Florida Mom Murder-Suicide - Case Study Example

RUNNING HEADER: Florida Mom Murder-Suicide Florida Mom Murder-Suicide BY YOU YOUR SCHOOL INFO HERE HERE Florida Mom Murder-Suicide Jennifer Berman, a 48 year-old divorcee, committed a murder-suicide that included shooting her 16 year-old son and her 15 year-old daughter. Richard Berman, her ex-husband, was officially divorced in December 2013 and Ms. Berman maintained many financial problems that included a house which was in foreclosure and an inability to pay her divorce lawyer for services rendered.

Jennifer Berman had even resorted to selling expensive assets simply to buy fuel and clothing for her two children. These financial woes and distress over the divorce led to substantial mental health issues that likely made Ms. Berman feel as though she had no other choice but to end her own life. Jennifer had once been considered a normal, loving wife and mother who boasted of her musically-talented children. However, a neighbor, Marian Sklodowski, said that something suddenly changed in Jennifer that was visibly apparent just days before the murder-suicide.

“A couple of days ago, she was different…you could see it in her face, there was something missing, something disturbed in her mind” (Goldstein, 2014, p.2). This is an interesting case study in mental illness and the rapidity by which mental disturbances can begin, even in an individual who has been known to be quite normal and well-adjusted. A typical person, when facing mounting problems both financial and social, are able to cope through these hard times and ultimately find mental adjustment without resorting to drastic self-harm tactics.

Jennifer Berman not only felt that her own death was appropriate, but determined that it would be the most viable solution for her children as well. This is a form of psychosis in which an individual loses all touch with reality and begins to believe deluded thoughts. In psychology, one is not easily, officially diagnosed with sustaining a psychotic disorder until certain variables have been excluded, such as diseases in the central nervous system or even ingested illicit drugs. However, there was no evidence that Berman maintained any of the aforementioned conditions, but she simply had new-onset psychosis as a result of poor personal coping mechanisms.

The Berman case could be a fascinating case study on what triggers new-onset psychosis and why some individuals experiencing psychotic episodes are unable to restrict their impulsive actions. It would be highly beneficial to the medical and psychological communities to examine all of the factors over a period of time that led to psychosis and the desire to commit suicide and murder her children. Linking this case study with existing studies of apparently normal individuals who suddenly commit these terrible acts might identify correlations that could assist counselors and medical practitioners in developing a new treatment model that would be beneficial for others in society that have poor coping skills and at-risk behaviors for self-harm and murder.

The Jennifer Berman case is an example of how mental health research needs to advance so that society can understand the catalysts for new on-set psychosis in healthy individuals. References Goldstein, Sasha. (2014). “Florida Mom kills her two Teens, self in murder-suicide month after Divorce: Cops”, New York Daily News. Retrieved January 15, 2014 from http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/fla-mom-allegedly-kills-teens-murder-suicide- cops-article-1.1579512