The crash in France which claimed the lives of 150 people last week has caused severe shock in Europe and indeed the world over.

As Europeans focus on identifying potential terror threats by Islamic militants, one of their own turned around and committed his own act of terror. As soon as the news came out that he had crashed the plane into the ground purposely, the world began looking for answers.

How was his mental state not diagnosed? How could he go on flying? How could he do what he did? How could he have taken all those people with him? How could he kill 150 people? The brutal truth is that he hid it from everyone. The only tell tale signal to have emerged so far is that he told his ex girlfriend that he would “do something to change the system and that my name will be remembered”. In hindsight, alarm bells go off and red flags are waved. But who could have known what he meant by it.

It is very clear, Andreas Lubitz was mentally unstable to do what he did. There have been varying opinions on the way the matter has been reported in the press the world over, and the most common running vein is that people who are depressed are not mass murderers. The truth is that at some point, Lubitz became a mass murderer.  While he may have been depressed, it is also becoming increasingly more clear that there might have been another condition – possibly psychosis – which was underlying.

There are many people who suffer with depression. Without even knowing it, we have all come into contact with a person who has suffered from it. An example is this newspaper, on the back page we feature an article by a person who has suffered from the illness and is now well again. Most suffer in silence, afraid of the stigma that is attached to mental illness. To pin Lubitz’ actions on depression is a mistake. To think that every person who suffers from depression is a potential threat is also wrong.

The incidence of depression around the world is on the increase. Forcing people to hide underground will not help anyone. If anything, it could prevent people from seeking treatment.

People who suffer from mental illness should not be marginalised, stigmatised or put on heavy prescription drugs to be ‘forgotten’ about. We should be active in the way we keep sufferers of mental illness involved in our society. But perhaps, in terms of the aviation industry, it is time to revisit tests which pilots must sit for in terms of evaluating their frame of mind. But people will always slip through the safety checks. There is nothing to stop a person lying. But that is just the same as the depressed person who goes work smiling every day, despite the desperation inside them.

And therefore the answer has to be openness. Rather than take this terrible tragedy as a reason to fear mental illness, we should take it as an opportunity. An opportunity to talk about it more and for society at large to understand what goes on when the mind gets sick. And even when we do get a much better grasp of it, there will always be that someone, somewhere, who  might become a mass murderer.