The conclusion of the trial of South African, Lauren Dickason, who was found guilty of murdering her three children, should be a wake-up call on the reality of mental health issues — particularly affecting women.
In September 2021, South Africa was horrified to learn of how Dickason — a former doctor who killed her three daughters — a four-year-old and two-year-old twins — in the most brutal of manner — at first strangling them with zip ties and then smothering them with blankets.
This was three weeks after she, her husband — who is also a doctor — and their children had emigrated to New Zealand.
Lauren was extremely verbal about her issues, and all the telltale signs of her trouble were there, but even to her husband, a qualified doctor, it went over their heads.
The truth of the matter is he probably thought it would never happen to them and that she would snap out of it once they had settled into their new life.
In South Africa, at least once or twice every year for the last couple of years, we have heard of such incidents — women who have snapped and killed their own children.
Just this week, we heard of a story of how in Tholeni village in Butterworth, Eastern Cape, neighbours discovered the bodies of three children killed by their mother who then took her own life.
It was alleged that the mother had wiped out the family because of hunger — she could not provide for them any longer. Though issues of poverty may have played a part in that incident, mental health issues such as depression could have undeniably also played their part.
The prevalence of depression and anxiety during pregnancy and in the year after birth ranges from 16% to 47%. About 10% of women during this period are at high risk of suicide.
In Engcobo, also in the Eastern Cape, a mother, Nomboleko Simayile, was accused of bludgeoning her four children with a sledgehammer. She died before her trial commenced.
A few years earlier, an Emalahleni mom, Zinhle Maditla, killed her four children — the youngest was 11 months old. She is serving four life sentences.
There is a severe lack of awareness around mental health conditions and perhaps this is because depression isn’t something that may be physically detected, so more often than not, it is not given the same attention as a disease whose effects can be seen with the naked eye.
Dickason and Maditla may have come from two different worlds — the one a married, educated, qualified doctor who, according to some, may have had everything going for her, while Maditla was a single mother battling to make ends meet. But the two of them shared a common single battle.
Depression and particularly postnatal depression is a reality that unfortunately is not given enough attention in the public and private health space.
One report issued by Sadag in 2017 highlighted that health facilities in rural and township areas are not adequately resourced and therefore there was a low rate of diagnosis and treatment for depression in those communities. Because of this, statistics about the prevalence of depression in those communities are harder to track.
According to Bhekisisa, the prevalence of depression and anxiety during pregnancy and in the year after birth ranges from 16% to 47%. About 10% of women during this period are at high risk of suicide. Most of these women do not receive the health care or support they need. Poorer women are less likely to get the mental health support they need, even though they’re more likely to experience post-partum depression and anxiety.
As Dickason hogged international headlines, and her home country marked “Women’s Month”, the department of women, youth and people living with disabilities — should have used her story and this period to make louder the noise of the plight of women, and this goes beyond the issues of unemployment, inequality and gender-equality but the very real plight of depression.
Dickason’s parents put it rightly when they said the woman who killed their three grandchildren was not their daughter.
“Post-partum depression is a terrible thing, as has been shown by what happened to our family. This was not our daughter but a debilitating mental illness which resulted in an awful tragedy,” they said.
“We would like to encourage families and individuals around the world to be aware of the symptoms of post-partum depression as early as possible, both for yourselves as well as close family and friends around you.
“If treated early and managed correctly, people can experience a full recovery. The person experiencing depression and those closest to them may not be able to recognise the signs or how serious post-partum depression can become.”
We can only hope their pleas have not fallen on deaf ears and instead, Lauren Dickason’s name or at least the names of her children, Liane and two-year-old twins Maya and Karla can be associated with change for women suffering from postnatal depression.
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