7 News Belize

How Could She Do It?
posted (April 29, 2013)
At the top our newscast, we told you about 22 year-old Felicia Chen, the woman who tonight is remanded for the murder of her 3 small children.

She's remains in custody until tomorrow, when an assessment will be conducted by the Ministry of Health to see if she is best housed at a Belize Central Prison, or at a mental health facility.

The public is left with a lot of questions about what could lead a mother to take the lives of not 1, but 3 of her children.

Today, 7News got a chance to speak with clinical psychologist, Dr. Elma Augustine, and she told us about the factors that could have led this terrible, unspeakable tragedy:

Dr. Elma Augustine - Clinical Psychologist
"It's difficult to say because I have not met the lady and I'm not familiar with whom she is but there are many factors that could contribute to something like that. One could be clinical depression where she would feel so down, hopeless, helpless, and worthless and there is no hope for anything and then decides that I need to take my children and myself out because it's combination. It's a murder suicide that we're talking about - it is not just a suicidal attempt. Another could be that she could have been a victim of domestic violence or abuse. Another could be what we call in psychology - 'Perverted Revenge' that is when you are angry at somebody and you try to get back at them in a kind of perverted way, taking the anger out. It could be an impulsive act. Sometime in some cases - as I don't know the woman in question - it could be substances are involved. So there are so many factors that could be involved that it's kind of hard to pinpoint. I think the bottom line is that this is such an unfortunate tragedy."

Daniel Ortiz
"How does someone rebuild their lives? The grief is now settling in and then there is also the shame and all the guilt."

Dr. Elma Augustine
"It depends - everyone is different and it is a process. For some people the grief sets in and for some it's still a state of shock and trying to comprehend, confusion and shock and trying to comprehend. It is confusion and shock and not knowing what to make of it. I think there's a process what we call a healing process that would have to occur and again I cannot say exactly how we will proceed because we will need to gather information about what all the factors involved are. I am sure it is a devastating impact on the family, the surviving child and of course the lady, she has survived and now has to deal with this."

Dr. Augustine is the Coordinator for the Mental Health Program at the Ministry of Health.

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