MONTGOMERY PSYCHIATRIST KILLS SELF, SON ( WASHINGTON POST, U.S.A)
By Dan Morse. Thursday, August 4, 2011, 8:01 AM
A 54-year-old psychiatrist who doted on her 13-year-old son fatally shot the
boy in their Montgomery County home before killing herself, police said
Wednesday.Margaret F. Jensvold, a graduate of the Johns Hopkins School of
Medicine, was deeply committed to the care of her son, Ben Barnhard, who
suffered from an autoimmune disease, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
and obesity, according to her friends, court records and Ben’s father. The two
lived in Kensington.
THE CRIME SCENE
Police found the mother and son after Jensvold’s co-workers grew concerned
because they hadn’t seen her since late last week, a police spokesman said.
Officers were called to the house on Tuesday, went inside and found the two
bodies. The mother and son were found in their bedrooms. Newspapers that had
been left outside indicated that the pair could have been dead for days.
A medical examiner ruled Wednesday that the deaths were the result of a
murder-suicide, said Capt. Paul Starks, a police spokesman. “Both victims had
at least one gunshot wound,” Starks said. He said Jensvold shot her son and
then shot herself.
“You don’t expect this,” said Jamie Barnhard, Jensvold’s ex-husband and Ben’s
father. “You don’t expect this out of a mental-health professional.”
Barnhard sobbed over the phone Wednesday night while describing his son and his
ex-wife.
“She was a very bright and, for the most part, very happy person,” he said.
Ben recently returned from Wellspring Academy of the Carolinas, a renowned
weight-loss boarding school, where he lost more than 100 pounds, his father
said. “He was bright and energetic,” he said. “A wonderful child in every
respect.”
In divorce records filed in Montgomery County Circuit Court, Jensvold listed 18
professionals her son needed to see. Among them: child neurologist, allergist,
infectious-disease specialist, rheumatologist, educational tutor and
psychiatrist. At one point in her career, Jensvold gave up her private practice
to become a salaried psychiatrist for Kaiser Permanente, which afforded her
more time to seek medical care and educational opportunities for her son.
“I can hardly imagine a better parent than Margaret Jensvold,” longtime friend
and fellow doctor Jeffery W. Paulson wrote in a letter to the court supporting
a petition that she retain custody of Ben. “She is committed to raising her son
with all the advantages she can provide for him.”
Jensvold grew up in California and attended a magnet program in elementary
school for gifted and talented students, according to friends and her
ex-husband. She co-edited her high school newspaper, Paulson wrote in his
letter of support, and graduated from UCLA.
Joyce Braak, a doctor who was Ben’s godmother, wrote that Ben “could not have a
more superb mother than Margaret Jensvold.”
Part of her commitment was how strongly she delved into her son’s medical
problems. Jensvold thought that his illness was the result of a strep
infection, said Bob Baum, an attorney who represented her.
One court filing, submitted as part of her divorce and custody proceedings, was
a research paper she studied titled “A Case of Pediatric Autoimmune
Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated With Streptococcal Infections.”
Said Baum: “She fought tooth and nail for her son to get his education issues
taken care "
COMMENT: A very tragic heart-rending state of affairs. We are all aware that
psychiatry is a very demanding and stressful profession, quite akin to the
vocation of Catholic Priests administering the Sacrament of Reconciliation to
the Catholic Laity. However the murder-suicide rate in Catholic Priests is
almost negligible verging towards non-existence. Can modern Psychiatry and
Training Programmes for Professional Psychiatrists take a leaf out of the
training of Catholic Priests? The Harvard Medical College has accepted the role
of Spirituality in mental health. Should refresher courses in Spitituality be a
prescribed ,mandatory part of Continuing Education Programmes for
Psychiatrists? Perhaps, this could save them from themselves and the mounting
stress occuring through patient- doctor transference.
