As a psychotherapist and Titanic historian, I’ve often wondered what the impact would have been had those who survived the sinking of the Titanic had Critical Incident Stress Debriefing.  Anyone who has read the stories of survivors of the sinking knows that many of them were emotionally scarred for the rest of their lives.

Case in point is Juliette Laroche, the wife of Joseph Laroche, the only black man who was on the Titanic who perished in the sinking.  According to everything I have read about her, she was so traumatized by the sinking that she couldn’t talk about it.  The incident apparently made her so afraid of losing another family member, she smothered her two daughters, Marie Louise and Simonne. Neither of them was able to escape their mother’s watchful eye long enough to establish a romantic relationship with anyone.  Had Critical Incident Stress Debriefing been available to her at the time, she may have been able to process the unthinkable ordeal she’d gone through, grieve her loss and perhaps even married again.  Perhaps she would have been able to feel safe enough in the world again to allow her daughters to be courted and possibly even marry.

But Juliette Laroche was not the only one who could have benefited from Critical Incident Stress Debriefing after the sinking of the Titanic.  In searching for information on survivors, this writer found that at least 7 survivors of  the sinking later committed suicide.  Frederick Fleet committed suicide at the age of 70 after his wife died; he hung himself on a clothes line after his late wife’s brother evicted him.  Phyllis May Quick shot herself in the head in 1954 due to marital problems.  Jack Thayer committed suicide in 1945  by sliting his own throat after his mother died.  John Morgan Davis ingested poison during the Christmas holidays in 1951 after his wife left him.  Dr. Henry Frauenthal jumped from an apartment balcony after months of depression complicated by his wife’s mental illlness.  Johan (John) Naskanen set his cabin on fire and shot himself in the head in 1927 after failing to strike gold on his property in California.  Dr. Washington Dodge shot shot himself in the head due to business and investment problems.  A third class passenger (name unknown) living in Detroit shot himself in the ehad after his wife left him.  And there still remains question about whether Madeliene Astor’s overdoes of prescription medication was accidental or intentional.  All of these people and many, many more of the survivors of the sinking could have benefited greatly from Critical Incident Stress Debriefing.

How?  Well the purpose of Critical Incident Stress Debriefing is to help survivors of a traumatic event to “destress” and return to a normal level of functioning more quickly.  Survivos are  essentially are given the opportunity to talk about the trauma without judgement or criticism.  Emphasis is placed on keeping them safe so they can get back to their normal, everyday lives.

A critical incident like the sinking of the Titanic would have raised survivors stress levels dramatically in a short period of time, and established a new, lower threshold of stress tolerance for the rest of their lives.  I believe this is why when stressful incidents occurred later in their lives, they were less able to deal with them.  They were left emotionally fragile by that horrific night in 1912.

Had Critical Incident Stress Debriefing been available in 1912, it is possible that the suicides that occurred later in the lives of those 7 Titanic survivors may not have happened.  Survivors like Juliette Laroche who were left emotionally scarred by the tragedy for the rest of her life may have  been better able to cope with it.  Perhaps they would have learned how to feel safe again.  And maybe, just maybe they would have been able to experience joy to the fullest for the remainder of their days.

Continue Reading »