IN-DEPTH: In Wake of Faulkner Co. Murder Suicide, Opening Up About Mental Illness
By: Lauren Trager, KARK 4 News
Updated: January 11, 2012
There's still many unanswered questions about why 63 year-old Janice Robbins stabbed her 7 year-old granddaughter and then took her own life.
But deputies say she did suffer from depression and may have been seeking counseling.
So Tuesday, KARK sat down with one mental illness expert who says the key to keeping tragedy like this from striking again, is to talk about mental illness.
"It's a tragic situation, very tough, very tough," said Kim Arnold, Executive Director of the Arkansas Branch of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Arnold didn't know Janice Robbins personally but she knows many who have suffered from depression.
"I've had people tell me, 'I can't get out of bed, I can't brush my teeth, I can't bathe, because I am so depressed,'" she said.
Arnold says 1 in 4 Arkansans has some kind of mental illness, but often the warning signs of depression specifically are ignored.
"Depression is one where people think 'oh you'll feel better, its a passing thing, it's just the blues, you'll snap out of it,' but that's just not the case," Arnold said.
A family history of depression and of suicide, Arnold says, does put someone at a greater risk of doing similar harm to themselves.
And, she adds, sometimes the despair can grow so great a depressed person can believe there's no hope even for their loved ones.
This, she says, may have been the case with Janice Robbins.
"It appears at that point that she believed this was the right thing to do, which is some very impaired thinking and a tragedy," she said.
But Arnold says, depression is a disease we must view just like cancer: with treatment, it can get better.
And to keep tragedy like this from striking again, Arnold says, it's all about opening up, even if it means being blunt.
"Tell them: 'I am worried you might hurt yourself.' That's one of the biggest things I would ask and it lets them know that you really do care about them."
If you or someone you know needs help, you can find resources by click here.
