Experts link killings to depression, drug abuse and lack of money

Experts have linked the reported wave of murderous rage to depression, drugs abuse, hard economic times, frustration and pressures from the society.

The experts spoke on the backdrop of an increasingly worrying trend of lovers turning on their partners often after a disagreement.

Psychologist Faith Simiyu says there is a lot of frustration, prompting men to turn against their partners and end up killing them.

Economic issues have also played a big role in love-related killings.

“Men have ego. A man would rather die than someone else take over. There is a lot of insecurity that he might not be able to provide and that someone better might come along,” explained Ms Simiyu.

She added: “There is fear of the unknown and insecurities that surround relationships.”

Simiyu said there are those who do not know how to handle rejection and feeling of inadequacy. This is because there is so much demand from them in relationships and a number of them have someone they have invested in emotionally and financially.

“They think if they do not do what the partner wants, they would leave and to avoid that, their solution is they would rather both die and go together,” she said.

There is also the issue of depression. Simiyu noted this could be caused by societal expectation on the notion that the man is the provider of the family.

“If a man who is used to being the provider can’t do that, he feels helpless and instead of getting help or venting out, they take lives without reasoning through it,” Simiyu said.

Counselling psychologist Loice Okello said another reason that could be leading to the murders is that when people who have invested in their relationships see that the other person is withdrawing, it creates a lot of animosity.

She noted there are a lot of women getting into relationships with personal agendas and after fulfilling them, they look for ways of bolting out.

With men, she said, issues of shame, rejection and bad investment in relationships usually end up in violence because they must show power and would rather lose it all.

Also, some of these issues are related to drug use.

Okello said some of the drugs used can make one irrational and impulsive in behaviour.

Dr Frank Njenga, a psychiatrist, explained there seems to be an increase in domestic violence and part of the drivers for this is alcohol, drugs and mental illness.

“A serious combination is when one is mentally ill and abusing drugs,” said Njenga.

He, however, said every family is unique in its own way; none is comparable.

He urged professionals not to extrapolate cases, instead look into each case individually and in detail.

“They should determine whether it was alcohol, drugs or whether the man was going through something like depression,” he said.