane, while sending 150 people to their death, it has sparked me to write this post. 

So it has been reported that he was suffering with on-going mental health issues and had actually been signed off of work by his doctor – i’m guessing due to suicidal tendencies and the fact of his job! Yet still he is a “selfish” and “evil”. Yes I completely understand this, he has killed over a hundred people while committing this act but it is some of the things people are saying and I have heard in the past which has inspired this post. 


Saying that people with mental health issues have taken “the easy option” by committing suicide could not be further from the truth. Nothing is easy during the phases of mental illnesses, especially not a decision to commit suicide. Secondly, committing suicide is not a selfish act. In most people’s minds who are suffering from an mental illness, it is actually selfless. The illness just takes over you and you think the world would be a better place without you and so by committing suicide, you are saving the world from you. 

OK, of course for some people they just want to end their pain, which is completely understandable also – BUT only if you are experienced a mental illness yourself. I understand that many people out there who have not experienced any kind of mental illness will not understand, but the pain of everyday is so tiring and exhausting, sometimes you just want to end it FOR YOURSELF. Yes, there are people who suffer every day with other illnesses or people with cancer who fight for their life, but mental illness affect your brain. People don’t understand you, people may give up supporting you because you don’t listen, you may isolate yourself and be completely alone. BECAUSE OF THE ILLNESS. 

While this man may have committed a very selfish act for the families and friends of those lost, appreciate that he was extremely ill and is not a bad man in himself. A lot of “bad people” actually have underlying mental health issues which have caused these actions. I think we need more education and effective diagnosis and treatment to stop such things happening. 

And wait, everyone is blaming this man for this but want about Germanwings? Surely there should be psychiatric tests conducted regularly since he is in co-charge of flying a plane of over a hundred people? Since he had to take a break while learning to be a pilot, it wasn’t completely a secret? Hmm… 

Lemme know your views.