No tragedy like this occurs in a vacuum. He didn't realize the amount of pressure he was under and with the Summer holidays over and the new term beckoning it all became too much for him.
I would say that many of us have at some time felt at breaking point when the strains and stresses of life feel totally unbearable that you could either hide away or run without stopping,but again,most of us have a built-in " safety valve " where we can enable ourselves just to stop for a minute and work something out by speaking your thoughts to someone who you'd trust and who wouldn't judge you.The first port of call would be the GP of course,but sadly for the male population,they're very reluctant to visit a doctor particularly about affairs of the mind, as they see failure and weakness in themselves within a family where their roles are seen as supportive and strong.
This man's stresses still doesn't excuse or justify his reason for killing his family,especially innocent children. It's still murder whichever way you look at it as he only thought of himself and his stresses and whatever the outcome if it had meant losing the home and lifestyle only makes things worse.
Unfortunately,materialism matters to a lot of people and when that is lost,they can't cope.Those who strive through life trying to build their futures just aren't prepared for change in circumstances and when it does happen it's literally the end of " their" world,be it at work with reduced hours or redundancy.
I don't know about sex education in schools there should be lessons in the art of coping when tragedy strikes such as stress about financial matters and how to deal with a drop in life-style and all that it entails. It's a dog eat dog world and learning to manage with the stresses and strains that it brings would be a starter. There's no shame in admitting that you can't carry on. What does it matter if you have to take a step down from a mansion to a flat as long as you still have your life ?
To take matters to the extreme like this man did would tell me that he'd been pretty unstable to start with.
