well this thread is going nowhere.. so let me give it another whack
I believe there are two issues here.. as far as how people react to this..
I don't believe that the problem here is that people don't understand "depression". Certainly some people can understand it more than others.. be it personal experience, with one's self or a family member, or just a simple understanding in general.
It's not that I don't believe others here would be capable of helping another in need.. or do their best to lift one another's spirit should someone be feeling down and out or depressed.
And YES some people get so depressed.. they may need to be hospitalized, or they may need medication. And I'm sure most here can understand that.
HOWEVER I believe the problem everyone is having with finding ANY acceptance in this, is the fact that she killed her children.
It's a difficult thing to comprehend. I believe it's easier just to be MAD at the mother and be done with it. I've never experienced a family member committing suicide.. but I'm sure possibly one of the early reactions to such a thing, would be to be ANGRY at that person.. only after some reflection, could I try to begin to comprehend why they would do such a thing.
However.. if that family member, took out other family members FIRST, and then killed themselves.. I'd be PISSED at them.. and probably stay that way for a long time. I mean come on.. on a good day, you might try to understand why someone would kill them self. But understand why they took out the other family member first.. NO, I would never accept that. I just don't see how I could.
Now, if this mother had survived, she would certainly go to trial.. it would be argued whether or not she was competent to stand trial.. As it is, we can only GUESS what was going through her mind. I haven't read any of these news stories, so I don't know the particulars.. but generally speaking.. who knows, maybe she could have been depressed.. but to what degree.. maybe she was depressed, or maybe she was angry, had other motives for killing her children ?
I'll say it again.. could be her mind was so freakin' broken from depression.. what other reason could there be right ? But at the same time, even if you can UNDERSTAND depression.. understanding it to a point to accept that this person couldn't be held accountable for killing her own children.. that's another stretch all together.
ramble ramble ramble.. sorry.