Did Depression Really Cause The Alps Plane Crash?
Did Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz commit a deliberate act to cause the crash of a plane in the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board?
Authorities are still attempting to determine a motive for Lubitz’s alleged actions in last month’s crash, and many questions remain unanswered. Reports have surfaced that Lubitz was treated for “suicidal tendencies” prior to getting his pilot’s license, and that he had visited a neuropsychologist and an eye doctor recently and been deemed unfit to work. Both of those doctors concluded that he had psychological issues, according to the media. Antidepressants were reportedly found in his apartment, leading to speculation he may also have been battling depression.
But would depression really lead to someone deliberately crashing a plane into a mountain and essentially murdering 150 innocent people?
In my opinion depression alone is unlikely to be the cause of the pilot’s actions. Depression should not automatically be linked with suicidal intention. There are many people who at some stage of their life experience feelings of depression but the vast majority will not go on to attempt suicide.
Even when a person is so severely depressed that they do engage in suicidal acts they do not plan to take the lives of other people at the same time. Depression is a more internal almost passive personal state, it is not an aggressive state, the likes of which would involve planning to deliberately take the lives of other people. If you are depressed you may want to die but you do not want others to die.
To behave in the way Andreas Lubitz did, purely as a result of depression would suggest he also had a narcissistic or sadistic personality but as far as we know there appears to be no history of violence and so this renders the narcissistic or sadistic theory unlikely.
Unless I am very much mistaken, in the coming months it will be revealed that Andreas Lubitz suffered from a psychotic episode at the time he crashed the Germanwings plane into the Alps on that fateful day in March. It may be revealed that he has experienced psychotic episodes as a result of Schizophrenia or Bi Polar or possibly Schizoid illness from his late teens or early twenties.
Psychotic episodes involve the individual losing touch with reality. Often they hear voices which compel them to behave in irrational ways but they believe they are rational and doing the right thing. It does not automatically follow that because an individual has a psychotic episode they will become violent but a psychotic episode is far more likely to result in the plane crash than depression alone would.
The media has revealed that Andreas Lubitz had problems with his vision and that this may have been psychosomatic. Psychosomatic symptoms are associated with mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. In psychology this is referred to as somatoform disorders, in other words, doctors can find no explanation for them. Whilst a vicious cycle can exist where the psychosomatic illness exacerbates the depression and or anxiety and vice versa this does not offer a satisfactory reason for why Andreas would have deliberately crashed his plane killing 150 people.
Many people are quite naturally asking, “How can we ensure this type of thing does not happen again?” Of course there are all sorts of technological issues that the experts in these matters will be considering in the future. There are all kinds of procedural issues that also the executives of airlines will be looking at. I am not in a position to comment of either of these areas as I know nothing about them. However from a psychological perspective I would like to comment.......... This man has clearly been mentally ill for a long period of time and I can’t help wondering why this was not picked up on and passed on to those who needed to know. The media revealed that this pilot had received sick notes signing him off work but they were discovered torn up in his apartment. A lot is made of the ‘right to confidentiality’ and the fact that a patient’s privacy must be protected but in fact Psychologists and others in the medical profession have an obligation to protect not only their clients but also the wider population. It is fact that if a psychologist believes that a client is likely to prove to be a significant risk to others they can reveal this and should voice their concerns. I always tell my clients that their confidentiality will be protected but also tell them that if I ever felt that they would be a threat to someone else I retain the right to override the confidentiality rule for the greater good. Perhaps procedures and policies need to be reviewed in occupations where an individual in the course of his/her duties has the capacity to prove to be such an enormous threat to so many people.
Recruitment and on- going assessment of staff in certain occupations (pilots being one such occupation) needs to be thoroughly, carefully and continuously monitored. The use of Psychometric assessments alongside regular psychological interviews should be employed. Pilots have regular medical examinations to ensure they are fit to carry-out their duties and reduce the likelihood of accidents as the result of physical illness. The brain is as complicated if not more complicated that the body and as such should receive equivalent regular examinations.