by arthur Weinreb, associate Editor,
December 7, 2004
Friday’s column talked about how CITY TV rushed to the defense of husband and baby-killer andrea Langer. Less than 12 hours after the deaths of Langer, her 47-year-old husband and three year old daughter were found, CITY, after receiving information that the 26-year-old woman had caused the carnage (later confirmed by police to be the case), concluded that she must have been suffering from postpartum depression and did a piece on that syndrome. CITY’s information as to andrea Langer’s mental state came from interviews with neighbours who said that she must have been suffering from it.
Most of the media touched on the issues of postpartum psychosis and postpartum depression as an explanation that "might" explain the horrific acts. But none jumped into defending the dead woman in the manner that CITY did.
an article that appeared in Saturday’s National Post is a good illustration of the proper way matters such as the Langer murders/suicide should be handled. Written by Joseph Brean, even the article’s headline, "Toronto woman’s case has similarities to ‘altruistic suicide’", put the matter in its proper perspective. Brean quoted medical experts and the american Psychiatric association in an attempt to discover what might have led to the horrific acts. Unlike CITY, Brean’s column did not jump to the conclusion that it must have been postpartum psychosis or else Langer wouldn’t have done what she had done.
Instead of jumping to the conclusion that Langer’s last pregnancy caused her to do what she did, Brean quotes medical experts who pointed out that many of the facts were inconsistent with a mental condition that arises after giving birth. These facts include the length of time between the birth of her last child and the act (7 months), the fact that she killed not only her child but her husband and the fact that she used a knife rather than a less bloody way that postpartum sufferers usually use when they commit acts of violence.
Dr. Verinder Sharma, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Western Ontario was quoted as saying that mental illness can be a tidy, comforting explanation for violent acts that occur and can be a simplistic explanation for something more sinister.
Brean’s article is an example of responsible journalism that probes what might have led to the violent acts that resulted in three deaths and one serious injury. It stands in stark contrast to CITY’s conclusion, based upon no evidence; that the poor woman must have been mentally ill with postpartum psychosis in order to do what she did.