The case known as “The Massacre of Villa Crespo”, where it is investigated whether Laura Leguizamón murdered her two young children and her husband before taking her life, shocked the country. Beyond fright it is necessary to stop in an uncomfortable, but essential question: were there signs that we didn’t know – or we didn’t want to listen?
From the clinical look, psychotic outbreaks do not appear suddenly. In most cases there is a previous journey: changes in behavior, disorganized thinking, social withdrawal, erratic attitudes or extreme sensitivity to everyday stimuli. To this are usually added a history of unrelated or dismissed psychic suffering.
According to the Ministry of Health of the Nation, 60% of people who cross their first psychotic outbreak do not receive professional attention in the first months, which aggravates the prognosis. The Mental Health Observatory and problematic consumption indicates that only 3 out of 10 people with mental disorders access continuous treatment in the public system. The figures do not lie: the gap between what happens and what is attended is alarming.
So what can we do as close environment? The first thing is to stop looking the other way. The intervention does not require a diagnosis, but a sincere question:You will be needing help? Changes in routine, hygiene, language or behavior are signs that should not be ignored. Accompany is not invading. Ask is not accusing. And in many cases, simply being available can make a difference.
In my book ImperfectI explain that psychic suffering is not always clear. Sometimes he appears disguised as tiredness, anxiety, or simply an apparent “rarity.” But that does not make it less real and nobody chooses to feel that way. What seems irrational from outside, often has an internal logic that requires being heard by a professional.
The case of Villa Crespo is still being investigated, but the truth is that these tragedies rarely occur without a history. Mental health does not deteriorate from one day to the other: there are signs, there are times when you can intervene.
According to WHO, 1 in 8 people in the world live with a mental disorder. Detecting them on time and offering adequate attention can change everything. It is not about living in permanent surveillance, but assuming that being attentive is also a way of caring.
In the end, what seems to explode suddenly is, many times, the result of small fissures that no one saw. Because the soul does not break suddenly: it is like a dike that, for a long time, supports more water than it should. First the leaks appear, almost imperceptible. Then, the pressure. And when nobody reinforces the edges or listens to creaks, the inevitable comes: the collapse.
*Psychoanalyst, co -founder of Redpsi and author of Imperfect and Truths not said.
By Santiago Silberman*
