2015年03月28日21時16分掲載
無料記事
http://www.nikkanberita.com/print.cgi?id=201503282116556
科学
【ＳＭＣ発】Ａ３２０事故機の副操縦士の精神状態について：専門家コメント
メディアで報道されているような、「精神疾患を持つ人間」が「大量虐殺をした」というような言説は精神疾患の患者に対するステレオタイプを強化するだけで意味がないと思います。（サイエンス・メディア・センター）
◆Prof Sir Simon Wessely, President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists
まだ副操縦士については何もわからないため具体的なコメントをすることはできません。うつ病の患者の方々に無用なラベリングをしてしまう危険性もあります。判断は慎重にすべきです。
うつ病は治療可能ですが、この病気には偏見こそが最も大きな問題です。
まだこの事故からの教訓とは言えませんが、うつ病の人々が適切な治療を受ける機会を損なうような性急な措置が講じられることは警戒すべきです。
【コメント原文】
“The loss of the GermanWings Airbus is a ghastly horror. Until the facts are established, we should be careful not to rush judgements. Should it be the case that one pilot had a history of depression, we must bear in mindthat so do several million people in this country.
“It is also true that depression is usually treatable. The biggest barrier to people getting help is stigma and fear of disclosure. In this country we have seen a recent fall in stigma, an increase in willingness to be open about depression and most important of all, to seek help.
“We do not yet know what might be the lessons of the loss of the Airbus, but we caution against hasty decisions that might make it more, not less, difficult for people with depression to receive appropriate treatment. This will not help sufferers, families or the public.”
◆Dr Ali Haggett, Research Fellow, Centre for Medical History, University of Exeter
副操縦士のメンタルに言及するのは時期尚早です。訓練を中断した理由が精神的なものだったかどうか、航空会社はまだ明らかにしていません。ジャーマン・ウィングスはルビッツ副操縦士が訓練を継続し飛行するのに必要な試験をパスしたことを公表しています。
もし副操縦士にうつ症状や精神的な病歴があったとしたら、男性の精神的な特質も考慮に入れるべきかもしれません。イギリスでは自殺者の75%が男性です。
また、うつの症状を訴えることが難しい男性が多いという調査結果もあります。
メディアで報道されているような、「精神疾患を持つ人間」が「大量虐殺をした」というような言説は精神疾患の患者に対するステレオタイプを強化するだけで意味がないと思います。
また、今までの研究ではうつ病の患者が暴力的になったり、他人を巻き込んで自殺するような傾向があるとは認められていません。自殺する際に他者を巻き込んで傷つけるような傾向もありません。
副操縦士の病歴が明らかになった暁には、特に男性に顕著な精神疾患の症状について突き止めることが重要でしょう。
【コメント原文】
“It is too premature to comment specifically on the mental health of this pilot, since his medical records have not yet been confirmed and we do not yet actually know whether his mental health caused him to take a break in his training – and the airline confirm that he had passed all necessary tests a) to resume training and b) to fly the aircraft.
“However, if it is confirmed that he had a history of mental illness and depression, what we do know is that disclosure and help-seeking is a significant problem for men and that, in the UK for example, 75% of suicides are in men. These statistics have remained relatively stable since the beginning of the twentieth century, and indicate that there is something very wrong with our ability to detect and treat mental health issues in men. I have just submitted a book for publication on male mental illness (A
History of Male Psychological Disorders in Britain, 1945-1980 (Palgrave Macmillan, September 2015), and what this illustrated was that men often find it difficult to recognise symptoms of depression (initially, or indeed in relapse) – and that if they do realise something is wrong, they find it much harder to seek help. This is a complex problem, but is in part bound up with our western model of masculinity, which promotes strength and coping – both attributes that are threatened by the unfortunate association with mental illness and ‘weakness’. Disclosure is also complicated in occupations where it would affect a person’s fitness to practice (for example, the medical profession – where there has been consistently a higher level of drug and alcohol abuse and mental illness than in the general population). We know that men are more likely to self-medicate with alcohol and to present with psychosomatic or physical symptoms, which are less-obviously ‘psychological’ and may not be identified by the medical profession as having an emotional cause.
“The media reports so far have been broadly unhelpful. If it is to be confirmed that the pilot had mental health problems, reports of ‘mass murder’ by a ‘madman’, serve only to reinforce the damaging stereotypes already associated with serious mental illness. It does appear, at this stage of the investigation, that the pilot passed the required tests at that stage indicated that he was fit to fly. There is certainly no reason why people with a history of depression cannot go on to perform well in high-level occupations, and there is no evidence that people with depression are likely to be more violent or wish to take others with them in suicide. We also know from those who have attempted suicide that it is more usually about feeling trapped in a situation from which there appears to be no other alternative – and not about harming others.
“If a history of mental illness is confirmed, what this incident does serve to illustrate is that as a society, we need to do more in terms of understanding and detecting depression and other mental health conditions – particularly in men.”
◆Dr Sarah Bailey, Senior Lecturer, Department of Pharmacy & Pharmacology, University of Bath
この副操縦士の病歴についてはまだ何もわかっていないため、不必要にうつ病患者にラベルを貼るような報道は控えるべきです。
うつ病は再発が多い病気で、イギリスでは6人中1人が罹患していると推定されます。適切な治療を施すことで、問題なく生活することができる疾患です。
うつ病によって多くの人を巻き込むような自殺をすることは非常に稀なものではないでしょうか。
【コメント原文】
“We cannot comment on this co-pilots history - we know nothing about him and speculation about a person’s mental health is always damaging to thatindividual's family and to others. We run the risk of stigmatizing people with depression.
“We know that depression is an illness that occurs in episodes, and tends to recur. Depression is estimated to affect 1 in 6 adults in the UK. It is very common. When people are able to recognize their symptoms and access the right treatment then it is possible to lead a full life, including holding down a responsible job.
“I am not aware that there are any studies linking suicide to mass death,it is presumably a very rare occurrence.”
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