Psychologist Reacts To Christmas Day Double Murder-Suicide

BOSTON (CBS) - The Suffolk County District Attorney said the Christmas Day deaths of a woman and two children were likely a double murder-suicide. I-Team sources tell WBZ the children's father called 911 to say the mother had taken the kids during a domestic dispute and appeared to be suicidal.

District Attorney Rachael Rollins pleaded that anyone considering suicide should reach out for help.

"This is an act of such desperation it's hard to even put yourself in that mother's shoes," said MGH psychologist Dr. Ellen Braaten.

Parent, or not, learning the circumstances of Christmas Day's violent double murder-suicide is gut-wrenching. A local mother, jumping to her death, after ending the lives of her two most precious possessions.

"It's very natural for us to have feelings of disgust and confusion and anger when we hear of a situation like this. We should, it's human. That's a natural response to something that's really unnatural and cannot be explained," said Dr. Braaten, who is also the co-director of the Clay Center for Young, Healthy Minds and an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School.

Family and friends, with investigators, now left desperate for warning signs -- too late.

"In order to do something like this, someone has to be having some kind of break with reality where they really don't know what's going on, or be so desperate and hopeless they cannot figure another way out of a situation," Braaten added.

Dr. Braaten knows parenting and relationships and the holidays are stressful. And while therapy is important, she said we can all be careful listeners and observers to the people in our own lives.

"Reaching out right now to the people you haven't talked to in a while; you never know who's out there suffering on their own and alone," Braaten said.

If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, there are resources and services dedicated to helping you feel better:

Call or text the Samaritans statewide hotline at 877-870-HOPE
https://samaritanshope.org/get-help/

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK
Military veterans and loved ones, press 1 for the Veterans Crisis Line
https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

The Trevor lifeline is available to help lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth and young adults at 1-866-488-7386
https://www.thetrevorproject.org/

Additional resources can be found through Massachusetts Coalition for Suicide Prevention
https://www.masspreventssuicide.org/

There is help available to any parent struggling with the emotional hardships of raising a family though the parent stress line 1-800-632-8188
https://www.parentshelpingparents.org/parental-stress-line