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Psychology

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Jan 9, 2024

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People, whether they are aware of it or not may suffer from mental health illness that may affect their mindset and how they may interact with the people in their lives or even deal with situations that put too much stress on their overall health. The way that these people might deal with things might not be the normal way that people without these certain issues might deal with situations that come up. In recent years we have heard of many cases that have to do with families and a certain individual causing deathly harm to one or more members of their family. The reason for this harm might be many but most of the time the reason always has to do with mental health illnesses. This past week on Monday, authorities in Vancouver, Washington were contacted with the request that they conduct a wellness check on some family members after the person calling authorities had received a text message from one the family members that lived in the home stating “they had caused harm to the rest of the family.” After the sheriffs from Clark County failed to contact any of the residents inside the home, they contacted the swat team due to being made aware that there might possibly a firearm in the house. A drone was utilized to look around the home and was able to identify five diseased individuals in the home which then caused the sheriffs to follow through to enter the home and did find all five deceased family members including the person to be believed to have caused the untimely demise of all the four other family members. After further investigation, it was discovered that the husband murdered his wife, two adult daughters, and adult brother and then turned the firearm on himself. Based on the information officials have been able to put together, there is no definitive reason as to why this murder-suicide was committed. He had no prior criminal record or behavior; he was a military veteran who had served his country, there had been no previous calls to house to law enforcement and no signs of domestic abuse. The true reason behind this tragedy seems to be a

complete mystery as of now and law enforcement are working tirelessly to get answers as to why a father, husband and brother world just one day choose to gun down his entire family with no reason left behind. The man’s surviving older sons stated that “He was a very patriotic man who loved his country, very protective of his wife and daughters, but did suffer from undiagnosed PTSD, depression, and anxiety.” (The Columbian, Becca Robbin’s) Based on the comments that were made on the individual that is suspected to be the one to have caused the untimely demise of the entire family, there seems to be much belief that he suffered from mental health illnesses. Based on what is known the mental health illnesses that are possibly involved are anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder from his time in the Military Service. There has been a lot of research that shows that a lot of disorders such as anxiety, depression and PTSD to be related to the amygdala pathology and this portion of the brain plays a key role in how certain memories are stimulated and the person reacts to this stimulus and processes the information. When it comes to cases in which men commit murder of their entire families there is usually a history of domestic abuse or child abuse and is considered the number one risk factor for most of these cases but in this case, there was no history of that or at least none that was annotated anywhere. Also, having free access to firearms and available at any time is a big factor for cases like this and having lost their employment and financial stresses and woes is a big factor as well that may be a reason for a man to commit murder-suicide. Another very important factor to really pay attention with this case is the fact that the person that is suspected to be the perpetrator is that these mental health illnesses he is suspected to be suffering from were all undiagnosed and he hadn’t seen a doctor to be helped.

Trauma and Stressor related disorders are a very new grouping disorder in the fifth edition of the DSM-5 (Maddux&Winstead, 2016). The triggers for this disorder can range from very extreme such as torture, terror attacks, rape, childhood abuse, natural disasters or more common one such as relationships, persistent physical illness, or financial difficulties. Anxiety, depression or even post-traumatic stress disorder tend to be at its worse or show more symptoms when the individual has been triggered by a stressor and could cause the person going through the illness to act out of the ordinary or commit actions they normally wouldn’t do. Post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety are two of the most occurring disorders to be prevalent in Americans now a days and the fact that the man in this family had not been seen to medically diagnose these disorders meant that he was not receiving the necessary medical attention to make sure these disorders are being kept under control and wasn’t being triggered by anything in his life that could be causing the disorders to be high in intensity. It is very common for a person that is suffering from PTSD to have major overlap with Anxiety and depression since these disorders tend to go hand in hand. In the intricate landscape of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), individuals grapple with intrusive symptoms that serve as haunting echoes of traumatic experiences. Distressing memories, vivid flashbacks, and recurring nightmares intricately weave together, creating an involuntary tapestry that captures the profound impact of past traumas. Those afflicted with PTSD may find themselves actively avoiding reminders of the traumatic event, experiencing heightened arousal and reactivity, and battling persistent negative beliefs about themselves, others, and the world. Amidst the tapestry of anxiety, individuals face a pervasive and overwhelming sense of worry that extends far beyond the ordinary concerns of daily life. Excessive rumination, constant

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